Customer Reviews

C# in Depth: What you need to master C# 2 and 3

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I know these comments are going to give the impression of being one of those "independent" reviews that often get put up on Amazon shortly after a book is released. Those reviews all give the book in question five stars to make sure the author makes a few quick sales until people find out the real story about it...but this isn't one of those...it's actually a truthful review!

C# In Depth is an excellent, bordering on brilliant, examination of C#2 and C#3.

The author clearly understands the C# language at a very deep level and has the gift to be able to communicate his understanding in a way that really gets through to the average developer like you and me.

Jon Skeet starts with the assumption that you already understand the basics of C#1. He then deliberately skips over the usual route of discussing the .NET framework libraries, instead concentrating exclusively on the C# language itself.

He is therefore able to focus his book on reaching deep into the C# language itself....certainly to a level that I've never seen any other book come close to.

What I especially liked was the author's own free little tool for running his code snippets. Instead of getting bogged down in masses of unnecessary supplementary code to demonstrate a simple point, "Snippy" allows you to just enter the few lines you really want to understand and play with - and then it takes care of compiling and running them for you...a really neat idea.

I always say that there's a simple way to tell if someone is really an expert in something....ask them to explain something complex.

The pseudo-expert will only be able to explain complex topics using complex jargon and complex analogies. The real expert can explain complex topics using simple language and simple analogies...and this book demonstrates that the author is a real expert!

An excellent advanced C# book.

Simply stated, this is an excellent C# book.

Its NOT for beginners ... but, if you are coming to C# from another language (like Java) or you know some C# but want to get a thorough understanding of features .. like .. how to write and use delegates(p. 34) ... What are generic type constraints? Why would I want to use them? (p. 75) ... then this book is what you need.

I love the writing. Its detailed and technical yet a joy to read. Even some light humor! Excellent!

I'm a Java developer and was looking for a good C# book and I stumbled upon the author's blog (and this book) while looking for reviews of another C# book I was considering ... this, out of the C# books I've seen, has the best combination of detailed coverage and good readable writing. IMHO.

Most "C#" books are actually books about the .NET framework (and the various core classes) using C# as the language for examples. Not this book; instead, this is truly a book about C# itself, touching on the framework only where necessary to explain the language design.

There are a lot of language features introduced in C# 2 and C# 3, and the simple fact is that many of these generally aren't fully understood by most developers. This book could truly change that. I consider myself an experienced C# developer, yet C# in Depth showed me depths (*useful* depths) I simply didn't know - even in the C# 2 areas that I thought I understood well. It also covers a lot of the language specifics surrounding LINQ (that being the main goal of C# 3), which I would consider essential for anyone serious about .NET 3.5 / VS2008.

A deeper understanding of the language is incredibly useful; especially when trying to understand why something isn't behaving as you expected (a prime example being the subtleties of "captured variables"). But equally, knowing how to work *with* the language (rather than against it) is key to robust and reusable designs. For example, the ability to use a more functional programming style in C# 3 (and what that means...).

And yet somehow, Jon manages to cover this technical vista while keeping the tone easily approachable, engaging, and even entertaining. Not a small challenge.

All in all, highly recommended: it will make you a better C# developer.

I've just counted, it's the fifth book I've read on C# this year (not to mention a dozen books on .NET) and this is by far the best. It's not just very good technically, useful and enjoyable to read, it's flawless. In fact, I didn't find as single typo, a single sentence that was slightly misleading or incomplete which, in my experience, is extremely rare for a first edition. On top of being a highly competent developer, Jon is clearly a gifted writer and a born teacher. Every term is always used appropriately and in the right context, every example is spot on and contains the least amount of code that shows the full extent of the feature... this is a rare treat.
So, forget about reading the C# Specification. If you want to know all the useful stuff without going through pages and pages of boring and tedious text, read `C# in depth' instead! (I've made the mistake of doing it the other way round).
To sum up, if you are a good C# developer and you want to become a very good C# developer, there are 3 books you can't afford not to read: Framework Design Guidelines by Cwalina/Abrams, CLR via C# by Jeff Richter and this one!

To be honest when I first started in C# I didn't think much about the syntax. Having worked for years in C++ and Java it was nice to see a language that was a cleaned up hybrid of both. At first I was glad to be rid of C++ generics because of the complexity that they brought to the language. But the lack of strongly typed collections was a bit of a drag.

C# 2 and 3 added generics in a nice way. From a consumer standpoint there isn't much to know. But if you are implementing a library, or want to get the most out of the language features, you are going to want to read C# In Depth. It's a well written book that treats the reader with respect. Language features are discussed practically without over language lawyering. Though the author does throw in a 25-cent software engineering term now and again.

if you want to know everything you can about C#. Or you are a serious library writer. You should pick up a copy of C# In Depth.

Rather than just tell you what the new features are, this book goes the extra mile and helps you appreciate the need for the new features and how you can code differently to take advantage of them.

It's the most useful one I've come across in a long time. I hardly buy books nowadays because there's so much detailed info online and most books are just glorified user manuals but this one is definitely a keeper.

Bonus: I was also pleasantly surprised to learn how responsive the author was in answering a question i had about some material in his book.

At 392 pages, this is not a long book. Jon intended this book not to be one of those `massive tome[s]' that adorn the bookshelves. It's lean and gets straight to the point, whilst keeping the writing style engaging; not an easy feat. The `frictionless' code examples are so clearly explained, you can glide through them without constantly having to back track into the text.

If there is one thing that sets this book apart from the others, it is the way is it structured to take the reader from C# version 1.1 to C# 2.0 and then through to C# 3. This would be especially useful for developers who are about to embark on a C# upgrade project, and want to be sure to use all the new language features to best effect.

This is the book I'll be reaching for to answer those hard and best practice C# questions. It`s an excellent resource for updating your C# development skills and taking them to the next level. If you write code in C#, you should read this book. Highly recommended.

Here's a link to some of the extra material: http://csharpindepth.com/Articles.aspx. The bluffers guides to C# 2 and 3 are a good way to get a rough overview of some of the new features. This web site also contains notes, online resources, and downloads.

This is one of the best computer books that I have ever read. Reading this book was like reading a fast paced action packed thriller, where each chapter opens you to new mysteries and then everything culminates together into an interesting climax in chapter 11, 12 and 13. This book is written for people who already have fairly good understanding of core language concepts and want to get deeper understanding of those concepts and also understand the evolution of those concepts from 1.0 to 2.0 to 3.0 with a historical perspective. This book is for people who want to, as author always likes say, "improve their relation with their language".

This book has razor sharp focus on the advanced concepts of C# only, starting from 1.0 to 3.0. It does not waste time and pages in explaining CLS and CTS and such. It dives straight into things like Delegates, boxing/unboxing, Parameterized typing, nullable types, iterators, static classes, anonymous/implicit typing, expression trees/lambda expression and extension methods. It then uses all these concepts to explain LINQ to Objects, LINQ to SQL and LINQ to XML. In the process it also explains functional way of thinking and programming.

This is a great book. It's very readable, and it explains so many things. I was finding it very difficult to become familiar with the new features of C# without explanations, so this was just the book I was waiting for. I also think I benefitted from being exposed to the author's expertise through the code he supplied with the book.

The publisher (Manning) has an author's forum for each book, and this author is very quick to respond to any post. The author also maintains his own website for the book (http://csharpindepth.com), with an up-to-date errata page, as well as notes and articles related to the book.

Overall I feel this book has good info in it and was worth the purchase, my only complaint is that sometimes I felt as if the there wasn't enough detail given on a topic to make it clear enough with the first read.