Beginning C# 3.0: An Introduction to Object Oriented Programming (Wrox Beginning Guides) [Paperback]

Jack Purdum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 12, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470261293 | ISBN-13: 978-0470261293 | Edition: 1

Learn all the basics of C# 3.0 from Beginning C# 3.0: An Introduction to Object Oriented Programming, a book that presents introductory information in an intuitive format. If you have no prior programming experience but want a thorough, easy-to-understand introduction to C# and Object Oriented Programming, this book is an ideal guide. Using the tutorials and hands-on coding examples, you can discover tried and true tricks of the trade, understand design concepts, employ debugging aids, and design and write C# programs that are functional and that embody safe programming practices.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Jack Purdum started his programming career on an IBM 360 mainframe as a graduate student in the 1960s. In the mid - 1970s, he became interested in software development for microcomputers, and he founded his own software development company (Ecosoft, Inc.) in 1977. The company ’ s main product was a statistics package (Microstat) that he wanted to rewrite in a new language called C. Lacking a suitable C compiler, Dr. Purdum ’ s company developed its own MS - DOS - based C compiler and other programming tools. He has been involved with language instruction ever since. Dr. Purdum has authored 15 texts and numerous programming articles and has received several teaching awards. He is currently on the cusp of retirement from Purdue University ’ s College of Technology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 556 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (May 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470261293
• ISBN-13: 978-0470261293
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Jack Purdum attended Muskingum College (BA, Economics, 1965) and graduate school at The Ohio State University (MA, Economics, 1967, Ph.D., Economics, 1972). He began his teaching career at Creighton University in the Department of Economics in 1970, then to Butler University's Econ department in 1974, and finally to Purdue University College of Technology in 2001. He became interested in microcomputers in 1975 and won a National Science Foundation grant to study microcomputers in education. He began writing programming books in 1982, mainly on the C programming language. He retired from Purdue University in 2008. Dr. Purdum recently finished his 17th book on C for microcontrollers, maintains a single-digit handicap in golf, and enjoys tinkering around with the Atmel family of microcontrollers.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book if you want to get a solid introduction to OOP and C# July 28, 2008

By iRead

Format:Paperback

I've read several of Dr. Purdum's books in the past and have always found them informative and enjoyable to read. Beginning C# 3.0, An introduction to Object Oriented Programming (Wrox) is one of his best book yet. As he asks in the introduction, there are dozens of C# texts out there, so why should you pick this one? His answer is that, while most of the other texts were written by extremely capable programmers, few of the authors have never stood in front of several hundred students looking for examples that teach the material yet are easy to understand and remember. Several of the key strengths of this book are the examples and the way Dr. Purdum anticipates the reader's questions.

For example, in covering the OOP concept of encapsulation in Chapter 2, he discusses why programmers hide the data properties of an object inside the object. He states: "You hide them for the same reason that kings used to hide their daughters in the castle tower...to keep other people from messing around with them." Later on, when discussing the difference between public and private access specifiers, he points out that using the public access specifier is like locking the princess in the castle tower and then passing out her room key to all the knights of the realm. I don't know about you, but this is easier for me to remember this than some dry explanation that one often reads on encapsulation.

Another strength is the way he anticipates rough spots for the student. One of the most difficult concepts for beginning programmers is the difference between value types and reference types. Dr. Purdum uses a simple explanation of what a symbol table is to discuss l-values and r-values. He then introduces a concept he developed called Bucket Analogy which uses the symbol table concepts to explain the difference between the two classes of data. Even experienced programmers will appreciate this example and how it truly makes the differences clear. He uses a job interview to explain what objects are as well as cookie cutters to explain instantiation. The book does reflect his 25 years of teaching experience.

The material covered is what you'd expect for an introductory text. He also covers relatively new topics like Generics and LINQ. The database chapter even has a fairly complete DBMS. However, the entire theme is to teach OOP and good coding techniques. For example, he'll write a code example that works but then calls it an example of RDC (Really Dumb Code). He then rewrites the code and explains why it is a better solution, especially when writing for a commercial environment. His objective is to teach you good OOP techniques using C# as the vehicle to learn those techniques. His experience owning a software company for 17 years shows through while doing this.

If you want to get a solid introduction to OOP and C#, choosing this book is one of the best choices you can make.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best IT book I have ever read November 13, 2009

By Samy Belhaffef

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

To be honest, I am a french IT engineer and english is not my native language so I sincerely apologize if I make mistakes while writing this review.
Despite this fact, I found that this book was amazing.
It explains clearly from scratch how to write serious programs using difficult concepts of object oriented programming.
This book is the perfect balance between theory and practice in order to understand perfectly OOP and C# language.
I have read dozens of IT books in my professional life but I need to admit that this book is a must.
Any beginning programmer who follow seriously each step of this book will be able to understand and use OOP and C#.
This book is from my opinion an excellent book for everybody : Beginners as experienced programmers who want to learn C#.
I need to congratulate Mr.Purdum for this masterpiece and I hope he will write another book which will go on building on the strong foundation of this book.
For example a real business software application described step by step would be a great asset for the whole C# community of programmers.
Anyway this book is really a must.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, lots of errors September 5, 2009

By Ben Bartholic

Format:Paperback

I will keep this short and sweet. The book is great at explaining things from a beginners standpoint. Lots of metaphors and imagery to help with visualizing what you are doing. I did not give this book 5 stars due to the large amount of errata in the code. It's one thing for a seasoned programmer to figure out, but not for the beginner reading this book. Some errata can be found on the Wrox homepage, but they do not have all of the errors.

Overall, great book. Just be willing to invest the time to figure out the errors.