C# Developer's Headstart (Application Development) [Paperback]

Mark Michaelis (Conductor)

Book Description

Series: Application Development | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

This text provides programmers with the answers they need in order to make vital decisions about code adoption and migration. It provides programmers with the answers they need in order to make vital decisions about code adoption and migration.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mark Michaelis (Glen Ellyn, IL) is a senior software engineer at Real World Technology, which specialises in software for the manufacturing industry. He holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Illinois and has a Masters of Computers Science from University of Illinois Institute of Technology. Mark is also Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) certified. Philip Spokas currently holds the position of Director of Product Development for RWT Corporation. Mr. Spokas received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from Benedictine University in Lisle, IL. Additionally he has completed Masters of Computer Science level courses at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is a Microsoft Certified Professional.

Product Details

• Paperback: 244 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072191163
• ISBN-13: 978-0072191165
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,237,827 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A totally ridiculous book with almost no content, September 26, 2001

By 

"asquare_from_flatland" - See all my reviews

This review is from: C# Developer's Headstart (Application Development) (Paperback)

This book is a waste of money, there's almost nothing in it. It reminds me of the terrible "Presenting C#" book (although I will grant that it is much more accurate).

Any other C# book is a much better buy. For example, if you want a quick treatment get "C# Essentials" from O'Reilly. For learning C#, get Archer, Liberty or Gunnerson. For a complete application oriented book get Troelsen.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A well written primer on C# for a reasonable price!, February 8, 2003

By 

C. Walker "orionhunter34" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: C# Developer's Headstart (Application Development) (Paperback)

This book introduced me to C# and I found it to be an excellent read. It is filled with lots of interesting and useful information. Coming from a Java and C++ background I was already familiar with OOP and this book goes over many differences between the above OO languages. This book will only wet your lips as it does not go into the details of actual programming windows applications, etc. (there are other books for that). However it gives you a rich background into the language itself, the differences between it and others, overcoming certain restrictions to the language, and porting code to C#. If you are interested in quickly learning the basics of the C# language and the .NET framework then this may be the book for you.

3.0 out of 5 stars The Biggest Problem is it's Obsolete, July 25, 2007

By 

David A. Lessnau (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: C# Developer's Headstart (Application Development) (Paperback)

At the time this book was written (2001), it was probably a decent book. But, here it is mid-2007 and the book hasn't been updated. It was written specifically to C# 1.0 while the current version is at 2.0 (3.0 (Orcas) is due Real Soon Now). Offhand, because of the version changes, I noted a few minor differences between his output and mine. But, the most significant difference I found was in his discussion of Templates: the author spent a lot of time talking about how C# doesn't support them. With 2.0, however, C# got Generics which can do quite a bit of what Templates do. Since it's not really fair to rate a book on its age, here are some comments about other aspects of the book:

- First, and most importantly, the Preface states: "it is expected that the readers of this book will already be programmers with experience in at least one other language. Given this experience, readers of this book will find that they can quickly grasp the essential characteristics of C# within one chapter and then begin examining some of the more difficult areas of the language." So, as expected, the author doesn't spend a lot of time on the syntax. This is good.

- Given the above, I really would have thought he'd present the syntax in functional areas like: Sequential, Iterative, Conditional, Classes/Structures, etc.. Instead, his syntax chapter seems pretty haphazard. Also, instead of having a separate chapter (Chapter 4) where he compares C# to C++, Java, and VB, I'd have preferred it if he had made these comparisons while discussing the syntax.

- Also, even though he said in the Introduction that he was writing for experienced programmers, he spends time explaining common, object-oriented language features. For instance, inheritance.

- When he gives C# code samples, he doesn't necessarily explain the syntax. As a matter of fact, he USUALLY doesn't explain all the syntax. In many cases, someone with experience in other languages (specifically C++ and Java) can figure things out. But, there are some C# things that aren't obvious from those other languages. Also, he USUALLY doesn't provide expected output for his code samples.

- Similarly, with textual items he also tends to use terms without defining them until later. For instance, he used the term "reflection" several times in the text without defining it for several chapters.

- He does a fairly good job of giving the why and wherefore of C# and its history. But, he assumes a lot of familiarity with .NET and occasionally lapses into near indecipherable acronyms.

- The examples he uses are almost universally trivial and simplistic. They're not much use at all.

Given the above, the best I can rate Michaelis' "C# Developer's Headstart" is an OK 3 stars out of 5. I really would recommend a newer book, though.