The C# Programming Language (Microsoft .Net Development Series) [Hardcover]

Anders Hejlsberg (Author), Scott Wiltamuth (Author), Peter Golde (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321154916 | ISBN-13: 978-0321154910 | Publication Date: October 30, 2003

C# is the most exciting new language since Java. It is simple, modern, object oriented, and type-safe. It combines the high productivitiy of Rapid Application Development languages such as Visual Basic with the raw power of C++. While the specification is available online, many people find the printed version to be useful, as we have seen with The Java Language Specification and The C++ Annotated Reference Manual. Microsoft Press published the specification for the beta version of C#, and then revised that for version 1.0. The printed books, however, were nothing more than the spec printed out with covers bound on. This new version should sell much better, because of several factors.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

C# is a simple, modern, object-oriented, and type-safe programming language that combines the high productivity of rapid application development languages with the raw power of C and C++. Written by the language's architect and design team members, The C# Programming Language is the definitive technical reference for C#. Moving beyond the online documentation, the book provides the complete specification of the language along with descriptions, reference materials, and code samples from the C# design team.

The first part of the book opens with an introduction to the language to bring readers quickly up to speed on the concepts of C#. Next follows a detailed and complete technical specification of the C# 1.0 language, as delivered in Visual Studio .NET 2002 and 2003. Topics covered include Lexical Structure, Types, Variables, Conversions, Expressions, Statements, Namespaces, Exceptions, Attributes, and Unsafe Code.

The second part of the book provides an introduction to and technical specification of the four major new features of C# 2.0: Generics, Anonymous Methods, Iterators, and Partial Types.

Reference tabs and an exhaustive print index allow readers to easily navigate the text and quickly find the topics that interest them most. An enhanced online index allows readers to quickly and easily search the entire text for specific topics.

With the recent acceptance of C# as a standard by both the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and ECMA, understanding the C# specification has become critical. The C# Programming Language is the definitive reference for programmers who want to acquire an in-depth knowledge of C#.

0321154916B10142003

About the Author

Anders Hejlsberg is a programming legend. He is the architect of the C# language and a Microsoft Technical Fellow. He joined Microsoft Corporation in 1996, following a thirteen-year career at Borland, where he was the chief architect of Delphi and Turbo Pascal.

Scott Wiltamuth is General Manager for the Visual Studio Language and Data Tools team at Microsoft Corporation. In his thirteen years at Microsoft, he has worked on a wide range of development tools, including OLE Automation, Visual Basic for Applications, VBScript, JScript, Visual J++, and Visual C#.

Before leaving Microsoft Corporation, Peter Golde served as the lead developer of Microsoft's C# compiler. As the primary Microsoft representative on the ECMA committee that standardized C#, he led the implementation of the compiler and worked on the language design.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 672 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (October 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321154916
• ISBN-13: 978-0321154910
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,767,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So what is this really?, November 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The C# Programming Language (Microsoft .Net Development Series) (Hardcover)

I think several of the previous reviews missed the gist of what this book is. It isn't "plagiarized", nor is it "classic" material - it simply IS a reprint of the current state of the Microsoft C# Language Specification in a snazzy new hard cover, thats all. You can download the C# Language Specification from the MSDN site if you want to take a look at precisely how the content of this book is organized. Microsoft Press first published the C# Language Specification back in 2001 based on the beta content. This is apparently just the current state of the specs, nothing fancy. Many of the examples used here are the same old examples used with the beta edition specs. This is pure techie reference material. Nothing more, nothing less.

So I gave it 3 stars. How do you rate a language specification document? It is what it is. Marketing hype about "destined to be a classic" (ya da ya da) is disingenuous, but charges of plagiarism are ill-considered also: its simply the same old spec document that Hejlsberg, et al, have been working on for the past four years. Just updated.

So if you want a nicely bound edition of the current spec buy the book...

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great reference, but NOT a programming tutorial, December 6, 2003

By 

Jason A. Salas (Dededo, Guam Guam) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The C# Programming Language (Microsoft .Net Development Series) (Hardcover)

I've always held as a personal dictum that the best way to get complete, irrefutable information on something is to go straight to the source. And the new title "The C# Programming Language", co-authored by Anders Heljsberg, a Microsoft distinguished engineer and the creator of the C# language, is such a source.

To paraphrase my favorite quote from the Matrix series, "He IS the architect."

However, the key element to understanding why you should get this book is understanding what it is...and perhaps more importantly, what it is not. The main focus of the book is to provide centralized documentation for the C# language specification. It's not intended to be a comprehensive tutorial to C# development; it's a programmer's reference, profiling the internal mechanics behind the world's most rapidly-adopted programming language.

So, it's not a book where developers can copy out code, find out how to better design classes, or lookup methods and properties within the .NET Framework - it's a valuable reference guide for the experienced developer. As such, I find it to be a fantastic resource for upper-level computer science students (a market Addison-Wesley very adeptly serves anyway), or those professional developers moving over from other languages and/or platforms, and I highly recommend it to those who would make buying decisions for such classes.

People looking to buy it as a programming guide will be disappointed, I'm sad to say, as it's simply not that type of book. This would be akin to be getting lost trying to read the U.S. Constitution to find out how to create a law. It's applicable...but not directly.

However, I enjoyed reading it, for the academic and conceptual benefits it provided. And yes, I did learn a lot, most of which I didn't realize prior. A very, very helpful collection of appendices make this book a great addition to any development team's library. A hale and hearty section is also dedicated to introducing to the new features inherent to C# 2.0 - generics, anonymous methods, iterators, and partial classes.

In my opinion, the book's one major flaw is the misnomer is gives off to the buyer, which unfairly at this point in the .NET game, implies the de facto expectation for a self-help book on learning various aspects of Microsoft development. The true purpose of the book could have been better promoted with the inclusion of a subtitle, something like "The C# Programming Language - An Architect's Guide to the Specification", or something making the true purpose a bit more obvious.

That having been said, the book is a fantastic deal, priced cheap (a great bargain at US$29.95), so buy it if you're an experienced developer who's curious. You'll grow as a developer by increasing your own programming acumen by becoming more intimately familiar with how the C# language does what it does in the background.

The title is beautifully bound, being a hardcover book with one of those little page-placeholder ribbon thingys, the name of which I obviously don't know, but a nice touch nonetheless.

I'm not sure how I should rank this book, as it's a specification, and therefore inherently comprehensive, and likewise subject to standardization prior to publication. But, I did get a lot out of it, so that says something.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but..., September 12, 2004

By 

David Douglass (Bloomingdale, NJ) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The C# Programming Language (Microsoft .Net Development Series) (Hardcover)

All the raves about this book are correct, but Microsoft rushed it to press too early. It goes up to chapter 23, but Microsoft has already posted chapters 24 and 25 on their web site. Also, some of the material is inaccurate due to Microsoft changing their mind about the 2.0 implementation.