bill roberts said
Prior to opening the book, I didn't expect a guide for novices and once opened, was pleasantly rewarded to learn that my expectations held true: per page 2 "Novices may want to start with something at the introductory level..."; this book isn't about learning the basics - although, a reasonable amount of time is spent on the tarmac before the reader takes flight (heck, even the back cover of the book lists the USER LEVEL as INTERMEDIATE and certainly not beginner!).
No real issue here about the amount of code in the book: complete code for the examples is available on the web - which just about covers the code delivery method for most tech books.
I can't talk about author's intent but can say that some of the snippets were bare to the point of reticence. But, an interesting thing happened while mentally working those examples. I found myself turning approaching them from many angles and ultimately gained a deeper understanding. It's kinda like being given all the cues and the mental nudge to mentally unlock a puzzle - I found myself having the proverbial moments 'oh I get it!' many times over. I suppose novice programmers might find this approach challenging but those who've been around the block may appreciate the mental exercise and the rewards received :)
Focusing on aspects that without question inspire, I think the book really shines in terms of the depth. The author deeply covers lots of material. A discussion that really stands out for me is his discussion on ENUMERATIONS - it really hits the spot! Generics and in particular LINQ are hot topics for me... I once had the notion LINQ was all about SQL - but that's not true. It's all about Generics and the infamous IEnumerable
All in all, the book serves not only to teach (and reinforce the fundamentals) but also to think about 'the new stuff' and how it might be applied to both existing apps and those yet to be created. I recommend this book to you and hope that you get out of it as much as I did :)
Scott Ribe said
This book in no way deserves 5 stars. It is, in my opinion, quite well organized and a thorough introduction. But the editing errors are absurd. One reviewer called it "one or two per chapter", but he obviously lost track. It's literally at least every few pages. Incorrect/swapped diagrams. Code samples in the wrong place. Code samples with incorrect output. Chapter 5 on strings, the material is almost indecipherable until you realize that you need to simply ignore the code samples, because most of them omit the output that would be what you're looking for, some omit setup steps, and some are just incorrect. (Those are the big ones; then you need to add in things like the -- operator being replaced by an n-dash...)
It is literally wearing me out trying to figure out exactly what the author meant in spite of all the errors. I own and have read hundreds of technical books, and this is by far the poorest job of editing I've ever read. All the more pity because if it had been competently edited, it would really be a 5-star book!
And a minor quibble: I really wish he hadn't decided to refer to "implementing" methods when he meant "call" or "use" or even "invoke" if he felt the need to use a fancy word.
G. Scott Maclean said
I am a 20-year veteran programmer who needs to transition from VB to C#. On the recommendation of a few peers, I bought this book.
My first observation: This book is obviously written by an expert who has no business attempting to write an introductory book. This book is NOT FOR BEGINNERS. If you are a beginner programmer and are contemplating buying this book to learn C#, save your money. The author simply makes far too many jumps and leaves too many gaps - skipping over things that are no problem for me, and that he obviously didn't think to explain - but that will leave a beginning programmer mystified.
The layout of the book is good, and the progression is what you would expect. For me, the book was an excellent "here's what you need to know about C#" book. Some of the chapters I was able to skip entirely. However, in my opinion, the author has simply tried to cram too much stuff into 1300(!) pages, meaning that every topic is briefly discussed, with no real detail on anything. This book will be useless as a reference book in the future, because it does not go into enough depth, and doesn't completely cover every topic.
So for me, it was a good book to get me up to speed. But it does have one SERIOUS PROBLEM: Errors. Whoever did the editing on this book should be fired. The number of blatant errors I found in even just the first few chapters are obscene. Things like diagrams listed in the wrong order, code snippets with missing or incorrect lines, or just outright wrong or contradictory information in the text. Several times I found myself puzzling over trying to comprehend some information that the author was attempting to convey, only to discover that the reason I wasn't "getting it" is because of an error in the book. I found myself reading this book with a pencil, so that I could mark my own corrections, should I need to come back to this book in the future. That is frustrating. One or two errors is to be expected in a 1300-page book. One or two errors per CHAPTER is inexcusable.
Book worm said
I bought this book thinking it would surpass C# Unleashed for 2005, but it didn't. The organization of this book didn't suit my learning style. The chapters are short, most programs are incomplete with only snippets shown, and with the size of the book (with 46 chapters), you would think that this book alone will teach you the ABCs of C#, no, I guess not. I still prefer the 2005 version as well as Jeff Suddeth's 2005 C# book. Jeff's book is compact and easy to read and straight to the point with good working examples. I only give this book the same rating as PRO C# by Andrew Troelsen (2008). Maybe good for intermediate to advanced learners, not suited for beginners.
Richard K. Harrison said
This book not only covers all of the basics of C#, but also all of the new features in 3.0 and some very good information on best practices. He covers Design Patterns and N-Tier applications. If that weren't enough, it gives tons of information on all of the major .Net technologies like Lambda expressions, LINQ, ADO.NET, using XML, ADO.NET, Windows Forms, WPF, ASP.NET, Ajax, Silverlight, WCF, Windows Services, Remoting, Web Services, WF, Threading, Localization, Globalization, P/Invoke and COM, Unsafe code, Profiling, Debugging, Assemblies and Versioning, Securing Code and even writing custom Setup programs and deploying web sites. These are not just overviews. Everything is well explained and gives enough practical detail to actually get you using all of these technologies in real applications. It is virtually a library of .Net information.
Soon after I got this book, I had a project that required an ASP.NET website, a web service, LINQ to SQL, a windows service, a small desktop application that communicated with the service, some P/Invoke calls and an install program that installed the windows service and started it up automatically. It also had to install some device drivers. Many of these things were new to me, but this book got me through the project and made it a joy.
Joe manages to keep everything simple and to the point. He goes into enough detail to get you going on each subject to the point where you can find out the rest easily. I own several C# books. This one is by far the best.
Rick Harrison
Freelance Software Consultant
KnowWare, Inc.
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