Professional C# 2008 (Wrox Professional Guides) (Paperback)

by Christian Nagel (Author), Bill Evjen (Author), Jay Glynn (Author), Morgan Skinner (Author), Karli Watson (Author)
Key Phrases: base class libraries, web parts, creation time, Visual Studio, Visual Basic, Windows Forms (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Professional C# 2008 starts by reviewing the overall architecture of .NET in Chapter 1 in order to give you the background you need to be able to write managed code. After that the book is divided into a number of sections that cover both the C# language and its application in a variety of areas.

Part I: The C# Language gives a good grounding in the C# language itself. This section doesn’t presume knowledge of any particular language, although it does assume you are an experienced programmer. You start by looking at C#’s basic syntax and data types, and then explore the object-oriented features of C# before moving on to look at more advanced C# programming topics.

Part II: Visual Studio looks at the main IDE utilized by C# developers world-wide: Visual Studio 2005. The two chapters in this section look at the best way to use the tool to build applications based upon either the .NET Framework 2.0 or 3.0. In addition to this, this section also focuses on the deployment of your projects.

Part III: Base Class Libraries looks at the principles of programming in the .NET environment. In particular, you look at security, threading localization, transactions, how to build Windows services, and how to generate your own libraries as assemblies.

Part IV: Data looks at accessing databases with ADO.NET and LINQ, and at interacting with directories and files. This part also extensively covers support in .NET for XML and on the Windows operating system side, and the .NET features of SQL Server 2008. Within the large space of LINQ, particular focus is put on LINQ to SQL and LINQ to XML.

Part V: Presentation focuses on building classic Windows applications, which are called Windows Forms in .NET. Windows Forms are the thick-client version of applications, and using .NET to build these types of applications is a quick and easy way of accomplishing this task. In addition to looking at Windows Forms, you take a look at GDI+, which is the technology you will use for building applications that include advanced graphics. This section also covers writing components that will run on Web sites, serving up Web pages. This covers the tremendous number of new features that ASP.NET 3.5 provides. Finally, this section also shows how to build applications based upon the Windows Presentation Foundation and VSTO.

Part VI: Communication covers Web services for platform-independent communication, .NET Remoting for communication between .NET clients and servers, Enterprise Services for the services in the background, and DCOM communication. With Message Queuing asynchronous, disconnected communication is shown. This section also looks at utilizing the Windows Communication Foundation and the Windows Workflow Foundation.

Part VII: Appendices (Online): This section includes three appendices focused on how to build applications that take into account the new features and barriers found in Windows Vista. Also, this section looks at the upcoming ADO.NET Entities technology and how to use this new technology in your C# applications. You can find these three appendices online at www.wrox.com.

From the Back Cover
Professional C# 2008

Updated for .NET 3.5 and Visual Studio® 2008, this book is the ultimate guide to C# 2008 and its environment. Beginning with a look into the architecture and methodology of .NET, the team of superlative authors explains why the C# language cannot be viewed in isolation, but rather, must be considered in parallel with the .NET Framework. After gaining an understanding of the foundation of C#, you'll then go on to examine the fundamentals of C# programming with each successive chapter.

New examples provide helpful explanations on how to use C# to solve various tasks. Plus, completely new chapters on LINQ, SQL, ADO.NET entities, Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow Foundation, Windows Presentation Foundation, arrays, system transactions, tracing, and event logging all deliver essential information to help you gain a clear and thorough understanding of all that C# 2008 has to offer.

What you will learn from this book

• How to write Windows® applications and Windows® services

• Ways to use ASP.NET 3.5 to write web pages

• Techniques for manipulating XML using C#

• How to use ADO.NET to access databases

• Ways to generate graphics using C# 2008

• Numerous C# add-ins

• How to use LINQ to easily work with your SQL Server databases and XML

Who this book is for
This book is for experienced developers who are interested in learning the latest version of the number one developer language: C#.

Wrox Professional Guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1848 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; Pap/Onl edition (March 24, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470191376
• ISBN-13: 978-0470191378
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,886 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MEGA C# Reference, April 1, 2008

By	Daniel McKinnon (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

'Professional C# 2008' is one of those ginormous books that I usually (usually) complain is too big, too bloated, too MUCH but sometimes the exception is the rule and that is the case here. With 1750+ pages of material spread over 48 chapters and 3 appendixes, if you are looking for brevity and/or a simple learning book this is probably not for you. If you are looking for a complete solution on learning C# from top to bottom, keep reading because you are in the right place.

Although it's lengthy, I feel a chapter listing is beneficial to detail out all the details of this book:

01. .NET Architecture
02. C# Basics
03. Objects and Types
04. Inheritance
05. Arrays
06. Operators and Casts
07. Delegates and Events
08. Strings and Regular Expressions
09. Generics
10. Collections
11. Language Integrated Query (LINQ)
12. Memory Management and Pointers
13. Reflection
14. Errors and Exceptions
15. Visual Studio 2008
16. Deployment
17. Assemblies
18. Tracing and Events
19. Threading and Synchronization
20. Security
21. Localization
22. Transactions
23. Windows Services
24. Interoperability
25. Manipulating Files and the Registry
26. Data Access
27. LINQ to SQL
28. Manipulating XML
29. LINQ to XML
30. .NET Programming with SQL Server
31. Windows Forms
32. Data Binding
33. Graphics with GDI+
34. Windows Presentation Foundation
35. Advanced WPF
36. Add-Ins
37. ASP.NET Pages
38. ASP.NET Development
39. ASP.NET AJAX
40. Visual Studio Tools for Office
41. Accessing the Internet
42. Windows Communication Foundation
43. Windows Workflow Foundation
44. Enterprise Services
45. Message Queuing
46. Directory Services
47. Peer-to-Peer Networking
48. Syndication

Subject matter is extremely thorough, and the writing is right to the point. Full of usable examples and traditional (good) Wrox design, you will be able to use chapters piece mail to get the information you are looking for or read the book from beginning to end if you want the whole experience.

I feel that this book is best for marginal/new C# developers who aren't intimidated by a tome of this size. There is lots of great information within and you certainly learn what makes C# such a fantastic language to use in today's world.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good in combination with other resources, July 10, 2008

By	Eric Weinberger (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The content of this book is very good, but sentence structures are often confusing and vital information is sometimes missing. The quality varies greatly from one chapter to another, however, and some chapters are very well written. In combination with other books, this is a good resource, but on its own it can be frustrating at times.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars blissfull, September 17, 2008

By	Lawrence A. Bliss (Boston) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Book is a decent introduction to C# although at 1782 pages a bit of a slog. It doesn't cover enough detail to be good reference, however. I find I need to look at online documentation for even some simple issues. I am an experienced programmer, so I know what I want a language to do. What I am interested in is "how do I do what I want to do?". This book has not proven to be good at answering these kind of questions. But in its defense, I have not found other books to be better - even highly recommended ones.