Pro C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform, Third Edition (Expert's Voice) (Hardcover)

~ Andrew Troelsen (Author)
Key Phrases: text box, web form, car library, Visual Studio, Windows Forms, Visual Basic (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Aimed at the reader with some previous programming experience, C# and the .NET Platform provides an enjoyable and well-paced tutorial for learning C# and Microsoft's new .NET Framework. This well-written guide is all you need to get onboard with the latest in Windows development.

Today, there are a growing number of titles available for C#. This text strikes an excellent balance between a basic language tutorial with an authoritative presentation of what's new and better in .NET with coverage of the some of the inner details of the platform, including deployment. The author's patient writing style is never dull or overly technical, which will mean this book is a good choice for a wide range of readers approaching C# from a variety of languages including C++, Java, and Visual Basic.

At certain points, the author looks at "intermediate language" (IL) bytecodes that underlie the C# language. This is particularly informative in chapters that look at assemblies and deployment. As a tour of the basics of the C# language, this book distinguishes itself with short, effective examples (many of which use a set of classes modeling cars). Coverage of programming Windows Forms is really good, as is the chapter on getting the older COM and .NET components to interoperate. The focus of this book is mostly on traditional client-side development, though it does cover the latest in Web development with sections on basic ASP.NET and Web services, which round out the book.

The author does a good job at explaining how .NET works while bringing readers of different abilities up to speed with C#. Experts will appreciate the detail on class design, COM, and Web services, while beginners will be able to follow the author's well-organized tour of the basics. In all, this combination of strengths makes C# and the .NET Platform an attractive choice in the growing list of titles on Microsoft's latest programming language. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to the .NET platform
• Common Language Runtime (CLR)
• The Common Type Specification (CTS)
• The Common Language Specifications (CLS)
• Assemblies
• Basics of C# classes
• Constructors
• Flow control and iteration
• Arrays and strings
• Boxing and unboxing
• Object-oriented programming in C# (encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism explained)
• Exception handling
• Garbage collection
• Implementing the ICloneable and IComparable interfaces
• Introduction to .NET collections (including custom collections)
• Custom indexers, delegates, and events explained
• XML-based documentation
• In-depth guide to .NET assemblies (including shared assemblies)
• Versioning techniques for side-by-side deployment
• Multithreading and synchronization
• Type reflection and attributes
• Windows Forms tutorial (design options, survey of components, menus and other UI widgets)
• Programming the Windows registry
• GDI+ graphics tutorial (including fonts, brushes, images, and using .NET resources)
• Input and output (directories, files, and streams)
• COM, COM+, and .NET interoperability
• Tutorial to ADO.NET for database programming (including DataSets and XML basics)
• Introduction to ASP and ASP.NET programming for Web development
• Web services basics (including SOAP, WSDL, and the Discovery Service Protocol, DISCO)

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"...the one book on [C#,.NET] you not only should have, but will want to keep next to your keyboard." -- Dr. Dobb's Journal

C# and the .NET Platform by Andrew Troelsen is a 12th Annual Jolt Awards Nominee! -- Software Development Magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1032 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 3 edition (September 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590594193
• ISBN-13: 978-1590594193
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.2 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #456,833 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What's a Segue?, February 7, 2006

By	dalepres "dalepres" (Park Hill, OK United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

If you ask Andrew Troelsen that question, I bet he would guess "three pounds."

Overall, this is a pretty decent book on C# 2.0. As other reviews have said, it's not for beginners. With 4 years experience in C# .Net and Microsoft MCAD certification, I have found the technical level of the book to be right on the money for me. While much of the book (and C# 2.0) is the same as for .Net 1.1, the review has certainly not hurt me and has not been hard to read at all.

The examples are more correct than any technical book I can remember reading in a long time. And the code samples and downloads work! That almost never happens. Mr. Troelsen has done a great job in that regard.

From a content perspective, it is fairly thorough, touching on most of the new features of C# 2.0, but the level of coverage for the C# 2.0 specific features is at the same level as the 1.1 features.

One area that is very poorly covered is assemblies and assembly location. Mr. Troelsen spends 30 plus convoluted pages on the subject in Chapter 11 while Microsoft clearly describes the topic in 6 pages on their web site. If you don't know about assembly location in .Net before you read Chapter 11, you surely won't when you're finished. In fact, if you do know about assembly binding in .Net before you read it, you may not anymore when you finish reading Chapter 11.

Some key .Net version 2.0 features are not covered at all - for instance, there is no discussion at all of the BackgroundWorker class. This is a very useful new feature of .Net 2.0.

Because the book is not geared for beginners, it could have been better had Mr. Troelsen de-emphasized the 1.1 features slightly and used the recovered space for more emphasis on the 2.0 features. For instance, generics are only superficially covered.

So, technically, I think that four stars is a fair assessment of the book. Since Pro C# 2005 and the .NE 2.0 Platform is a technical book and not a novel, I rated it based on its technical merits, which is a good thing. Had I rated it on its readability, I would have given it 2 or 3 stars.

As one other reader said, the book is full of overly repeated phrases and misused words like factoid and deprecated. As my opening remarks eluded to, Mr. Troelsen, while being a master of C# and the .Net framework, is not a master of the segue. A little more plain-speak and a lot less Thesaurus would benefit the next version.

Way too many code samples start with something along the lines of "ponder the following" - 43 to be precise. Nearly 100 more are introduced with the phrase "as so:". How about using just "the following example" or "like this:"? Or telling the reader to "author the following code" when he means to enter or to input or to type the code. Mr. Troelsen already authored the code. If I claimed to author it, that would be plagiarism. Again, too much Thesaurus.

The grammatical faux pas that bugs me the most is "Do be aware" which occurs in various forms over 135 times in the book, or more than 5 times per chapter. I found about 5 places where the phrase seemed to be contextually appropriate. I suggest that he does this:

book = book.Replace("Do be aware", "");

In other words, just state the facts.

But he did mix it up some. At one point, he grabbed my attention with "Be very aware". Now, this must be an important fact (not factoid), right? Imagine my disappointment when I realized that the fact (not factoid) I was supposed to "be very aware" of was that whatever topic was being presented would probably never come up in the real world. So why, then, must I be "very" aware? Couldn't I be just sort of aware? Or better yet, why not skip the failed attempt at a segue and state the fact (not factoid) that the functionality was of minor significance?

One of the best reasons to buy this book is that, if you get the first printing of the third edition, you can pass a quick one-question test on APress' site and download an e-book in searchable PDF format. As you can tell from my review, the search feature works.

If you're a beginner looking to learn .Net, C#, or how to program, I would not suggest this book. If you're a practicing .Net developer with a background in C#, I would highly recommend the book until there are more technically comparable books that may be more readable available.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent C#/.NET Book, October 3, 2002

By	Matthew K. Morgan (Ruther Glen, VA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: C# and the .NET Platform (Paperback)

I was informed by my manager to purchase a C# book, and I set out to do some research as to which book would fit my needs. I stumbled on this title as one recommended instead of another that was reviewed here on Amazon.com Based on the reviews posted for this book, I decided to purchase it. The positive reviews for this book are well-founded.

One of the very first things I noticed about this book is that it has a sticker on it that says that online updates for the final version of .NET are available. I went to the site and downloaded the list of changes to the book. The list was actually fairly short and the changes straightforward. I regard this as a good sign.

The book is well laid out and clear, the first 130+ pages dedicated to fundamental concepts and structures of C#. A 70-page introduction to OOP, in the context of C#, follows. The next few chapters deal with advanced topics including container classes and threads. Next the reader is launched into more graphically-oriented topics. Finally, the topics move into such as object serialization, database access, and web-centric subjects. The progression from subject to subject is logical and smooth, and each section is written clearly so as not to leave the reader in the dark and each presented after its prerequisites.

Example code in this book is clear, concise, and explained. The source to the examples is *not* included with the book, but is available readily for download.

This book is a great start into C# and .NET. It is *not* comprehensive, but it covers most of the important topics that get used regularly. Seriously consider this title when investigating C# and/or .NET.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Awesome Book on C# and .NET, June 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: C# and the .NET Platform (Paperback)

I evaluate new development technologies. I own and read A LOT of books. Andrew is a fantastic writer and trainer.

I've attended two of Andrew's Intertech-Inc workshops on COM. Both were awesome. In his ATL workshop, I received his first book on COM and ATL. While the ATL and COM book is better than any other COM and ATL book on the market, this book on C# and .NET will become the standard for C# and .NET programmers.

Using this book, I was able to figure out new technologies like ADO.NET. Throughout, Andrew's straightforward writing style focuses on "how" and backs it with clear examples. The examples are ARE NOT the C#/.NET version of "Hello World." A ton of books miss the mark by using examples that are too simple, focusing on "why", or, becoming absorbed in esoteric disertations. This is not one of those books.

If you need to use C# and .NET, define how it will impact your existing enterprise applications, or get clear understanding techs like Windows Form Controls, get this book.