Database Programming With C# [Paperback]

Carsten Thomsen (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590590104 | ISBN-13: 978-1590590102 | Publication Date: April 5, 2002 | Edition: 1st

Database Programming with C# takes developers through all the data access aspects of Visual Studio .NET with example code in C#, including how to create the various database details, such as tables, constraints, projects, stored procedures, views, triggers, and more. Carsten Thomsen shows readers how to do this from within the Visual Studio .NET IDE, as well as programmatically where possible. Readers will build on example code from the beginning of the book that will wrap up in the final chapter. The example application is a complete user management system that includes SQL Server, Active Directory, and Message Queuing. The example code includes how to connect to and manipulate data in MySQL 3.23.45 or later, Oracle 8i or later, Microsoft Access 2000 or later, and SQL Server. Readers connecting to SQL Server 2000 will find information on the SQLXML 2.0 plug-in for manipulating SQL Server data using XML from managed code or using HTTP. Exchange Server 2000 connection and data manipulation are also covered with original working code. Database Programming with C# is the ultimate resource for developers who need to master database programming in C#. About the Author Carsten Thomsen is a Microsoft MVP, recognition he first received in August 1999. He lives in his native Denmark and currently holds the MCSE and MCSD Microsoft certifications. Carsten has been programming in Visual Basic for almost 10 years and he specializes in data access. However, with the advent of VB .NET and more importantly VS .NET, he has focused on two programming languages, C# and VB .NET and data access from these two programming languages.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews:

"Database programming in Microsoft’s .Net approach is accomplished via ADO.Net. … So in this book we might expect to find a detailed description of ADO.Net with C# examples. The author delivers on the expectation, covering ADO.Net in two of the 11 chapters. … it can be used as a reference text. … absolute beginners will find an abundance of useful information. … most of the content will more than satisfy beginners." (Daniel Moth, The Computer Bulletin, November, 2002)

"Database Programming with C# by Carsten Thomsen, is for people who have already done database programming in Visual Basic or Java and also know the basics of C# programming. … The appendix, showing connectivity to SQL Server 2000 using XML, is particularly useful. The coverage of unusual topics such as message queues and hierarchical databases demonstrates Thomsen’s mastery over .NET, making this book a must read, particularly for database programmers with basic knowledge of C#." (Alokesh Bhattacharyya, Computer Today, July, 2002)

About the Author

Carsten Thomsen is a Microsoft "Most Valuable Professional," a recognition he received in August 1999. He lives in his native Denmark and currently holds the MCSE, MCAD, and MCSD certifications. Carsten has been programming in Visual Basic for more than 12 years, and he specializes in data access, object-oriented analysis and design, and enterprise development. These days, Carsten is primarily focused on development with Visual Studio .NET, using MSF, UML, Visual Basic .NET, and C#, but he also enjoys working with Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003, Microsoft Content Management Server 2002, and Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004. Carsten now works as a .NET consultant mainly in London and Dublin, but he also does the odd .NET training job.

Product Details

• Paperback: 667 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1st edition (April 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590590104
• ISBN-13: 978-1590590102
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,502,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for begginers. Let down by inclusion of irrelevant info, July 7, 2002

By 

Daniel Moth (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Database Programming With C# (Paperback)

Database Programming in .NET is accomplished via ADO.NET which dominates the middle layer of any .NET database application. It can be done via C# or any other .NET language, and there are command line tools as well as Visual Studio.NET to assist the developer. So in a book titled "Database Programming with C#" we expect to find an in depth description of ADO.NET with C# examples demonstrating the use of the classes/methods to accomplish common database tasks.

We can cut this review short by just saying that the author delivers on the expectation with ADO.NET being covered in 2 (out of the 11) chapters. Chapters 3A & 3B describe the connected & disconnected layers and constitute more than a third of the book's size. However, what dominates these chapters and indeed the rest of the book is the many lengthy tables listing methods of the various framework classes. Not only does this get in the way of an enjoyable read but it is just a rehash of the already excellent help system.

Reading this book cover to cover can also become tiresome due to a lot of repetition. The flip-side to this is that the book can be used as a reference text. Claiming the user level to be intermediate-advanced is ambitious although absolute beginners will find an abundance of useful information.

So what do the other chapters cover? The first one claims to be a 'quick intro to C#' but ends up being an overview of .NET in general; The second one introduces databases at the most basic level and really should have been considered prerequisite knowledge (i.e. read Codd, Date or Elmasri etc); the fourth chapter describes VS.NET with its database tools/wizards and the fifth one describes structured exception handling (why?!). There is some good material in chapters 6-8 on stored procedures, views, triggers and message queues. SQLXML is introduced in the appendix but it would have been nice to see more XML coverage throughout the book.

To summarise, if we can leave aside the style and bad organisation of the book, most of the content will more than satisfy beginners.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I don't get it, April 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Database Programming With C# (Paperback)

Ok, I don't get it. I bought this book based on last reviewers feedback and I'm disappointed. In brief, this is what I found:
1. No in-depth ADO.NET concepts
2. Author spends too much time on MSDN tables (classes, methods and properties). Doesn't make sense.
3. Using Author's custom databse "UserMan" is confusing. If you don't understand the database schema, you'll certainly get lost.
4. Didn't find nothing on DataGrid and other data-bound controls.
5. I'm still looking for transactions and a concrete sample on concurrency.

Good luck.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible coverage, April 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Database Programming With C# (Paperback)

This is a really good book. I was one of those not completely satisfied with the VB .NET version,
but this one more than makes up for the issues found in the VB .NET book. I particularly like the
concurrency description and sample code, but also the SQLXML chapter is great.

Personally, I think that the many tables in chapters 3A and 3B should be moved to an appendix,
but as they're referenced in the chapters they do serve a purpose other than filling the book,
which was my original impression.

The chapter on exception handling is very good, and I particularly like the coverage of the Debug class,
which is something that I as a veteran VB programmer isn't all that familiar with.

I got this book mainly for the SQL Server coverage, but I deal with other database, such as MySQL
and Access now and then, so the inclusion on sample code for connecting to these database is just great.

Thomsen, move those tables to an appendix and you'll have the best C# database book out there. Still,
5 stars is what I rate this book, because the coverage of various database topics, including
Message Queuing, Active Directory, and Microsoft Exchange Server, all of which I deal with occassionally,
can't be found elsewhere.

I haven't finished reading the entire book as I only just got it, but the stuff that I've read and the bits I've flicked through
makes me say; Good job, and a much better job than your previous work.

I didn't plan on investing in this book (got someone else to pay), based on the VB .NET one, but after reading what I've read so far, I can only recommend it; it's so much better.