Don R. Hanson II said
This book will probably be a hit or miss for you, with no in-between ground. You can see by the reviews people either loved it or hated it.
I believe some people like to make assumptions about the basics of a language as they learn the more complex subjects. Others like to see the basics spelled out, then take off like rockets.
If you fall into the second group, as I do, then I think you will enjoy this book. I probably won't refer to it again, but reading this book will help me absorb the more complicated aspects of using C# and .NET all the faster.
I like to separate learning _what_ all the new C# and .NET features are, from _how_ I should use them. This simple book focuses on the _what_. With a solid understanding of the pieces of C# and .NET, I can now focus exclusively on learning _how_ to best use these new features, via other books.
DJ Dr. Evil said
Do not buy this book for the sole reason that it is obsolete. It was written using the Beta 1 so none of the code works anymore. If you don't believe me download the sample code from Wrox and try to complile it. Try the chapter 7 code for files and directories. You'll notice they use "System.WinForms" which doesn't exist, plus they try to do things like "File f1 = new File("c:\\blah\\blah.cs");" Which doesn't work either!
Zileni Giuseppe said
This book is very essential to get confidence with c#. you can begin to understand .net platform and how to build web services very fast.
said
Do NOT get this book. It is a sham. It is unfortunate that I have to say that because I LOVE Wrox books. I have to say this is the first Wrox book I have ever been dissapointed with. There is nothing of use in this book. The examples are useless, too short and not explained at all. You want to learn C#? Just get the free Beta and go through the tutorials included in the MSDN package - they're really good.
Thogek said
This book covers a nice introductory overview of much of the syntax, environment, and usage of the C# language, the .NET structure and base classes, the VS.NET development environment, its use in ASP.NET, a bit on COM and COM+ interoperability, etc. -- most of the general aspects of the new C# programming language and its use. This book is NOT a serious programming course that will have you up and running in C# by itself; a somewhat thicker tome will likely be required for such ambition. It does make for a good survey intro for developers who want a lighter introduction or who perhaps haven't decided yet to go for the full C# deal, and can be followed up with a more in-depth text for the serious soon-to-be-C#ers.
Particularly interesting to C++ and Java developers will be the sporadically inserted C++ Notes and Java Notes: specific notes for people coming from C++ and Java about how a certain feature of C# relates to and/or differs from a similar feature in either or both of these languages. (Even as one not coming from either of these languages, I found these notes interesting and useful.)
The one significant drawback issue I had with this book is the few scattered barrages of odd or broken grammar, and the occasional seemingly contradictory statement. These weren't enough to detract heavily from the value of the book (IMO), but they were quite distracting in places, and should be addressed more seriously in any future editions of the book.
Overall, I'm satisfied with this book, and am looking forward to following it up with that more in-depth text....
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