Customer Reviews

A Programmer's Introduction to C# 2.0 (Expert's Voice)

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

 

 

I already read few books about C# and dotNET, and most
of them were usually too big with too many details.
This book was with short and clear explanations that
were easy to memorize and the examples were excellent!

I don't recommend it as the first book for beginners, as
it does not elaborate, but it is great as a reference
and as tutorial for people who already know about C#

I expected this book to just cover the enhanced 2.0 features. That's not the point at all. This is an all you can eat C# introduction book that goes really, really fast. Read in the title that this is for 'programmers'. That means that the author expects you to understand how to program an object oriented language. If you know that already then this book will get you into C# 2.0 quickly and easily. If you don't know how to program, then this book is not for you.

A print copy of this book is probably a bad idea, since its main value is its capability of describing differences between C# 1.x and 2.0. Not written to groove anyone into using C#; targeted more at people who know 1.x intimately or those coming from a java or c++ background, wanting to know about generics and other "new" features. It would sure be nice to have the pdf freebie that comes with a lot of apress books, but no -- it costs another $30. If you really want to know about C# from the ground up, this book can only be ancillary to something like Liberty's book or Troelsen's Professional C# and the .Net Platform. Hence the fact that you can buy it used for $10 or less.

When I started at my current job, I was asked to program in C#, even though I had originally been hired as a Java programmer. Faced with this task I went to the bookstore and bought a book. The title of this one won me over, since I didn't want a book that explained object oriented programming from scratch - I had experience with Java and C++ already - I just wanted something that walked through the various features of C# at a fast pace.
"A programmer's introduction to C# 2.0" does an excellent job at being such a book. The authors rapidly go through the various aspects of the C# language and the .net platform, introducing some peripheral topics, such as Windows Forms, on the way (just one chapter though, so don't buy the bok for this). Generally more attention is given to topics where C# differs, subtly or substantially, from similar languages like Java, and less attention is given to the basics that most C family languages have in common.
As such I've found that the format of this book enabled me to learn C# very rapidly based on what I already knew about other languages. I would strongly recommend it to programmers in a similar situation. My only gripe right now is that the book would ideally be updated for C# 3.5, but this doesn't seem to have happened yet - however C# 3.5 programmers can read this book and get the additional topics from other sources.

If you have not been programming for years or have a degree in Computer Science don't buy this book! However if you are a "real" programmer and want to learn the C# fast, it is a very easy to read, quick and pleasant why to get up to speed.

Once you have learned C#, you will need to read some books that cover what ever part(s) of the .NET framework you wish to use. However knowing C# before you try to learn the .NET framework will give you an advantage.

Easy to read and understand.
If you are new to C# look elsewhere (Troelsen, Liberty).

Although, the book was laid out well. the examples used
to demonstrate the capabilities of the language are
poor against the Jesse Liberty version 4, Programming c# book.
This is very dissapointing!