Professional C# (Beta 2 Edition) [Paperback]

Simon Robinson (Author), Burt Harvey (Author), Craig McQueen (Author), Christian Nagel (Author), Morgan Skinner (Author), Jay Glynn (Author), Karli Watson (Author), Ollie Cornes (Author), Jerod Moemeka (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Given its patient and comprehensive tutorial style, Professional C# is a great choice for any developer stepping up to the plate with C# and the Microsoft .NET platform. With plenty of material geared to the specific needs of C/C++, Java, and VB programmers, this thorough tutorial packs some worthwhile advice within a well-paced guide to what you'll need to know to succeed with Microsoft's newest programming language.

Weighing in at over 1,300 pages, this text delivers a wealth of material on C# from a team of expert Wrox authors. It does a good job of covering all the necessary language and runtime features of C#. Early sections look at what's new and better in .NET, and then it's on to a close look at C# as an object-oriented language. A real strength of this title has to be its tutorial style, which works patiently to bring developers of all stripes to the brave new realm of C#. Material specifically geared to C++, Java, and VB programmers will let a wide range of readers learn C# effectively. (Concise appendices tailored to all three types of users show what's different about C# in comparison to these older languages.)

After covering the basics of C# itself, the book then zeros in on the APIs of the .NET platform. From basic string handling, collections, and support for Internet programming to material on graphics, you'll gain a command of some essential classes for everyday development. Sections on late-breaking standards and technologies like XML and Web services will help ensure that you get the most out of .NET.

Coverage of database APIs (with ADO.NET) and server-side programming (with ASP.NET) rounds out the tour. More specialized topics show how to create Windows services, and how to work with the older COM/COM+ standards in Windows. You'll also learn to work with corporate directories (via Active Directory) and the Windows Registry. C++ programmers in particular will appreciate the guide to class design in C#, which includes all relevant features in the newer language clearly spelled out.

Bundling a wealth of information on both C# and .NET, Professional C# provides a state-of-the-art tour of what's next for Windows programming. Regardless of whether you are coming to C# from a C/C++, Java, or VB background, this far-ranging yet thoroughly approachable guide can help you master the essentials of C# and the new .NET in record time. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction and overview of Microsoft .NET
• Compiling and running programs
• Intermediate language (IL)
• .NET base classes
• Assemblies and namespaces
• Tour of language options for .NET development (C# compared with other languages)
• Short history of C/C++/Java and C#
• Comprehensive C# language tutorial
• Data types
• Complex types
• Variables
• Operators
• Flow control
• Program structure
• Console I/O
• Using classes and inheritance in C# (including object-oriented design basics, properties, and inheritance conventions)
• Method overloading
• Constructors and clean-up methods (including Dispose() functions)
• Passing by reference and value
• Operator overloading
• Indexers
• Interfaces
• C# exception-handling classes and techniques
• Delegates and events
• C# preprocessor directives
• Unsafe code
• Tutorial for .NET base classes
• Comparing objects with Equals()
• String handling basics
• Regular expressions
• Collection classes
• Custom attributes
• Reflection
• Threading APIs
• Introduction to the Visual Studio.NET environment
• Programming with Windows Forms (including graphics and menu support)
• C# assemblies in depth (including the Global Assembly Cache, shared assemblies, and deployment)
• ADO.NET database APIs (including Command objects, data readers, and data sets)
• Using grid controls with data sources
• Tutorial on XML standards (including MSXML 3.0)
• Working with files, the Registry, and Active Directory
• Quick introduction to ASP.NET and Web Forms
• Introduction to Web services (SOAP and WSDL explained, plus a Web service-based room-booking sample service)
• Building custom controls
• COM and .NET interoperability
• COM+ transactions and other services in .NET
• GDI+ API graphics tutorial (including basic shapes, colors, fonts, and text output)
• Basic HTTP and IP network programming
• .NET remoting and distributed applications
• Creating Windows services
• Security issues in .NET (including code access, roles, and code groups)
• Quick tutorials for C++
• Java and VB developers migrating to C#

Product Description

Professional C# 2nd Edition is now available. Professional C# 2nd Edition is a completely revised edition of this book, and is fully compatible with the final release of the .NET Framework. We strongly recommend that you order the new edition (Professional C# 2nd Edition, ISBN 1861007043) in preference to this edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1200 pages
• Publisher: Wrox Press; Beta 2 edition (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861004990
• ISBN-13: 978-1861004994
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,614,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The end of Wrox as a quality publisher, August 1, 2001

By	Stuart Bloom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional C# (Beta 2 Edition) (Paperback)

There was a time when the distinctive red color and author photos that distinguish Wrox covers meant that you were getting a quality book. No longer. This book is yet more evidence that Wrox has joined the "rush to market" crowd -- get something onto the shelves, don't make an effort to get it right -- just like all the major computer book publishers. (For another sorry example, see Wrox's XML Databases book, which is in many places simply indecipherable.)

This book is rife with errors. There are three proofreaders listed in the credits at the beginning of the book, but there's no way that this book could have been proofread. One author hase a quirk that when he wants to type "The", it comes out "Tthe". That occurs repeatedly. Another author inserts unnecessary and distracting commas where that clearly don't belong. There is code that won't compile. There are "sentences" that simply aren't. There are whole paragraphs that make no sense whatever. I defy anyone who doesn't already understand delegates to read the material provided thereon and then write a non-trivial app using them.

In addition, much of the front half of this book is essentially the same as Wrox's earlier book, "C# Programming with the Public Beta."

Avoid.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I know whereof I speak..., October 8, 2001

By	Bruce Pierson (Bozeman, MT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Professional C# (Beta 2 Edition) (Paperback)

I'm writing this review after reading the entire 1200 pages. The book starts out very well, covering the essential aspects of the c# language for all but the extreme beginner to OOP programming. The chapter "Object-Oriented C#", for example, is very informative and seems to stay "on task".

Later in the book, however, things begin to unravel. Consider this paragraph:

"A class that is derived from MarshalByRefObject is bound to the application domain. Outside the application domain a proxy is needed to access the object. A class derived from ContextBoundObject is bound to a context. Outside the context, a proxy is needed to access the object. Context bound objects can have context attributes. A context bound object without context attributes is created in the context of the creator. A context bound object with context attributes is created in a new context, or in the creator's context if the attributes are compatible."

I read this to my wife and she LOL.

OK, so assume you can understand this because you're a more advanced programmer than me. There's still a problem though: This is on about the 4th page of the chapter on .NET Remoting, where "context" hadn't even been adequately explained as it relates to C# and .NET! Wouldn't one think that that aspect of .NET is going to be one of the most important? I personally was really looking forward to this information, as I assumed that everything else was "leading up to it", but it was an extreme letdown in this case.

But there are other very good chapters. One thing for sure: you can tell it was written by committee.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed bag, there are better books, September 3, 2001

By	"asquare_from_flatland" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Professional C# (Beta 2 Edition) (Paperback)

Like many Wrox books of late, this book is a mixed bag. There are some really excellent or unusual chapters that make the book (almost) worth its high cost and then there are many chapters that are poorly written, poorly edited or both. (I liked the chapters on remoting and security a lot.) The book also has a disconcerting habit of not finishing what it starts (like how to print).

While there is no perfect C# book out there yet, there are better books than this one. My recommendations are:

If you a beginner definitely buy Archer's book "Inside C#"

If you have a C++ or Java background buy Gunnerson's "A Programmer's Introduction To C#" (be sure to get the second edition) or Liberty's "Programming C#".

If you want a comprehensive book and can afford only one by Troelsen's "C# and the .NET Platform", if you can afford two buy this book and Troelsen.