Customer Reviews

Murach's ADO.NET 3.5, LINQ, and the Entity Framework with C# 2008 (Murach: Training & Reference)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

(5/11/11: Update for 4.0 version at bottom.)

The introduction to this book says that knowledge of C# is assumed, but no database knowledge is necessary. What that really means is that she starts at the beginning, but she moves quickly into advanced material.

I like this approach. Too many books skip or gloss over the basics, giving a reader nowhere to look if he doesn't fully understand the code examples (except additional books).

Murach books use a "paired page" layout. On the left page is text, with the right page showing diagrams, bullet points and code samples. The right page is almost like a PowerPoint presentation, and you can quickly get through material you already know by skimming the pages on the right. The paired pages generally help you read at your own appropriate pace, especially if you're familiar with many of the points. In places, I found myself reading both pages and seeing the same material, or reading only one side and missing something. Each chapter ends with a summary and a list of terms, so you can check that you understood all of it. The layout makes it easy to go back and find something later.

These books contain good, complete and realistic code examples, and step-by-step instructions for creating them using Visual Studio tools. However, all of the ADO chapters discuss WinForms, not ASP. Many of the LINQ techniques are applicable to either platform, but the first half of the book is of minimal help to the ASP developer. (The LINQ and EF sections do dedicate their last chapters to ASP.)

LINQ (Language Integrated Query) was added with .NET 3.0 and enhanced in 3.5. Briefly, LINQ allows you to perform SQL-like selection over collections of data, whether in databases, XML, or program Objects. It lets you use a list to return another list, filtered and/or sorted. In the introductory LINQ chapter, she briefly introduces Lambda expressions, which offer a shorter, alternative syntax to many LINQ queries. Lambdas are missing from the rest of the book.

The Entity Framework, added in .NET 3.5 SP1, allows you to program to conceptualized objects instead of a specific database structure. Both LINQ and EF simplify working with data, by adding IntelliSense and a terse, flexible syntax to replace what would formerly have been much more code, tied to a specific implementation.

Murach's website has all the code examples available for free download, and there are exercises at the end of chapters using suggested changes to the examples. To me, this is the best part of the book. The downloaded code saves you from having to type along, but the exercises test your knowledge of both programming concepts and the hidden features of the Visual Studio IDE.

The code samples use SQL Server Express. An appendix explains how to download it from Microsoft if you don't already have it.

I learned a lot from this book. It introduced me to areas of Visual Studio that I had never seen before, as well as LINQ and EF. There's a lot of material here, well presented. It mostly lives up to the Murach claim that their books are "several books in one", replacing what would otherwise be a book on ADO, a book on LINQ and possibly a third book on EF.

SIDE NOTE: Microsoft has hinted that they will deprecate LINQ to SQL Server, in favor of LINQ to Entity Framework. The jury may be out on this, however.

UPDATE, 5/11/11: I just read the 4.0 version of this book. The new edition is an evolutionary change with some nice readability improvements. New sections were added on ASP.NET and XML, and the LINQ chapters are leaner and less redundant. Entity Framework is removed from the title and gets less coverage than in the earlier version, but there is a good introduction.

Very good book for beginner to intermediate. Very good introduction to Entity Framework. I wish the book had more coverage using the ADO.NET programatically than using the data source wizards. I would rather see and use compact, efficient, and controllable code with ADO.NET objects than defining via the data source wizards. Also the book was somewhat lacking on the subject of concurrency, especially with optimistic vs pessimistic concurrency. But overall, still a good book and I still like Murach's format style.

Written in an instructional style with clear definitions and illustrated concepts this book covers a host of data access concepts with timely and practical examples. The material in the book explains many of the new additions to the Microsoft ADO.Net 3.5 framework such as LINQ (Language-Integrated Query), Entity Framework, and Microsoft's approach Object Relational Mapping.

I appreciate the clarity, structure, and thoroughness given to the topics in this book. If you are new to ADO.Net the first few chapters will give you a good overview explaining datasets, business classes, and how to work with Data Grid View Controls.

From there the book dives into data sources for Rapid Application Development and advance concept like LINQ to SQL and LINQ to XML. I especially found binding data to controls, using stored procedures to insert, update, and delete data concepts, and Entity Data Model Designer which are first explained and then illustrated with code examples very helpful.

As Senior Software Developer building business applications I found this book timely and thorough. At close to 800 pages filled with concepts and examples this book will give you a solid foundation in ADO.Net, LINQ, and the Entity Framework. I highly recommend this comprehensive and well written guide to LINQ and the Entity Framework.

The latest addition to an outstanding roster of 'how to' books for computer professionals published by Mike Murach & Associates, "Murach's ADO.NET 3.5 LINQ and the Entity Framework with C# 2008" continues a distinctive tradition of publishing comprehensive instructional reference works that are as 'user friendly' as they are cutting edge in the field of software development and application. Author and C# expert Anne Boehm draws upon her more than twenty years of experience and expertise as a programmer specializing in Visual Basic and .NET, and as the author of several previous computer reference works, to instruct C# developers on employing C# 2008 and ADO.NET 3.5 for creating professional quality database applications. Of special note are the twenty-three complete database applications that showcase programming practices utilizing data sources and datasets for Rapid Application Development and prototyping of Windows Forms applications. She then goes on to step-by-step illustrated explanations with respect to building professional level triple layer applications (presentation, business, database classes), as well as the effective use of new LINQ features, XML documents, building database applications using Entity Framework for mapping business objects to database objects. "Murach's ADO.NET 3.5 LINQ and the Entity Framework with C# 2008" is a welcome and strongly recommended addition to personal and professional C# instructional reference collections.

I was looking for a single book to cover the basics of ADO.NET databases. This book had a good review rating so I got it. I'm still in need of a good ADO.NET book.

If you want a book you can refer to on how to create databases in Visual Studio, then this is your book. If you want a book that will explain what's actually going on, I would suggest you look elsewhere.

The format is okay for introducing material, but when you want details, they just aren't there. Basically, what is written on the left page is reproduced as a outline on the right page. It is really hard to get much of an in depth conversation going in this type of format. The amount of material covered in this book is what I would expect to be covered in the first 1/3 of a normal book.

For example, one glaring omission is how to deploy a database. Visual Studio takes care of that when you are working in it, but things are different when you try to deploy the database on a different computer. Murach provides the code for the examples in the book on their web site. Interestingly enough they also provide a batch files to deploy the database. Nowhere in the book does it explain how to do this, other than mentioning to use these batch files in the example installation section in the appendix. So you are left to fend for yourself once you actually try to deploy your database. I had to spend a considerable amount of time searching the MSDN/web to come up with information that should have been provided in this book.

I actually got more useful database information out of a single chapter in my ASP.NET book than I did out of this entire book. I suspect this will be one of those books that sets of my shelf and never gets used.

"Originally published by the Denver Visual Studio User Group at [...]."

When I read the previous edition of this book concentrating on ADO.NET 3.5 I was not thoroughly impressed. However, this new ADO.NET 4 edition is vastly improved on the old edition. Having read other Murach publications over the past few years the style of instruction is unchanged. As you begin to thumb through the book notice the layout of all Murach books; the left side is setup for the user to read the test in that particular section, while on the right hand side is reserved screenshots and detailed descriptive data. This style serves the reader well; it allows you to understand the basic concept while being immersed with the actual look and feel of the application you creating.

The only gotcha's I should mention before I delve into the book is the need to have Visual Studio 2010 installed only machine. If you don't have Visual Studio 2010 IDE installed you must do so right away. All of the code examples throughout the book along with the code examples you can download from the murach.com website use Visual Studio 2010 IDE. The other gotcha is based on the fact that C# is the language of choice, okay a very obvious choice for me, but I must mention it none the less. With that, it must be stated that this book is a great primer for Visual Studio. As you walk through the book, you can't help but come away with a greater appreciation of Visual Studio 2010 IDE and what it can accomplish when paired with a good programmer.

If you are new to ADO.NET then this is the book for you. The instruction starts with a basic introduction to databases, then ADO.NET. At this point, the book moves into more specific content tailored around creating working ADO.NET application that allows end users to view and interact with the data.
The book is really designed for programmers new to ADO.net, but not new to C#. The book focuses on ADO.Net from a C# development perspective. For programmers who live in the C# world this will not be an issue. I come from the background of C++ and Java, and thus I needed to brush up on my C# when I purchased the ADO.NET 2008 version a few years ago. In the mean time I have enjoyed learning C#, along with creating various programs due to this book.

I learned a lot from this book. It introduced me to areas of Visual Studio that I had never seen before, as well as LINQ and EF. There's a great deal of material here, and it is presented in great fashion. It lives up to the Murach claim that their books are "several books in one", replacing what would otherwise be a book on ADO, a book on LINQ, and another book to solidify the topic. The depth of the instruction is second to none. The other item worth mentioning is this book only focuses on SQL Server, but I suspect if you are using another RMDBS such as Oracle you may use Apex or something else to pull and display your database data.
As I moved through the section of the book while working with the download code examples provided I was struck by how easy it is to learn the various concepts the book is teaching. In most books you are given two ways to digest the information. One way is have all of the information thrown at you, and you hope you'll come away with some sense of what you are doing, or the other way is to immerse you in the code and have you learn the programming skills using the hands on method. This book, along with all of the books in the Murach series allow the reader to use both options and this greatly enhances the learning experience. I personally have several Murach books in my collection.

I personally enjoyed the section on XML data, along with the updated LINQ and Entity Framework section as well. All in all, this book will allow you build a solid C# ADO.NET programming foundation. If database programming is your chosen endeavor, this publication along with downloadable product files will eventually make you a rock star. As with all tools this book will not teach you everything you need to know about ADO.NET, but it will teach you the proper skills to advance, along with a programmer's natural curiosity to learn more success is not too far away.

I've just finished reading this book on [..]

Like all Murach books, this provides a base for comprehensive training on the subject.

It is almost like reading a history of data in .net progressing from basic ado.net commands and proceeds through the latest entity framework.

Each section is complete and follows a similar pattern making it easy to follow and see the differences between the various approaches.

Although each section of the book could be (and is in many cases) an entire book or two of it's own, the author does a good job of picking out the most important point and gives a working example

This is a clear and concise book using the "paired pages" format. How-to on the left page and examples on the right. This style contributes to the effectiveness of the learning process..

It begins with an introduction to database programming followed by an introduction to ADO.NET 3.5 Then section 2 covers data sources, datasets, and the dataset designer used to develop Windows Forms applications. Section 3 illustrates how to build Windows Forms applications using the three-layer approach: presentation, business, and database classes.

Section 4 consisting of 190 pages introduces LINQ. Finally Section 5 shows how to use the Entity Framework.

There is a lot information in this book - 699 pages. It is well suited for both training and reference.

The explanation was clear. There are many screen shots, step-by-step
instructions to take the reader through the whole book.

I recommend this book.

The book follows the Murach style - on the left pages there is text, on the right pages there are screen shots, code snippets, and short summaries of the text on the left. For experienced programmers it's tempting to skip the entire left pages and focus on the right pages only.

The book is an excellent source for starting with ADO.NET. It starts with a basic introduction into databases and SQL itself, then ADO.NET. After that comes all the interesting stuff: using data sources, datasets, commands, parameters, transactions - the works. You'll learn to write applications with both direct database access and with three-tier architectures. After the form-based chapters the book repeats a few subjects but this time for ASP.NET, with its specialized controls. The book ends with XML data sources, reporting, LINQ and the Entity Framework. In the end you should be able to use ADO.NET quite well.

The only problem I have with the book is that it sometimes teaches you to use one specific tool - Visual Studio 2010. While that's somewhat understandable, it does mean that users of other tools will not be able to use several chapters. The reporting chapter is the worst, actually requiring the full (non Express) version of Visual Studio 2010.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for writing this review on behalf of CodeRanch. This review has previously been posted on JavaRanch.com.