David L. Pratt said
In many ways this is only half a book. The chapters that cover several critical topics are missing from the book, and are available only as bonus chapters which must be downloaded from the web. For this reason, this is probably the worst "Dummies" book yet.
Len said
I have been studying the latest version of C# for some time now. In doing so, there were many gaps in my knowledge I did not know how to close. This book filled in those gaps completely and very quickly. I have been programming since 1994 professionally using C/C++, VB, ASP, and VBA. If your are an experienced programmer, this book will get you up to speed very fast. If you are a beginner, this book will give you some great insight and build a solid foundation to advance your programming skills in C# using the latest and greatest versions. Progarmming using .Net could be very challenging. There is so much to this framework no matter which language you use. It was very refreshing that Mr. Davis explained very complex issues with the .Net framework and C#. The book covers issues from basic to advanced. I wish there were more books that were written as clearly as this one. I will highly recommend this book as a starting point for beginner programmers as well as advanced programmers that are getting into the .Net/C# programming paradigm.
Tia P said
This is a great book for beginners. Well written and funny. It taught me a lot about C#.
Marion Mitchell said
Great book, one of the few I have read all the way through. Some of the concepts where not new to me. The ones that where are well explained. This would be a great companion book for anyone wanting to learn C# with almost no programming experience. For people with programming experience in other languages this book is all you need to get started.
Chuck Sphar said
Caveat: I'm one of the two authors of C# 2008 For Dummies (I did all of the 2005 and 2008 update work).
I invite reviews of C# 2008 For Dummies, regardless of your level of experience or background. For myself, I find reader reviews very helpful in deciding whether to buy a book.
C# 2008 For Dummies is aimed at beginning programmers, but it probably sells more copies to more experienced programmers, many of them looking to pick up a new language or break into .NET programming.
Beginners will find very simple, easy-to-follow examples, with chapters building up to more sophisticated techniques. Additionally, my Web site for the book includes many supplementary articles on topics I lacked room to cover in the pages. The site also includes all of the example code for the book (well over 100 small programs that focus on one thing at a time), 7 extra bonus chapters, and other resources.
More experienced hands will find pretty complete coverage of the C# language. Note that the emphasis is on the language, not on its many, many applications, such as Web programming, database programming, and so on. I discuss language features (some of which are very cool) in a context that is uncluttered with advanced features. (You can find more advanced features and techniques and applications such as Web coding in books from Wiley (the For Dummies folks) and other publishers as well as Web sites that offer many examples, articles, and lots of code. Try C# Station, C# Help, Code Project, CodeGuru.net, and more--Google for C#.)
New in the 2008 edition are old features not previously included, such as delegates, events, and collections. Also brand new features: Language Integrated Query (LINQ), lambda expressions, the var keyword, extension methods, array and collection initializers, anonymous classes, query syntax. Many topics have been extended or elaborated--the book is about 25% longer than the 2005 edition.
So please consider buying C# 2008 For Dummies if you're in one of its demographic categories. I don't think you'll regret it. And don't forget to check out the Web site at csharp102.info--it may help you decide whether to buy the book. And you can always contact me by email at [email protected] if you have questions, find errors, and so on.
I hope you enjoy reading C# 2008 For Dummies as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Best,
Chuck Sphar
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