C# 2.0: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) [Paperback]

Michel de Champlain (Author), Brian G. Patrick (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0121674517 | ISBN-13: 978-0121674519 | Publication Date: March 8, 2005

You don't need coddling; you don't need to be told what you already know. What you need is a book that uses your experience as a Java or C++ programmer to give you a leg up into the challenges and rewards of C#. And this Practical Guide is precisely what you're after.

Written by a team that boasts extensive experience teaching C# to professionals, this book provides a practical, efficient explanation of the language itself, covering basic to advanced features and calling out all that's new in 2.0. Its instruction is always firmly situated within the context of the .NET framework and bolstered by code examples, key lessons in object-oriented programming, and installments of a realistic application programming tutorial. Concise and incisive, this is the best way to master the world's fastest-growing and most marketable programming language.

Features
* Provides a carefully focused explanation of every aspect of the C# language, including entire chapters on the unified type system, advanced types, collections, generics, reflection and attributes.
* Highlights all features new to the latest version of C# and organizes its presentation of C# according to the key principles of object-oriented programming and the .NET framework.
* Using end-of-chapter exercises, incrementally develops a cohesive application programming tutorial.
* Includes an easy-to-use appendix on the grammatical rules of C# and provides downloadable example code via the companion website.

* Provides a carefully focused explanation of every aspect of the C# language, including entire chapters on the unified type system, advanced types, collections, generics, reflection and attributes.
* Highlights all features new to the latest version of C# and organizes its presentation of C# according to the key principles of object-oriented programming and the .NET framework.
* Using end-of-chapter exercises, incrementally develops a cohesive application programming tutorial.
* Includes an easy-to-use appendix on the grammatical rules of C# and provides downloadable example code via the companion website.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Great book for any C# developer! It describes the basic programming language with EBNF notation and provides a number of practical programming tips and best practices on program design that enable you to utilize the C# language features effectively."
-Adarsh Khare, Software Design Engineer, Microsoft


"C# 2.0: A Practical Guide provides an amazing breadth of information in a compact and efficient format, with clear and concise writing and useful code examples. It cuts right to the core of what you need to know, covering every aspect of the C# language, an introduction to the .NET API, and an overview of pertinent object-oriented concepts. This book tops my recommendation list for any developer learning C#."
-David Makofske, Principal Consultant/Architect, Akamai Technologies


"This book is essential for programmers who are considering system development using C#. The two authors have masterfully created a programming guide that is current, complete, and useful immediately. The writing style is crisp, concise, and engaging. This book is a valuable addition to a C# programmer's library."
-Edward L. Lamie, PhD, Director of Educational Services, Express Logic, Inc.


"At last, a programming language book that provides complete coverage with a top-down approach and clear, simple examples! Another welcome feature of this book is that it is concise, in the tradition of classics such as Kernighan and Ritchie. The new book by De Champlain and Patrick is the best introduction to C# that I've seen so far."
-Peter Grogono, Professor and Associate Chair of Computer Science, Concordia University

"The book covers the basic and the advanced features of a relatively new and well established programming language, C#. A truly Object Oriented style is used throughout the book in a consistent manner. C# and Object Oriented concepts are well illustrated through simple and concise examples to hold the reader's attention. A very well-written book."
-Ferhat Khendek, PhD, Research Chair in Telecommunications Software Engineering, Concordia University

Book Description

A unique book that is perfect for those who want a quick but solid introduction to the C# language.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann (March 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0121674517
• ISBN-13: 978-0121674519
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,592,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 10,000-foot overview of C# 1.0 (500,000-foot overview of C# 2.0), July 26, 2005

By 

Curt Safranek (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: C# 2.0: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) (Paperback)

Make sure this book is really what you want before purchasing. The title, "C# 2.0..." is _very_ misleading! There is very little in the way of 2.0 features covered to any degree of detail for one to know how to really understand or use the feature described. While the book does a reasonably good job of describing the features/uses of C# 1.0 (again, see the title of this review), there are much better books out there, albeit much thicker, which are much more readable and provide much better examples (e.g. Andrew Troelsen's, C# and the .NET Platform). Additionally, the book goes to great pains to keep the number of pages at a manageable level - at the expense of readability. If you enjoy reading Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) notation then this is the book for you ;-) For example, to explain the syntax of interface declaration:

--------------------------------------------------
InterfaceDecl = InterfaceModifiers ? "interface" Identifier (":" Interfaces)? "{" InterfaceMembers "{" ";"?

InterfaceModifier = "new" | "public" | "protected" | "internal" | "private"
InterfaceMember = MethodDecl | PropertyDecl | EventDecl | IndexerDecl

In case you forget you will need to page back to the appropriate areas of the book discussing the InterfaceMember's various item definitions for MethodDecl, etc.
--------------------------------------------------

This type of notation is fine for online reference or even the printed language "manual" (The C# Programming Language by Hejlsberg, et. al.), but not this type of book.

Also, the book description states, "* Provides a carefully focused explanation of every aspect of the C# language, including entire chapters on the unified type system, advanced types, collections, generics, reflection and attributes." In chapter 8, Collections and Generics, out of 20 total pages for the chapter there are only 3 1/2 pages devoted to generics, with 1 of those pages comprised of the skeleton listing of 2 BoundedQueue class definitions, one with generics based syntax and one without (i.e. replace all occurrences of int with <T>). By the way, Hejlsberg's book gives a _much_ better introduction/overview to the v2.0 language than this book...it is dense reading and has a very "formal" style, but you will get much more from it than this piece.

To summarize, this book tries to be the "jack-of-all-trades" and ends up being the "master-of-none". Excerpted from the preface, "Finally, all principal features of the C# programming language are covered..." While this may be true in principal it lacks almost all forms of substance and detail. It completely sacrifices quality in favor of page count. If you are looking for a book to give you a 10,000-foot overview of the v1.0 language and a 500,000-foot overview of the v2.0 features and are prepared to decode the text while you read (i.e. translate EBNF -> English) then this book is worth 2-stars; but, when you are done reading this book be ready to turn around and buy another book which actually shows you how to use the language with more concrete explanations and better examples. If you are looking to really learn the language and be proficient with it in the real-world do not waste your time with this "overview"... look elsewhere.

4.0 out of 5 stars A great compact resource, March 24, 2010

By 

Robert Reid "romeovoid" (Wilmington, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: C# 2.0: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) (Kindle Edition)

Although it's stated that the book is not for beginners, I needed to get a grasp on C# and quickly. My exposure to OOP made the reading less daunting. Most of the other books out there are tomes, but this book is concise with enough examples to illustrate the featured concepts (I admit I had to read certain parts multiple times to absorb what was being conveyed). I needed a book I could easily carry around with me and serve as quick and comprehensive reference and this one was it. The book concepts, despite the title, do apply to C# 3.5.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great C# book, November 27, 2008

By 

Richard Tucker - See all my reviews
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This review is from: C# 2.0: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) (Kindle Edition)

The book is one for the ages as for as explaining Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and the C# language. It goes into detail about OOP using background information from Computer Science. It explains the features of OOP using C#. I think this book needs to be in every programmers arsenal. The author explains in good detail what it takes to be a good object programmer. I was very happy to purchase this book and that I will keep it as long as I can. I will also use it as a reference and to say that I will recommend this book if someone ask for a good reference book on C# and the .NET framework in my opinion.