Customer Reviews

Accelerated C# 2005

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've got to say this is one of the best .NET books I've read in some time. The chart on the book's back cover bills it as something to read before Troellson's "Pro C# and the .NET 2.0 Platform", but I think it's actually more advanced and much more readable than that book.

Trey's work is extremely well-written and comes in at a concise 400 pages. He covers a wide range of topics in those pages, hitting everything from syntax to CLR underpinnings to generics to multi-threading. His coverage on the workings of how assemblies get loaded and behave in the CLR is perhaps the best I've read on the topic.

The book is a great balance of small, fundamental details and more complex issues. Examples of the first would include his clear explanation of the difference between using constants and readonly variables -- particularly since he clearly shows the impacts of making a decision for either kind. Examples of the more complex issues would include his very clear, very understandable treatment of threading in C#.

His discussion of the more complex topics are aided by solid examples which often start out showing how not to do things (highly useful) and moving to better ways of doing things. (I should note I found one or two errors in the examples, but the general gist was always clear.) He also scatters a number of good practices or solid design idioms throughout the book such as why Bridge patterns can be helpful in various situations.

Trey also makes occasional, pertinent examples with IL to discuss particular issues, such as how coding things two different ways might end up generating the same IL.

Additionally, there's some good design-level items in the book. There's a lot of pro/con discussion on a number of issues such the drawbacks to inheritance, and there's a VERY good discussion of implementing contract-based design via interfaces as compared to abstract classes.

Overall this is one of the best C# books I've read. I'd put it at a level close to Bill Wagner's Effective C#, which is pretty much the pinnacle of C# books as far as I'm concerned.

This is the book I wish I had when I first started learning C#. I came from a C++ and Java background and love how the author quickly identifies the areas in C# that are identical and then focuses on the differences. He comes across in a practical manner and I can tell the author knows what he's talking about. I also didn't feel like I was wasting time on unimportant parts. In some places he even suggests skipping ahead if the material is already familiar (such as the chapter on Classes).

The author's take on "Interfaces and Contracts" was refreshing. It was good to see someone talk about the practical ramifications of choosing between interfaces and base classes and the limitations that choice will place on the client code.

From a web programmers perspective, the chapter on "Delegates and Events" shines light on an oft-misunderstood part of the language. Especially important when creating controls or trying to understand the best ways to interact with existing 3rd party controls. The example of using Delegates to implement the Strategy pattern was a nice surprise (it was still the basic "sort" example that everyone always uses when talking about the Strategy pattern but still nice to see in a C# book).

My only complaints about the book are few and nit-picky. The author spends some time on Enums but doesn't point out the problems many programmers face when using them in the old C++ fashion (ie. can't treat them like int-types anymore). I would have liked to see a chapter on deployment to round out the book although I guess that's not really the focus. I also think the publishers shot themselves in the foot by putting a big "2005" in the title since the info is definitely still relevant and not out of date even now in the beginning of 2007.

All in all, I think that Accelerated C# is a very good book and well worth the price. I strongly recommend this book for programmers who are new to C# but already familiar with C++ or Java. I also recommend this book for those who already know C# but want to "brush up" on some areas. I do not recommend this book for those who have not programmed in C++ or Java before.

I would like to read a book on [...]by the same author.

First of all, this is NOT a book for C# beginners, period. It is not even a book for someone has zero knowledge of .NET.

This is an "advanced" book for expereienced programmers, prefereably, coming from C++ or Java, or Delphi world.

My major problem with this book is that, the book uses minimal code to aid the flow of description, while the author employed large chunk of paragraphs without ANY simple, easy-to-catch BULLETING and code snippets to illustrate what he is trying to say. As a result, the reader must be VERY patient to read throught all those lines to get the picture.

For example,on page 82, "Static Constructor", the book says "The static constructor is called before an instance of the given class is first created OR before some other static fields on the class are referenced."

Thank god I had a GRE score of 2380 when I applied graduate school. But I still got lost figuring out what he really wants to say, simply, because of the word "OR" the author employed. And he seems very fond of using such sentence structure with a lot of "OR" in it all throughout his book ----- sure your brain must be capable of logical computations while reading!

By constrast, here is the ECMA 334 C# specification in section 17.11:

"The static constructor for a class executes at most once in a given application domain. The execution of a static constructor is triggered by the FIRST of the following events to occur within an application domain:
1. An instance of the class is created.
2. Any of the static members of the class are referenced."

OK. Which one is more clear? There are even other worse cases in the book.

Seriously, if you could understand well the book and really thinks it accelerates your mastering of C#, I would rather recommend you to read directly ECMA C# specification 334.

I am curious how those 5 star evaluation come from (No kidding, are those from the author's buddies?). I give 3 star this book because there are still some gems scattering here and there (mostly about how to achieve good design). But again, you have to be very very patient to go through all those large chunck of paragraphs to get those gems!

It was recommended I should snag this book for my introduction to C#. Most of my programming experience is in C++ but it's been all Java the last 4 years..... and now...on to C#. I needed a book which would lay down the fundamentals of C# then hit the road running. This book fit the bill. The first few chapters explained the basics well enough to allow me to move straight into the more difficult areas that interested me. An obvious plus is the chapter layout, which allowed me to easily focus on specific areas of C#. The examples were short and clear about the points being made...another big plus. This book is dead serious about providing proper design principles. For that, it greatly raised my level of confidence about the C# informational value. In addition, the author many times explained why something should be done in a certain way as well as why it should not be done others way. This shows a level of investigation and understanding normally not found in many books.

If you've been working C++ and/or Java for a while, I found this book really kept things tight and provided the information needed to excel my C# learning curve. If you are experienced and need a quick path to the C# world, this book will get you there ASAP.

I really liked this book! I thought was well done with easy to understand examples and clear writing. I also liked the way that the author compared and contrasted c# with c++. As I have more experience with c++ it made the topics easier for me to relate to. Chapter 13 was worth the price of the book alone. The auther talks about design practices for creating new types. This is stuff you won't find in most c# books.

Accelerated C# 2005 covers the C# language extensively, and does not only teach you the syntax but also explains what happens under the hood, has great code examples, and gives recommendations on how to do, and NOT do to things in the language.

The first four chapters cover the basics and the remaining nine delve into more advanced topics, including the newest enhancements to C# 2005 like Generics, Anonymous methods and Iterators.

The book is written in a conversational style and is very easy to read. The author explains some of the pitfalls of concepts inappropriately and gives concrete examples of how to do things correctly.


The author also goes into great detail as to what happens under the hood in the CLR when C# code is written and shows the reader how certain things are inefficient or unwise to do as a result. A reader would gain a great understanding of what happens underneath the surface when they are writing C# code by reading this book.

Overall, this book is probably best suited for a C++ programmer moving to C#, since so much reference to C++ is made and it becomes immediately clear to an experienced C++ developer where the differences in C# lie. However, anyone who wants to learn C# in depth would benefit from this book. A great read!

This is a great book if you are already familiar with object oriented languages such as Java or C++. Unlike some of the other bricks out there on C# this book assumes you know object oriented coding and glosses over some of the basics. It get's right to the stuff you need to get up and running with C# quickly. I also liked the first few chapters that explain the Common Language Runtime (CLR) and the .Net Framework. These chapters give you the knowledge you need to understand how the system internals work and what the CLR and the .Net Framework take care of for you. After that, the book mixes some chapters on the basic syntax of C# with some advanced concepts. The basics include a general C# syntax overview, working with strings, and detailed info on Structs, Classes, Objects and Arrays. It also includes some more advanced topics such as Threading, Generics, Delegates, Events and Operator Overloading. Coming from an object oriented background I loved this book.

It is not often that someone who can rightly be said to be a true master of his or her field is gifted as well with the ability to write clearly about it in an instructive manner. Trey Nash, however, is just such a person. His mastery of the subject is unquestionable, and the clarity with which he is able to convey solid instruction will, as it did for me, make crystal clear to you a large number of highly abstract and hitherto hard-to-understand concepts. Many developers who have worked with certain concepts, despite having acquired competency in them, do not truly, at the root level, understand what those concepts really are. Trey Nash will provide that understanding, and in a way that is at once useful and enlightening. He is to be congratulated for sharing his mastery in so effective and meaningful a way and, if you by this book, you will soon be congratulating yourself on a most worthy purchase.

Hands down my favorite C# book this year. This book is not an introduction to C#. It is not a "bible" nor is it a "cookbook of C# recopies. Accelerated C# 2005 by Trey Nash is a concise map that navigated this reader safely (and enjoyably) through C# territory. Nash is an excellent guide, providing relevant information in a clear, easy-to-understand style.

At 400 pages, this is very succinct for a "computer book". Of all the C# books I have read in the past year, this one has helped me most in improving my C# knowledge. This is one a small handful of .NET that I have read, and then not put back on my shelf. This one I keep at my desk.

This book is best for intermediate C# programmers (or enthusiastic beginners). It is also a great reference for more seasoned .NET veterans. In my opinion this book lies somewhere between A Programmer's Introduction to C# 2.0 and Professional C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform. The former is perfect for anyone without object oriented programming (OOP) experience. The latter is a hardcover tome geared toward advanced OOP developers. There is one other group that might enjoy this book -- Java developers. If you are moving from Java to the C# language, this book can help quickly bring you up to speed.

For me, Accelerated C# 2005 was like having my own "personal coding trainer". Just as one might go to personal fitness trainer to improve physical fitness, a serious programmer can turn to this book in order to crank up his C# skills. To illustrate my point, I have listed the approximate number of pages per chapter. Just take a look below to get a feel for where you will bulk up your knowledge.

The author gave this reader more bulk where I wanted it. Notice that subjects such as Overloading Operators, Strings and Canonical forms all get their own chapters. I found this unique structure very digestible.

There are several C# features that I have personally been looking to improve upon.
+ Generics
+ Delegates
+ Multi-threading (threading)

Again going back to the book's excellent structure, each of these subjects is presented in its own easy-to-digest chapter. Plus they are all custom sized to fit subject at hand. Notice how the threading chapter is twice as long as the delegate chapter.

At just under 400 pages, I knew there would be no room for fluff. Nash did not disappoint me. This book rocks! If you are interested in accelerating your C# knowledge, I highly recommend this book.

CHAPTERS
1. C# Preview (5 pages)
2. C# and the CLR (5 pages)
3. C# Syntax Overview (16 pages)
4. Classes Structs and Objects (70 pages)
5. Interfaces and Contracts (25 pages)
6. Overloading Operators (12 pages)
7. Exception Handling and Exception Safety (28 pages)
8. Working with Strings (22 pages)
9. Arrays, Collection Types and Iterators (26 pages)
10. Delegates, Anonymous Functions and Events (22 pages)
11. Generics (35 pages)
12. Threading in C# (42 pages)
13. In Search of C# Canonical Forms (50 pages)
APPENDIX
INDEX

This book is a must have for novices and expirienced developers alike. Most of my c# training has been from reading articles and bits and pieces of other c# books. I took the time to read the book in depth after reading chapter 4 on classes, struct and objects. The insight you give in chapter 4 alone are worth the price of admission. I loved the chapter on strings that deals with cultureinfo and formating. I would recommend this book to any level of developer who wants to sharpen their talents in c#.