Applied .NET Attributes (Paperback)

by Tom Barnaby (Author), Jason Bock (Author)
Key Phrases: applying custom attributes, array list, context sink chain, Visual Studio, Homer Simpson, Object Browser (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
<p>Attributes are used to modify the runtime behavior of code in the .NET Framework. <i>Applied .NET Attributes</i> explores the application of .NET attributes and how developers can write custom attributes that provide the maximum level of code reuse and flexibility.</p>

<p>Attributed programming is a feature of .NET that is still relatively unexplored and unknown. Because attributes are used to modify the runtime behavior of code in the .NET Framework, their use is extremely important and will become even more important over time. This insightful guide covers the fundamentals of attributes, common .NET attributes, the use of custom attributes, and advanced techniques. </p>

About the Author
Tom Barnaby is a Microsoft Consultant, C# MVP, national speaker, and author of several .NET books including <i>Distributed .NET Programming in C#</i>, and <i>Applied .NET Attributes</i>. In his spare time, Tom enjoys playing with his two sons, watching movies in the family home theater room, and banging out power chords on his electric guitar with the volume turned to 11.He has worked on a number of business applications using a diverse set of substrates and languages such as C#, .NET, and Java. He is the author of <i>CIL Programming: Under the Hood of .NET</i> and <i>.NET Security</i>, both published by Apress, as well as <i>Visual Basic 6 Win32 API Tutorial</i>. He has also written numerous articles on technical development issues associated with both VB and Java. Jason holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590591364
• ISBN-13: 978-1590591369
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #656,566 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really cool book, February 22, 2004

By	William G. Ryan "Uber Book Nerd" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I had been programming in .NET for a while before I really learned to appreciate the power of attributes. But even then I was still playing around with [Obsolete], [Serializable] and the more common ones. Then I ran across the whole subject of declarative security and realized I had a Lot of learning to do. Fortunately for me, this book eased the process.

The only thing I didn't like about it is that I wish there was a lot more of it. Most of the discussion of attributes that I've run across are either the 'canned' ones like what I mention above, or overly theoretical. Too often I just couldn't see where they'd be applicable (more because of my thick head than any writer's deficiencies). That's where this book really shines. It starts out with your basic "what's" and "why's" but gets moving pretty quickly. Another thing about this book is that it's a pretty advanced topic. Back in college, we were heavy into OOP, but I don't remember hearing about AOP (Aspect Oriented Programming) and this is the first time I've really run across it. I really wish there would have been some more on the subject, but they did a very good job explaining the subject.

There are many good examples in here and the text is very well written. APress is pretty great about the quality of their stuff and this is no exception.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WELL WORTH IT, December 4, 2003

By A Customer

Excellent way to move the .NET tools you build to their next level of value. I have been developing for over 10 years; I buy an average of 4 books a month. I have never written a review before this. This is the first.

These guys took the first serious shot at moving us (the .NET crowd) toward thinking about Aspect Oriented Programming by doing an excellent job revealing the tools that currently exist in the .NET Framework.

I have been looking into AOP using C# and there are not that many available resources. A few, but not many. The book doesn't go into a bunch of over kill on selling AOP. It actually points out some possible performance issues with using context-interception. It just gives a real practical overview of AOP.

The book hits the ground running and covers a ton of valuable information related to .NET Attribute usage. I won't go into the details of the book there is plenty of information available on the APress web site. Go check out the Detailed TOC, Index, and Sample Chapter: Chapter 1: Attribute Fundamentals.

This book is the shortest one I have bought this year.
It is also the most informative one... WELL WORTH IT...

10 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Adequate But Not Fantastic, July 16, 2004

By	"music_guru" (Canada) - See all my reviews

Nowhere near as good as the Wrox Handbook series (which Apress now owns).

I'm sure this book is a good introduction to attributes and if you're not that knowledgable with attributes, you will learn. But you could probably learn a lot from some of the (much shorter) online tutorials from Fawcett or dotnet247.

I found that WAY too much time was wasted on covering topics such as serialization and writing a compiler. Introduce the concepts, sure, but don't waste an entire chapter on either of them. Those are for other books.

Also, the author was very "wordy" on describing things. I'd rather read the odd sentence twice to fully understand it instead of constantly reading one sentence, understanding it, and having to read 10 more that REALLY don't elaborate... or say much of anything.

I also found that the order in which the book taught was backwards. If chapter 1 had introduced a simple custom attribute along with a little bit of reflection, the book would have flowed much better.

Many of the benefits of attributes were never covered... single attributes that replace handres of lines of code... the real power of attributes and inheritance.... not covered.

This book was nowhere close to my hopes and it didn't teach me a great deal, but then I've made extensive use of attributes in the past. It succeeded in answer only one of my unanswered questions.

All in all, it could have been 50% shorter and still given about 25% more useful information. If you already know attributes well, don't bother.