C# 2.0: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) (Paperback)

by Michel de Champlain (Author), Brian G. Patrick (Author) "In the late 1990s, Microsoft created Visual J++ in an attempt to use Java in a Windows context and to improve the interface of its..." (more)
Key Phrases: specific initial capacity, explicit downcast, object root class, Exercises Exercise, Main Started, Michel de Champlain (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Great book for any C# developer! It describes the basic programming language with EBNF notation and provides a number of practical programming tips and best practices on program design that enable you to utilize the C# language features effectively."
-Adarsh Khare, Software Design Engineer, Microsoft


"C# 2.0: A Practical Guide provides an amazing breadth of information in a compact and efficient format, with clear and concise writing and useful code examples. It cuts right to the core of what you need to know, covering every aspect of the C# language, an introduction to the .NET API, and an overview of pertinent object-oriented concepts. This book tops my recommendation list for any developer learning C#."
-David Makofske, Principal Consultant/Architect, Akamai Technologies


"This book is essential for programmers who are considering system development using C#. The two authors have masterfully created a programming guide that is current, complete, and useful immediately. The writing style is crisp, concise, and engaging. This book is a valuable addition to a C# programmer's library."
-Edward L. Lamie, PhD, Director of Educational Services, Express Logic, Inc.


"At last, a programming language book that provides complete coverage with a top-down approach and clear, simple examples! Another welcome feature of this book is that it is concise, in the tradition of classics such as Kernighan and Ritchie. The new book by De Champlain and Patrick is the best introduction to C# that I've seen so far."
-Peter Grogono, Professor and Associate Chair of Computer Science, Concordia University

"The book covers the basic and the advanced features of a relatively new and well established programming language, C#. A truly Object Oriented style is used throughout the book in a consistent manner. C# and Object Oriented concepts are well illustrated through simple and concise examples to hold the reader's attention. A very well-written book."
-Ferhat Khendek, PhD, Research Chair in Telecommunications Software Engineering, Concordia University

Book Description
A unique book that is perfect for those who want a quick but solid introduction to the C# language.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; illustrated edition edition (March 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0121674517
• ISBN-13: 978-0121674519
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,240,580 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 10,000-foot overview of C# 1.0 (500,000-foot overview of C# 2.0), July 26, 2005

By	Curt Safranek (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Make sure this book is really what you want before purchasing. The title, "C# 2.0..." is _very_ misleading! There is very little in the way of 2.0 features covered to any degree of detail for one to know how to really understand or use the feature described. While the book does a reasonably good job of describing the features/uses of C# 1.0 (again, see the title of this review), there are much better books out there, albeit much thicker, which are much more readable and provide much better examples (e.g. Andrew Troelsen's, C# and the .NET Platform). Additionally, the book goes to great pains to keep the number of pages at a manageable level - at the expense of readability. If you enjoy reading Extended Backus-Naur Form (EBNF) notation then this is the book for you ;-) For example, to explain the syntax of interface declaration:

--------------------------------------------------
InterfaceDecl = InterfaceModifiers ? "interface" Identifier (":" Interfaces)? "{" InterfaceMembers "{" ";"?

InterfaceModifier = "new" | "public" | "protected" | "internal" | "private"
InterfaceMember = MethodDecl | PropertyDecl | EventDecl | IndexerDecl

In case you forget you will need to page back to the appropriate areas of the book discussing the InterfaceMember's various item definitions for MethodDecl, etc.
--------------------------------------------------

This type of notation is fine for online reference or even the printed language "manual" (The C# Programming Language by Hejlsberg, et. al.), but not this type of book.

Also, the book description states, "* Provides a carefully focused explanation of every aspect of the C# language, including entire chapters on the unified type system, advanced types, collections, generics, reflection and attributes." In chapter 8, Collections and Generics, out of 20 total pages for the chapter there are only 3 1/2 pages devoted to generics, with 1 of those pages comprised of the skeleton listing of 2 BoundedQueue class definitions, one with generics based syntax and one without (i.e. replace all occurrences of int with <T>). By the way, Hejlsberg's book gives a _much_ better introduction/overview to the v2.0 language than this book...it is dense reading and has a very "formal" style, but you will get much more from it than this piece.

To summarize, this book tries to be the "jack-of-all-trades" and ends up being the "master-of-none". Excerpted from the preface, "Finally, all principal features of the C# programming language are covered..." While this may be true in principal it lacks almost all forms of substance and detail. It completely sacrifices quality in favor of page count. If you are looking for a book to give you a 10,000-foot overview of the v1.0 language and a 500,000-foot overview of the v2.0 features and are prepared to decode the text while you read (i.e. translate EBNF -> English) then this book is worth 2-stars; but, when you are done reading this book be ready to turn around and buy another book which actually shows you how to use the language with more concrete explanations and better examples. If you are looking to really learn the language and be proficient with it in the real-world do not waste your time with this "overview"... look elsewhere.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your money, August 9, 2005

By	David Hubbard (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read this book cover to cover and found the experience mind numbing. The authors use EBNF to show syntax when two or three examples would have sufficed. Almost every code example has line numbers and the authors refer back to the line numbers constantly when describing the examples rather than showing the line in question. I think the authors should both take the time to read Head Start Design Patterns, an excellent book, and should follow how the authors of that book illustrates points.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great C# book, November 27, 2008

By	Richard Tucker - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is one for the ages as for as explaining Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and the C# language. It goes into detail about OOP using background information from Computer Science. It explains the features of OOP using C#. I think this book needs to be in every programmers arsenal. The author explains in good detail what it takes to be a good object programmer. I was very happy to purchase this book and that I will keep it as long as I can. I will also use it as a reference and to say that I will recommend this book if someone ask for a good reference book on C# and the .NET framework in my opinion.