Customer Reviews

C# 2008 for Programmers (3rd Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own a number of C# 2008 books, and this is the best of the lot. The language is introduced in a very logical manner, each chapter building on the previous, which you would think would be the norm, but isn't always. The code examples always work, again as you would expect but doesn't always happen, with the exception of two minor formatting glitches: code examples for console code need a 'Console.Readline();' statement to prevent the program(s) from terminating too fast to read, and the display format shown does not always agree with that you'll find on the screen. The first is serious if you're not already familiar enough with C# to know to add the code, and the second is minor.

I can highly recommend this book as a learning tool without equivocation as the book flows from topic to topic better than any other C# book I've read. It really is that good.

Additionally the book does a very good job of introducing the subject of "How do I take my idea for what I want to do and turn it into code?" through the use of UML diagrams and very well-detailed examples and explanations of their ATM project.

The book may not be for experienced C# programmers - it starts quite fundamental - but would be a good book for anyone wanting to learn C# who already has some programming experience in another language.

What I really liked in this book: First, every code example is followed by a detailed line-by-line explanation of what the code does and how it works, done much better than any other code book I've ever read. Even if you have some experience in C# you'll learn something you didn't know or knew and didn't understand in context, every time. Second, every other C# book I have seems to start out simple, then slams you with at least one chapter of "C# vocabulary" that you'll have to memorize before you can understand the rest of that chapter or the rest of the book. In this book you'll learn the same vocabulary, but it's introduced within the context of the code in the examples. One other nice touch: the example code comments include "end method xxxx", "end If", "end class" etc following each related structure. Sure, if you already know C# this is fluff and unnecessary. But if you're new to C# these reminders teach and reinforce the structure names without beating you over the head; you'll learn the names and uses as you need them and as you develop the ability to use them effectively, not as a memorization precursor before learning how to program them. It may seem a subtle difference, but it's very effective, imho.

I'm looking forward to reading the other books they've written. Their method of teaching is superior to any other programming language books I've read on any language. They have a winning formula in their format here.

This book gives an excellent overview of the C# and .NET 2008 features. The coverage of basic language features is a bit long for my tastes, but the breadth of coverage on advanced features is nice. Because there are so many advanced topics, the book just doesn't have much time to go into too much depth on any one of them.

If you're looking to learn a specific topic such as WPF or Silverlight, you might be better off with a topic-specific book, but as a general how-to C# book for programmers this one will do you nicely.

I was once an experienced developer whose skills have lagged due to non technical (Project Management) assignments. This book is an easy read that builds the readers knowledge at a pace that while rapid is not too fast to understand. I highly recommend this book as a starting point for C# training.

For me this is a must have in your C# book collection. Whether or not you're a beginner or seasoned, it doesn't matter.

I've bought a lot of C# books in last few years and this book by far is one of the best to explain not only what these are but good common real-world uses for delegates, Interfaces, and Generic Classes, Lambdas, Methods, etc.

While some of the examples are not real-world business scenarios, they do get across the reasons why to use something that is still applicable sometimes in the real-world apps you are developing. I like the author's teaching style. It's simple, clear, and effective.

This is really a good book to compliment Head First C# and other books that just don't cover the advanced topics very well at all, especially applications on when you might want to use them in a real-world development environment or just a list of scenarios in how something like an interface or delegate can be used outside of just event handlers for example with delegates which is not the only reason to use them!

Other high quality books I highly recommend to add in addition to this book to really get you up to speed in C# and best practices are:

* C# in Depth: What you need to master C# 2 and 3 by Jon Skeet
* Effective C# by Bill Wagner
* Effective C# (Covers C# 4.0): 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C#
* More Effective C#: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# by Bill Wagner

I have read many Deitel books and I would recommend Deitel any time. This book specifically though, it is very well written, great examples and since its color it helps to read the code better. Yes there are many C# books out there but this one specifically I loved because it covers many technologies including WPF, Silverlight, LINQ, WCF and gives you in depth examples on how to use them with C#. It is an all around great book.
The first few chapters of the book are really oriented to the beginners into .NET programming so it is not only for advanced users. Although it covers many topics and technologies it is not the best book to master a specific technology or C#. There are better books that are focused in advanced techniques. But if you're goal is to learn enough and get you started with C# 3.5 and technologies that work with it this is the book to get.

I am already an experienced C++ and Java developer and when I saw that this book recommended itself for programmers already experienced in either of those languages I jumped on it. It really is a very good book that covers a broad range of C# topics however I found myself skimming over the majority of the chapters since they were topics that any C++ or Java developer would already be well acquainted with. If it wasn't for the "for Programmers" part of the title I would have given this book at least 4 stars.

Your "C# 2008 for Programmers" book was a tremendous help when I was learning C# over a year ago. I hadn't programmed in over a decade (C++ in the late 90's), but this book was clearly written and helped me relearn/rediscover what I needed.

This book is alright, but the wording is extremely superfluous. I can only imagine what it must be like to have to sit through a lecture by the Deitel guys. It's like the primary goal of this book was to drive it well past 1000 pages long.

The order of the topics covered are pretty frustrating as well. Exception and error handling isn't even touched upon until page 457, meanwhile you are working with lambda expressions a hundred pages earlier.

This book is best used in conjunction with other texts, as the wording is so irritatingly excessive that you are going to find yourself wishing you had a much more concise summary of whatever topic you may be working on. I recommend visual c# 2008 by john sharp, and c# in a nutshell as additional suggested reading. I have those other books and they made dealing with the Deitel madness much more tolerable.

If you have OOP experience to begin with, you would probably be better off avoiding this one entirely.

If you like Deitel products, you'll like this book, it's pretty standard. I only bought it for a course, as I don't have much use for Deitel's 'example' rich books, where none of the examples really relate to a real world application. This book did cover most of the important points for learning C#, however. It's just not my style.

I am a CPA/MBA/MCSD/MCDBA with 35 years in the software business. This is one of the best written books on an extremely complex and massive subject I have read and I have read well over 100 programming books. The teaching method allows you to either do a minimum of work yet still gain a good understanding of the subject matter or do all of the examples and be extremely well versed in the subject. I have, for the last eight to ten years read mainly WROX programming books. I scanned this one at a Borders while having a coffee and immediately decided to purchase it (from Amazon).