Head First C#, 2E: A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with Visual C# and .NET (Head First Guides) [Paperback]

Andrew Stellman (Author), Jennifer Greene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1449380344 | ISBN-13: 978-1449380342 | Edition: Second Edition

You want to learn C# programming, but you're not sure you want to suffer through another tedious technical book. You're in luck: Head First C# introduces this language in a fun, visual way. You'll quickly learn everything from creating your first program to learning sophisticated coding skills with C# 4.0, Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4, while avoiding common errors that frustrate many students.

The second edition offers several hands-on labs along the way to help you build and test programs using skills you've learned up to that point. In the final lab, you'll put everything together. From objects to garbage collection and from exceptions to interactions, you'll learn C# in a way that engages and entertains your brain. Here are a few of the topics you'll learn:

• Start by building a useful application with pre-built components in Visual Studio 2010
• Discover how objects work, using real-world examples
• Store numbers, text, and other basic data types using primitives
• Save complex data in files and databases with great C# tools
• Build intuitive and easy-to-use interfaces by following simple rules
• Design your code to catch exceptions -- things you don't expect
• Develop good programming habits, such as refactoring code and applying unit tests
• Learn how web services put your programs in touch with the rest of the world
• Make it easy for other people to install your software

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andrew Stellman, despite being raised a New Yorker, has lived in Pittsburgh twice. The first time was when he graduated from Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science, and then again when he and Jenny were starting their consulting business and writing their first project management book for O'Reilly. When he moved back to his hometown, his first job after college was as a programmer at EMI-Capitol Records--which actually made sense, since he went to LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts to study cello and jazz bass guitar. He and Jenny first worked together at that same financial software company, where he was managing a team of programmers. He's since managed various teams of software engineers, requirements analysts, and led process improvement efforts. Andrew keeps himself busy eating an enormous amount of string cheese and Middle Eastern desserts, playing music (but video games even more), studying taiji and aikido, having a girlfriend named Lisa, and owning a pomeranian. For more information about Andrew, Jennifer Greene, and their books, visit http://www.stellman-greene.com.

Jennifer Greene has managed just about every aspect of software development during her career. She spent the past 15 years building software for many different kinds of companies, including small start-ups and huge companies. Jenny's built software test teams and has helped many companies diagnose and deal with habitual process problems so they could build better software. Since her start in software test and process definition, she's branched out into development management and project management. Jenny is currently managing a large development team for a global media company.

Product Details

• Paperback: 840 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; Second Edition edition (May 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449380344
• ISBN-13: 978-1449380342
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 1.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > C#
  • #27 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Introductory & Beginning
  • #29 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Software Design, Testing & Engineering > Object-Oriented Design

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for first time object oriented programmers August 31, 2010

By evannever

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been out of coding for almost 10 years and decided to get back into it recently. Since I'm focusing on .Net technologies I thought jumping into C# would be the right step. I read most of the reviews for this book and the gist I got was: it was good for beginners, well written, but full of errors.

I have found only two of those to be true: The second edition of this book seems to be mostly error free. I'm about half way through and I *think* I've found only one error so far (this was very minor too). All of my code has compiled and I haven't had any issues at all. The book is very beginner oriented but moves at a good pace. The concepts come fast and things like class diagramming and coding styles are seamlessly worked in to the lessons.

The book teaches C# and object oriented programming from the beginning and I can't recommend it enough for someone who is starting out or has been out of the game for too long (like me). Make sure you get the second edition and you wont be disappointed.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review in progress, 2nd Ed. (read before reading older reviews) June 19, 2010

By Jacob D. Ryf

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

First, please understand this is my first review and I am still just a programming student and this is my first experience with C# but not the C language. I've taken two classes in C++ and one in Visual Basic, so I'm not a newbie but at the same time I still wouldn't consider myself intermediate.

I'm writing this review having only read the first 100 pages of the book because I wanted to state that, as of this writing, the current edition of this book that Amazon.com is selling (Pub: May 2010, 2nd ed) there have been NO errors. If you are considering purchasing this book, please be aware that (again as of this writing) there have only been 2 reviews of the newest edition (2nd ed, May 2010). All previous reviews are of the November 2007 edition which was apparently filled with errors. If only Amazon.com would list them separately we wouldn't have this problem.

Now, a brief review of the content. The first impressive thing about this book is that it takes into consideration how our brain works and learns and it explains this to you a bit before getting into the subject of the book. It uses a lot of pictures and repetition (repetition via text and program exercises) to help you remember things which studies have shown makes a big difference in the way our brain stores data. (I know this from reading 'Brain Rules' by John Medina).

Anyway, so far in the first 100 pages, we've lightly covered the basics; variables, if statements, loops and program structure (namespace, class, method, statements). When I say lightly, I mean it doesn't go into every type of variable or all the details of a method. I feel this is a good approach for a first time coder because trying to remember everything a method can do in one chapter just isn't going to happen. I should also mention that in the first chapter you go through a simple program to help you get the feel of the IDE (Visual Studio 2010).

That about summarizes my experience in the first 100 pages (mid chapter 3), I will add more to the review as I progress through the book.

Update 7/11/2010: Been busy, I've only got to the end of Chapter 4 since my last post. So far great except for a few steps left out of the program you build on p. 162. However these steps and a reason why they aren't there are posted on the front page of the Head First C# webpage.

For those interested, here is the Table of Contents (Summary):
Intro
1 Get productive with C#: Visual Applications, in 10 minutes or less
2 It's All Just Code: Under the hood
3 Objects: Get Oriented: Making code make sense
4 Types and References: It's 10:00. Do you know where your data is?
C# Lab 1: A Day at the races
5 Encapsulation: Keep your privates... private
6 Inheritance: Your object's family tree
7 Interfaces and abstract classes: Making classes keep their promises
8 Enums and collections: Storing lots of data
C# Lab 2: The Quest
9 Reading and Writing Files: Save the byte array, save the world
10 Exception Handling: Putting out fires gets old
11 Events and Delegates: What your code does when you're not looking
12 Review and Preview: Knowledge, power, and building cool stuff
13 Controls and Graphics: Make it pretty
14 Captain Amazing: The Death of the Object
15 LINQ: Get control of your data
C# Lab 3: Invaders
i Leftovers: The top 11 things we wanted to include in this book

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It is the book focusing on practice skill December 20, 2010

By LCW

Format:Paperback

Due to my work, I have to learn c# for some projects. I bought this book and I don't regret it.

I am a Java developer so I have some programming experience. Yes, if you are completely new to programming and OO concept, perhaps you may feel confused and hard to understand while going through this book, because it spends a lot of pages on step-by-step and practical exercises, and sometimes the exercises are quite long and linked.

So... if you just want to read the book while you are sitting comfortably on your sofa, this book isn't for you.
If you are like me want to actual learn C# skill and get them to burn deeply in your head, you have to face your computer monitor working with Visual studio all the time. Then you should buy this book.

This book contains 3 labs for you to test and summarize you skill. Those labs ask and guide you to make games so it is quite fun... espectially the 3rd lab. It is about to make a shooting game. Once I finished the lab, I was very delighted because I got ZERO c# experience before. How would I support I could make a shooting game after 3 weeks reading and practicing on this book? It was just a miracle.