Head First C#, 2E: A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with Visual C# and .NET (Head First Guides) Second Edition

by Andrew Stellman (Author), Jennifer Greene (Author)

147 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1449380342

ISBN-10: 1449380344

Why is ISBN important?

Paperback

$19.03 - $36.05

Other Sellers

from

Other Sellers

See all 1 versions

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Amazon Warehouse

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Friday, January 28 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon. Order within 17 hrs 26 mins

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from and sold by AtolyeWish.

List Price: $49.99 Details

Save: $13.94 (28%)

FREE delivery January 31 - February 3. Details

Or fastest delivery Thursday, January 27. Details

There is a newer edition of this item:

Head First C#: A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with C# and .NET Core
$29.49
(143)
Only 20 left in stock - order soon.

You want to learn C# programming, but you're not sure you want to suffer through another tedious technical book. You're in luck: Head First C# introduces this language in a fun, visual way. You'll quickly learn everything from creating your first program to learning sophisticated coding skills with C# 4.0, Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4, while avoiding common errors that frustrate many students.

The second edition offers several hands-on labs along the way to help you build and test programs using skills you've learned up to that point. In the final lab, you'll put everything together. From objects to garbage collection and from exceptions to interactions, you'll learn C# in a way that engages and entertains your brain. Here are a few of the topics you'll learn:

Start by building a useful application with pre-built components in Visual Studio 2010
Discover how objects work, using real-world examples
Store numbers, text, and other basic data types using primitives
Save complex data in files and databases with great C# tools
Build intuitive and easy-to-use interfaces by following simple rules
Design your code to catch exceptions -- things you don't expect
Develop good programming habits, such as refactoring code and applying unit tests
Learn how web services put your programs in touch with the rest of the world
Make it easy for other people to install your software

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Andrew Stellman
143
Paperback
47 offers from $29.49
Jennifer Greene
204
Paperback
40 offers from $3.89
Eric Freeman
649
Paperback
33 offers from $35.85
RB Whitaker
356
Paperback
14 offers from $24.29
Eric Freeman
205
Paperback
52 offers from $32.37
Andrew Stellman
134
Paperback
47 offers from $4.48

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andrew Stellman, despite being raised a New Yorker, has lived in Pittsburgh twice. The first time was when he graduated from Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science, and then again when he and Jenny were starting their consulting business and writing their first project management book for O'Reilly. When he moved back to his hometown, his first job after college was as a programmer at EMI-Capitol Records--which actually made sense, since he went to LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts to study cello and jazz bass guitar. He and Jenny first worked together at that same financial software company, where he was managing a team of programmers. He's since managed various teams of software engineers, requirements analysts, and led process improvement efforts. Andrew keeps himself busy eating an enormous amount of string cheese and Middle Eastern desserts, playing music (but video games even more), studying taiji and aikido, having a girlfriend named Lisa, and owning a pomeranian. For more information about Andrew, Jennifer Greene, and their books, visit http://www.stellman-greene.com.

Jennifer Greene has managed just about every aspect of software development during her career. She spent the past 15 years building software for many different kinds of companies, including small start-ups and huge companies. Jenny's built software test teams and has helped many companies diagnose and deal with habitual process problems so they could build better software. Since her start in software test and process definition, she's branched out into development management and project management. Jenny is currently managing a large development team for a global media company.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; Second edition (May 31, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 840 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1449380344
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1449380342
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.41 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 1.8 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,398,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #415 in C# Programming (Books)
- #424 in Microsoft .NET
- #1,020 in Object-Oriented Design

Customer Reviews:
147 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Andrew Stellman

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Andrew Stellman is a developer, architect, speaker, agile coach, project manager, and expert in building better software. He has over two decades of professional experience building software, and has architected large-scale real-time back end systems, managed large international software teams, been a Vice President at a major investment bank, and consulted for companies, schools, and corporations, including Microsoft, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Bank of America, Notre Dame, and MIT. He's had the privilege of working with some pretty amazing programmers during that time, and likes to think that he's learned a few things from them.

Customer reviews

5 star		61%
4 star		15%
3 star		10%
2 star		9%
1 star		5%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

darthgumby

Great book idea that doesn't play out well

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2013

Verified Purchase

I bought this book because I saw it in the store and thought it would be a great learning experience for someone who always wanted to learn a programming language. I know some of the basic concepts of programming, but have never actually written a program before. I like how this book uses pictures and humor to present programming. I do not like the pace of learning in this book. The first chapter/tutorial was a great walk through on how to set up a program using Visual Studio and explaining how the IDE ties everything together and generates code.

The actual coding/programming part of the tutorial in Chapter 2 is very confusing. They throw a lot of coding and terminology onto the page that makes sense, but is hard to make sense of. Instead of talking you through each part of the code one step at a time, the book throws down a puzzle of information on the page that the reader has to piece together by reading all the side notes, arrows, bullet points, and pictures. While it looks like the additional elements to the page are optional and enhance the learning process, they are actually very critical to the process and are easy to overlook.

There is a lot of clutter on the pages, and it is easy to lose focus on what I am actually reading. Some pages are very well written and informative, while others are very jumbled and hard to understand. The book also throws in exercises with the answer on the next page. I am not going to write in my book. I am especially not going to write in my book only to find out on the next page I was wrong and have to cross/scribble out my writing. I'll sometimes be halfway through an activity thinking i'm reading the definition of a term only to see on the next page I was actually supposed to match the term to the definition - it's annoying having to teach myself to forget certain things I just read with the actual information.

The book also has exercises to do, but with what seems like little explanation for what to do and at the end when i just went to the solution, I was able to get it working but I couldn't explain how the code worked. The exercise in chapter 2 says to make a forum application with a button that when you push it it will cycle through different colors. I didn't know how to do this, and I had no help until I read the solution. The book gave a solution that I typed in, but it was a solution that wasn't covered in the entire chapter and used terms that I wasn't familiar with. It was nice to see I could build something, but I don't feel I learned anything other than how to copy text from the book onto the screen verbatim.

I am going to continue with this book because I bought it and have it as my only tool right now, but I feel like I'm being taught by people who know everything in programing and don't understand that I know nothing and need to be walked through it with a lot more hand holding than what is offered. It's nice to see the solutions to exercises and I am learning a lot of good concepts, but they don't elaborate on the basic information someone should know when starting out and they leap over a lot of information with one or two pages that warrant much more questioning and understanding before being able to use that information effectively.

EDIT: I am rating this down an extra star. I am still not able to understand this book or absorb any of the information in it. I can't skip ahead to the next chapter without understanding the current chapter I am on. I can't understand the current chapter I am on because the book doesn't explain it well enough. It's very frustrating. I do not like this book.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Jeff Williams

Right mix...

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

I am using this book as a refresher of sorts. I have a lot of programming and general computing experience but haven't focused as much on C# as I really needed too. So when I considered this book I was really looking for something that I could "choose my own level" with. The book has the basics as well as the deeper subjects. It is not the end-all, be-all type of book. But it has the right mix for someone who wants a good introduction to build on right up through the intermediate level. You will need to look for another book for the higher end topics.

I also like the layout of the book and the approach that they take. It is not the typical technical book so if you are looking for that, don't get this book. Their unique style repeats information in multiple ways and helps reinforce the material that they are trying to teach you. But it is done is a way that feels natural and not "You just told me that...", duh, kind of way.

This version of the book does not include information on Windows 8, which was important to me. I didn't want anything related to Windows 8 which is also why I picked this version of the book.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

D0G HAIR

good overview but missing some in depth.

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

when i bought this book I didn't realize how much it relied on visual studio. it does include coding in this book but it bypasses a lot of important beginning steps that i felt really inhibited me. this would be an excellent book for someone who does not want to become a full time programmer but would like to build simple programs for their work or office. this book will give you a very in depth look at the use of the visual studio IDE and show you how to quickly create programs with all of VS's features.

basically this is not a a "nitty gritty" coding book which is what I wanted. I basically went through have of this book and decided to convert to C++ where I found several excellent books.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Tiki Fred

No Really, it is a book on C#

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2011

Verified Purchase

Some of my fellow developers have snickered when they see this book on my desk. It is not your typical text book filled with thousands of words. That does not mean it is not a serous book or topic. I find this book more enjoyable to read. After a long technical day at work the Head First series of books are easier to read. The books look like some of the more formal text books after I get done reading them. I write in my books a lot, adding flow charts and large notes to make it easy to remember something and review a topic.

I find I can review a topic by quickly by looking a large note or a unique picture associated with a topic in the book. This C# book is organized well, taking you through the various aspects of the language and OOP. Sometimes an image is worth a thousand words and the images in the book provide an instant snap shot of the concept - instead of a thousand words that put you to sleep. Interesting learning tools at the end of the chapters like the traditional code creation as well as cross word puzzles.

However: This is not the last book you will buy. It should be one of the first.
This really covers the basics and there are a lot more advanced topics out there. Like multi threading, services, LINQ, database connectivity, programming for web sites as opposed to desk tops. But you have to start some place, and this will make it more enjoyable.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

anonymous

Great book!

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

Great book!
This book is vital for any aspiring c# programmer who needs an intuitive way to learn.
The best alternative to boring lectures and very fun!
The book is a presented for the absolute beginner and has a few jokes here and there..

I have the kindle edition and have borrowed the real book and the kindle version looks exactly the same!
Lastly, the book is straight to the point and easy to understand. :D

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Raul Leite

Easy to learn, quick to code

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 23, 2012

Verified Purchase

Although there are more than a dozen books written about C# (in particular, the 2010 edition) from beginner to advanced level, very few can easily introduce a programmer to the C# language and the .Net 4.0 framework as easily as Head First C#.

From the first page, instead of inducing sleep with page after page, chapter after chapter, of object-oriented programming and Visual Studio IDE definitions (that may put off first-time coders),the writers quickly immerse the reader into the ins and outs of the language, coding (practical) applications, slowly introducing all the definitions and intricacies of the C# language, whilst facilitating the assimilation of the concepts with a "friendly" visual and textual style approach.

Throughout the book there are several challenging projects the reader can and should write, covering all the aspects of said language and framework: database querying, drawing graphics and animations, object-oriented programming, etc...

Experienced programmers won't find here any programming gems or answer to their problems; more advanced topics like refactoring, serialization, Windows Presentation Foundation, enumerations, etc., are glimpsed over only a few pages in the left-over chapters at the end of the book, books abound which treat this and other subjects as easily as Head First C#. For the beginner, this is already a book full of work! A must buy for anyone interested in the C# language.

2 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

NOW I GET IT...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2010

Verified Purchase

I have to say I've read about 40 different books on many programming languages and technologies over the years, and this is the first book I've actually raved about to others. Visually the book appears to be very messy at first, but your brain absorbs the info in bite size chunks and the hand written style notes chat away about questions that naturally occur to you as you try to absorb the complex concepts of the C sharp language and syntax.

I've read about many of the concepts in other books about C++ (interfaces virtual classes,polymorphism etc.), but never actually understood the true nature or power of some of the concepts until now. Each chapter I have many OH NOW I GET IT moments which drive you on to learn more and more.

Unusually, the book offers examples of common bugs that show what won't work / compile and then explains why, which is just great to help get your head around why much of the structural parts of the language were invented in the first place.

The examples are very cunning at shoe horning knowledge into your head without you realizing it, and surprisingly good fun to learn with. The themed nature of each exercise fits the subject matter perfectly. I am in awe of the amount of careful planning and work the authors have put into this book.

Can't praise this title enough!

5 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Blimey... I might stand a chance with this one!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2013

Verified Purchase

I use Flash and Actionscript for loads of things in my work, but its getting a bit old hat and slowly dying out. HTML 5 looks great but doesn't really achieve what I was doing in Actionscript. I didn't want to become obsolete, and having learned C++ a little bit back at uni, I decided a year or so ago that I should try to learn an up to date, PROPER programming language.

I tried C# a while ago with a different book, but just lost interest in it VERY quickly. I thought this might just be a case of a language being too complex for me, so I tried Java. The IDE's seemed too basic and non standard... and again books left me a little empty and I quickly got bored.

So, I decided if nothing else a solid IDE seemed a good idea, so I looked for a book that was based around Visual Studio, preferably the free version, so I had no great start up costs considering I seemed to get bored so quickly! I also looked for a book that might hold my interest. Spurred on by the reviews of this book, I took the plunge.

Well, its early days, I'm only a couple of chapters in, but I have to say, its different to a lot of programming tuition books I've tried. Its not trying to be 'quirky' and entertaining whilst actually just being very formal (i.e. a school text book with a random joke dotted in that isn't funny... how annoying is that... they often seem to do this with books of this nature... grrr).

Its actually is a little hard to get your head around the layout, but they explain that its designed to aid learning. Well, so far its making a bit of sense. Its paced well and I seem to be understanding and remembering things I hadn't before.

So, early days, but I like the way they've done this... fingers crossed... wish me luck!!

One person found this helpful

Imeyo

Good book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

I like this book a lot and this was my second Head First book as at the time I bought it I just wanted a refresher on C#. I'm not too keen on the crazy imagery in the book as it does tend to lead you off course (i.e. giggling at the black and white pictures). What I do like are the simple "learn by example" scenarios that are presented in the book. I'm not too keen on the exercises at the end either as I prefer to learn by working examples and then tinkering with them to do something different. I've also used it as a reference book for structuring some simple code. I've bought the physical as well as electronic copies of the book. All in all a well written and structured book - but for the next please cut out the crazy imagery, have more examples - well, that's my preference :)

Jeggburt

Stick with it - it's worth it!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

This is the first time I've taken a leap of faith into actually trying to learn a new language.

I've done some college courses that had a bit of the principles of encapsulation and dealing with classes but this book has helped everything "click".

I'm not sure if it is the book that has helped or if my experience in working with VB/VBA has helped but it has triggered the right things to get the solutions done.

There are puzzles in the book that allow you to build up a solution to solve for yourself, something which I found was lacking in other books that weren't based on academics.

If you have considered learning C#, give the book a go and stick with it, I've been surprised with what I've picked up.

There were issues with getting the graphics from the website, however, I did find them (eventually) under the edition of the book. Some people (I believe) have been looking for a graphic for Edition 2 within the Edition 3 drop downs. It's not immediately clear on the website but everything you need is there. I have dropped a star because of this. It really should be clearer.

See all reviews

Head First C#, 2E: A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with Visual C# and .NET (Head First Guides) Second Edition

Buy used: $19.03

Buy new: $36.05

There is a newer edition of this item:

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Product details

About the author

Andrew Stellman

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy used:

$19.03

Buy new:

$36.05