Customer Reviews

Core C# and .NET: The Complete and Comprehensive Developer's Guide to C# 2.0 and .NET 2.0

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

 

 

Not being a Microsoft MVP, but an experienced programmer who is new to .NET and C#, I was quite pleased with breadth and depth of this book. If you are looking for a book that will help you make the transition to .NET programming, you should find this book useful. As with most .NET books, you can find much of the information online in MSDN. But for me, time is important and I don't care to spend hours searching for information on remoting, threading,ASP.NET, and ADO.NET when I can find it in one readable source.

Most of the code examples are short but instructive, and they do work. I downloaded the code from the book's website and tested some of it under .NET 2.0 beta with no problems. Also, the download includes a simple movies database that is used in many of the examples.

Yes, the book tries to cover a lot of topice--which is its purposes. Everything is not covered in the depth you would like. I would like to see more on generics and reflection. But overall, the book does a pretty good job of providing information for its target audience (as described in its introduction) experienced programmers moving to .NET.

Core C# and .NET, read cover to cover would almost cover the entire 70-536 exam (.NET 2.0 Frameworks Application Development Foundation). Take the title of this book to heart - it is C# AND .NET. This book is without any doubt my most valued C# or .NET book to date.

I think a better title would be "Lean the.NET Framework inside and out! ...with plenty of code examples provided in C#"

Quick Note: I was using the Microsoft Training Kit For Exam 70-536( .NET 2.0 Frameworks Application Development Foundation). I read it cover to cover. While it is essential reading if you are going to take the exam, the Training Kit is full of gaps and errors. In some cases, incorrect information that needs to be unlearned (this has become a known fact about the book in the blogosphere and forums)

...I went to a local book seller and read C# books for hours with a goal of finding the right one to fill on those gaps. "Core C# and .NET" managed to clarify "chapters" of confusion from the Training Kit in 15 minutes of reading - I slammed the book shut and got up and paid for it. Slammed it shut because I was aggravated with Microsoft - Stuff I was struggling to understand was so clear to me because of this book. Good writing, knowledge, and frankly, a good teaching style.

I have since come to love this book and I have had it for only a week.

If you want to "Learn the.NET Framework inside and out!" this is the book!

I bought this book actually as a supplement and direct comparison to Andrew Troelsen's "Pro C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform". I think "Core C#" spends a little more time on more basic concepts, resulting in an even briefer treatment of some more advanced topics than Troelsen's book gives.

However, the book is still pretty good, for the sections of it that I've read. (I can only read so many C# language primers!) And I will say that there is a topic or two in here -- such as printer output with GDI+, that Troelsen makes no mention of at all.

My conclusion? Get both books! I have both and plan on hanging on to them for a long time to come.

I am a begginer of C#, while have C/C++ experience
for several years.
After reading this book, I feel this book is good
for experienced other language programmers.

Topics are surely many but getting informations from
this book, you will be able to get some clues for
searching more deep issues in MSDN Library.

But one thing I was dissapointed is missing 'using'
statement for the scope management and Transaction
classes introduced in .NET 2.0.

Many publishers have released books for learning C# programming. But some of these books cover only certain aspects of the C# language such as ADO.NET, Windows Forms, ASP.NET, etc. There are only very few books which examine the C# language completely. Moreover, these books are too bulky to handle. Core C# and .NET covers almost all aspects of the C# language in a concise format. This book is neither too bulky nor too small but provides information right from the fundamentals.

This book has been divided into four parts and eighteen chapters with two useful appendixes. Chapter 1 provides a basic introduction of the Microsoft .NET Framework and C#. It examines CLR, .NET Framework class libraries, various tools, and C# Compiler. Chapter 2 examines the core concepts of the C# language such as operators, loops, strings, arrays, etc. with the help of source codes.

Chapters 3 and 4 delve deep into various aspects of C# such as classes, methods, delegates, events, operator overloading, generics, exception handling, and serialization. You should note that generics are a new addition to C# 2.0 and have been covered with the help of a complete example. Chapter 5 provides a comprehensive explanation about strings, StringBuilder class, streams, and regular expressions.

Chapters 6 and 7 will help you to learn about Windows Forms and the various .NET controls such as Button, CheckBox, ProgressBar, Timer, etc. An important point to note is that the functioning of each control has been explained with the help of relevant codes and screenshots of the final output produced by each code.

Chapters 8 and 9 provide brief coverage of graphics, images, fonts, and printing. Chapter 8 includes a sample project: Building a Color Viewer. I feel that sample projects will surely help a reader grasp the concepts very easily. Chapters 10, 11, and 12 examine the core concepts such as XML, ADO.NET, and data binding with Windows Forms controls. Among other topics, you will learn the usage of GridView class with the help of Chapter 12.

Chapters 13, 14, and 15 throw light upon some of the advanced concepts such as asynchronous programming and multithreading. These chapters also cover remoting, security, deployment of applications, and much more.

If you are a .NET addict with a craze for Internet, then the chapters inside Part 4 are for you. These chapters examine ASP.NET Web Forms, usage of code behind techniques, master pages, usage of the web.config file, caching, Web services, WSDL, SOAP, and lot more. I feel that a project about developing a shopping cart application would be an added bonus for this part, and I hope the author will consider this when writing the next edition.

The final section of this book contains two appendixes. One is about C# 2.0 features, and the other provides information about events and delegates included with DataGridView controls in a tabular format. At the end, the author also provides answers to all the questions included with the exercises in each chapter. I feel that this will be useful for readers who want to know the answers to all those questions.

Each chapter ends with a short summary and also provides test questions under the heading "Test Your Understanding". I found that each chapter is written in an easy-to-understand language with complete source code. Some books tend to give portions of code along with explanations, but Core C# and .NET provides complete source code.

I feel that this book should come with a CD containing the source code files and some of the freely available editors for programming with C#. However, the author maintains a website for the support of this book. The site contains complete source codes, errata, sample projects covered on the book, links to some of the important websites, and a useful C# quick reference card in PDF format.

Finally, Core C# and .NET is an exhaustive and accurate encyclopedia for learning C#. It is an ideal reference book for all levels of developers. No doubt this book deserves a five-star rating.

I'm impressed by this book. It has some faults. The fonts are too big, the illustrations are too big and the margins are too wide. This book could have been about half as fat if it were just produced better.

But the content is great. There is a fast but thorough dive into C# syntax and form. After that there are numerous chapters on graphics, threading, web work, XML and more. The coverage isn't incredibly deep on each topic, but it's good enough to get into it, and it sets down good practices for future work.

I like this book and I recommend it.

It's impressive how a programmer with over 25 years of experience makes so many technical mistakes. He still assumes that you can't overload operators with Visual Basic. You can, believe me.

He tells people that the compilers ship with the SDK. No, they don't. They do ship with the runtime. And the Command Prompt installs with the IDE? Holy Chicken! Actually, it installs with the SDK. The only exception here is C++ Express, which still comes with the command prompt.

Then he proudly tells you how to compile a program named winform.cs with the command line compiler, like so:

csc /t:winform.exe /r:System.Windows.Forms.dll winform.cs

Try that. It won't compile. It should be:

csc /t:winexe winform.cs

Nothing more and nothing less. Why should you reference the System.Windows.Forms.dll and leave out the other two required namespaces? Well, if an author can't get such simple things right, then I think he has no business in writing books for experienced programmers.

Those who are experienced won't need guidance on how to write a simple form and such ridiculous stuff. Unfortunately, the lowest possible rating here is one star, so that's why he got one star and not less. Especially the first part contains more grammatical errors than other editors would let slip through for an entire book of this size.

Personally, this is the first and the last book from Perry that I have bought. And yes, it's also the last one from Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference I bought. Perhaps they should hire some editors who actually know their job. This one's the most disappointing book on programming I have ever bought. It might be useful for programmers at an elementary level, but it's a far cry from advanced level.

It's a good book, but you know it is one of those books where you have to be either forced to read it or VEEERY interested in reading it, I'm faling asleep every 2-3 pages. I wish he would borrow his stile from Robert Vieira or someone with at least remote sence of humor ... but as far as technicality goes it is OK.

This text is the most useful ever for me. It combines the best of practical application balanced with the latest methodologies. An immediate time-saver and productivity booster in all my professional work. This book has unlocked an ability in me to create like never before!

Don't panic, people... I'm not switching sides here. I just want to know more *about* the other side. And I figured a review copy of Core C# And .NET by Stephen C. Perry might help. And it does...

Contents:
Part 1 - Fundamentals Of C# Programming And Introduction To .NET: Introduction To .NET Framework; C# Language Fundamentals; Class Design In C#; Working With Objects In C#
Part 2 - Creating Applications Using The .NET Framework Class Library: C# Text Manipulation And File I/O; Building Windows Forms Applications; Windows Forms Controls; .NET Graphics Using GDI+; Fonts, Text, And Printing; Working With XML In .NET; ADO.NET; Data Binding With Windows Forms Controls
Part 3 - Advanced Use Of C# And The .NET Framework: Asynchronous Programming And Multithreading; Creating Distributed Applications With Remoting; Code Refinement, Security; And Deployment
Part 4 - Programming For The Internet: ASP.NET Web Forms And Controls; The ASP.NET Application Environment; XML Web Services
Appendix A - Features Specific To .NET 2.0 And C# 2.0; Appendix B - DataGridView Events And Delegates; Answers To Chapter Exercises; Index

Part of my plans for professional education next year (personal, not necessarily work-driven) is to become more familiar with life outside of Notes/Domino. In some cases, it will be a "dig in" experience with a language or a framework. In other cases, it will be more informational in nature (which might spark an interest to turn it into a "let's dig in"). The C# and .NET interest falls into that second category. Core C# And .NET does a good job in meeting my needs in that area. Part 1 of the book gives me the overall background I need, and helped me to understand that C# and .NET bear a remarkable similarity to Java and the JVM. :) The rest of the book gets into much more coding detail than I'm ready to tackle at this point, but it's all very practical and useful in everyday coding scenarios. If someone told me my future is dependant on my ability to code in C# and .NET, I'd feel very comfortable in making this my first book for getting a broad understanding of the subject. Fortunately, as of right now no one *has* told me that, but this book will be on my shelf "just in case".

If you find yourself in the same boat I'm currently sailing, and if you have a decent amount of programming experience to draw upon, I'm confident in stating that this book would be an OK choice to start down the C#/.NET river. Microsoft tends to dredge the river and add new twists and bends that don't match existing maps a bit too often for my liking, but you have to start somewhere. Core C# And .Net is a good river map based on the current water flow...