32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book: must read for all C# developers, November 13, 2010
This review is from: C# in Depth, Second Edition (Paperback)
Of all the C# books I've read, this is by far my favorite. Anyone who is interested in furthering their knowledge on C# should own this book. All of Jon's explanations are clear and easy to read, and he has obviously spent a painstaking amount of time mastering every detail of the language. More importantly, he takes what could be considered a very dry topic (studying features of a programming language is considered truly exhilarating by few) in subtly injects humorous comments in the text. Besides is surprising thoroughness of his book, this is actually what impressed me the most about his writing.
All this being said, this is not a book for true C# beginners. If you have experience with other languages, such as Java (as it is similar to C#), you'll probably be able to grasp a lot of what Jon talks about as what you know can translate over, but this is not a book which will walk you through learning how to start programming. This should not be the first book you buy. This should be the second. After you've read the first one, throw it out to make room for this one, and buy it. I'm pretty confident to say, this is the only C# book you need. It covers versions 1 through 4, and out does any other book I've read on the subject.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly comprehensive resource explaining the inner workings of C#, March 10, 2011
This review is from: C# in Depth, Second Edition (Paperback)
Jon Skeet is a rare bird (I mean that only as the highest praise), and it shows in this book. It seems like many tech book authors these days are folks who spend more time on the conference circuit than noodling out production code, and that shows in the level of depth of many a doorstop covering the latest version of whatever framework/language/productivity app. But Skeet writes production code for Google in Java apparently at the same time he puzzles out the minutia of the C# compiler and how it interfaces with the .NET runtime, BCL, and surrounding tooling. That sort of a "comparative religions" understanding really comes through in his insightful commentary and explanations of how C# works and why.
It's fair to say that this book doesn't cover as much of the compiler and BCL as many other C# titles for a couple of reasons. First, it covers mostly what has changed through the various versions of C#, so it leaves out a few minor areas that haven't changed (like the use and creation of custom Attributes, for example). You won't miss the few things that Skeet omits if you have any other book on C#. Also, it really is a book about the C# language and compiler so while the behavior of the runtime is discussed somewhat, it's in relationship to the specific IL generated by the compiler in different situations. (If you really want a book about the CLR, I'd recommend Jeffrey Richter's book, CLR via C#.)
What Skeet does describe is the thorniest and most poorly understood aspects of C# in a version-by-version analysis of each language feature, how it was introduced, and exactly how it functions. All of this is critical for a developer who wants to get the most out of C#'s new language features (e.g. LINQ) and start to understand the functional programming paradigm that is making its way into the world of corporate IT. (I've actually read two other books specifically on LINQ and this book does a better job of explaining LINQ than either of them.)
Just one minor nitpik... the writing style is conversational and the text seems more verbose in places than it needs to be. This is easily forgivable because the writing is all very clear, and Skeet always has a definite point in mind. I think this just limits the book's usefulness as a quick reference somewhat.
All in all, I think this book is to C# what Joshua Bloch's Effective Java is to that other semi-colon language.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent resource for experienced C# developers, November 15, 2010
This review is from: C# in Depth, Second Edition (Paperback)
As an experience C# developer, I tend to find most programming books written more for a reader who is just starting out in that particular language. When I do find a programming book that is written more for the advanced developer, the content is usually too specific. I jumped on the .Net bandwagon back when it first started off; I dabbled in 2.0 and didn't start focusing on the language changes until 4.0. I was very pleased by the way Jon Skeet approached his audience and kept the material interesting. My favorite parts of this book were in the first few chapters where the author shows you how we got from 1.0 to the 4.0 version of the language. Even though some of this was review, the approach made the material interesting and kept my attention. The rest of the book delved into more detailed information but it wasn't specific to any one topic. Jon focused mostly on what he discussed at a higher level earlier on in the book. I would definitely recommend this book to any experienced programmer looking to learn C# or someone who already knows enough C# to be dangerous.
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