Beginning C# 2008: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in .NET) [Paperback]

Christian Gross (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590598695 | ISBN-13: 978-1590598696 | Publication Date: November 12, 2007 | Edition: 1

This book is for anyone who wants to write good C# 2008 code—even if you have never programmed before.

Writing good code can be a challenge. There are so many options, especially in a language like C#. If you want to really get the best from a programming language, you need to know which features work best in which situations and understand their strengths and weaknesses. It is this understanding that makes the difference between coding and coding well.

Beginning C# 2008 has been written to teach you how to use the C# programming language to solve problems. From the earliest chapters, and from the first introductory concepts, you'll be looking at real-world programming challenges and learning how C# can be used to overcome them. As you progress through the book, the problems become more involved and interesting, while the solutions become correspondingly more complex and powerful as C# features interact to achieve the results that you want.

By the time you've finished reading this book and worked through the sample exercises, you'll be a confident and very competent C# programmer. You will still have many explorations of the .NET Framework API to look forward to in your future career, but you will have a firm foundation to build from and you will know exactly where to go to find the things that you need to progress confidently in your projects.

Christian Gross is dedicated to helping his readers understand every detail of Beginning C# 2008. You can contact him via Skype (christianhgross) if you have bought this book and have a question about something he discusses. If Christian is available when you contact him, he will even try to answer you right away!

What you’ll learn

• Everything to get you started with C# 2008 from scratch—from installing the tools to writing your first applications
• All the core concepts of .NET 3.5 programming: from decision trees to data structures, exceptions to lambda expressions and from objects to components
• Learn what LINQ is, why functional programming can be important, how generics make your life easier and much, much, more!

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone who's just starting out to learn about C#. It doesn't assume any prior knowledge of object-oriented programming, of the .NET Framework, or of coding in general. It simply assumes that you're an intelligent person who wants to learn and starts the journey from there.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Christian Gross is a consultant with vast experience in the client/server world. He has consulted for Microsoft on DNA solutions, and he has held consulting positions with Daimler Benz, Microsoft, NatWest, and other major corporations. Gross was a contributor to Professional Active Server Pages, Professional SQL Server 6.5 Administration, Professional NT Internet Information Server Administration, and Programming Microsoft Windows 2000 Unleashed. He is the author of A Programmer's Introduction to Windows DNA.

Product Details

• Paperback: 487 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (November 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590598695
• ISBN-13: 978-1590598696
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #790,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

What to say? How about "I get a kick out of Dilbert and more often than not can relate to Dilbert." Does that make me a tech nerd? Sure, but I also like to do other things like visual arts and paint pictures in a surrealist style. As much of a tech nut I am I like my art done in a traditional manner.

With respect to tech, my education is Mechanical Engineering specializing in robotics, parallel computing, and industrial automation. There actually was a time when I could calculate the trajectory of a five axis robot, sigh! I have always been fond of writing software and in grade 10 wrote my first major program that was to become an ISAM database using Waterloo Basic on a Commodore Pet! My main computing interests lie in Software Engineering and the Internet.

I blog at http://ablog.apress.com and http://www.devspace.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Confusing and frustrating. Do yourself a favor and find another book., April 10, 2009

By 

Louis Carmichael - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning C# 2008: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in .NET) (Paperback)

I almost always read reviews on any book I consider buying, but for whatever reason, I bought this one without reading up on it first. I was at Barnes and Noble, and I really wanted to leave with a book on C#, and the first chapter seemed pretty good, so I went for it.

I'll just get it all out on the table and say that this is the worst instructional book I have ever read. As others have said, he uses constant analogies to try to make things eaiser to understand, but they really just make you even more confused. Also, considering the use of the word "beginning" in the title, you would think this book would be aimed at beginners, and it is not. Frankly, I don't think it's aimed at anybody. It's just an awful book, and you'll find yourself reading chapters numerous times before you understand anything.

I have switched over to APress's "Pro C# 2008 and the .NET Platform", and it is a MUCH better text. Ironically, it covers the basics a lot more in depth than this book does, too. Bottom line: don't even bother with this garbage. I may try to go back after I have a better understanding of C# and reread this book (since I already paid $40 for it...), but I wouldn't lose any sleep tonight if I accidentally set the book on fire after dinner. Accidentally.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Stupid book I have ever seen, April 4, 2008

By 

Abudureyimu Abulimiti "Almas" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning C# 2008: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in .NET) (Paperback)

After reading some parts, especially the part about inheritance and polymorphism, I have to say that this book is not for beginners, even not for advanced developers. This book leads people to wrong way to design. For example, The Shape, Rectangle and Square relationship is discussed in very complex and abstract way that the readers can't understand even if they read that portion 10 times. The author tried to explain the "good" way of component level development using that example and spend a long time on comparing different approaches. While summarized that all approaches have shortcomings if simple inheritance and polymorphism is used, he suggested using a new way called "component level design". But, believe me, he didn't provide the component level solution for this problem finally and you will be left totally confused. If you check another examples in this book, you will find them very uninteresting and ugly.
Don't buy this book if you want to learn something.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Look for another book, January 2, 2010

By 

Michael Dudley (Denton, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beginning C# 2008: From Novice to Professional (Expert's Voice in .NET) (Paperback)

I wish I had read the reviews first. This a terrible book. I am an experienced programmer, and thought the beginning book would be an easy transition into C#, but like the other reviews, the analogies are terrible and the examples are worse. I quit after 200 pages. Don't waste your time.