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Andrew Harris
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Microsoft C# Programming: For the Absolute Beginner 1st Edition

by Andy Harris (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 29 ratings
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Using game creation as a teaching tool, this book not only teaches C#, it also teaches the fundamental programming concepts you need to grasp in order to learn any computer language. You will be able to take the skills learned in this book and then apply them to your own situation. Microsoft C# Programming for the Absolute Beginner is a unique book aimed at the novice programmer. Developed by computer science instructors, this series is the ideal tool for anyone with little to no programming experience.
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  1. ISBN-10
    1931841160
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1931841160
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Course Technology PTR
  5. Publication date
    May 2, 2002
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    7.25 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  8. Print length
    512 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andy Harris began teaching computing at the university level in the late 1980s as a part-time job. Since 1995, he has been a full-time lecturer at the Computer Science Department of Indiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI). He now manages the IUPUI Streaming Media Lab and teaches classes in several programming languages. Andy resides in Noblesville, Indiana.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Course Technology PTR; 1st edition (May 2, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1931841160
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1931841160
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.92 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.25 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 29 ratings

About the author

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Andrew Harris

Andrew Harris

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I live near Indianapolis, Indiana.

I am a lecturer in computer science at Indiana University / Purdue University - Indianapolis (Yes, that IS officially the longest university name on the planet... we call it IUPUI)

I was an army brat. I grew up in many parts of the Eastern United States and in Japan.

I've been interested in computing since the early eighties, when my brother and I took the money we were saving for a car and blew it on a TRS-80 model 1 with the built-in Japanese character set. (That machine is still in my garage. Don't tell my wife.)

My first career was as a special education teacher. I taught young adults with severe disabilities for several years. I really enjoyed my job and my students. I learned a lot about teaching through that experience.

While doing special ed, I kept my interest in computing, doing some freelance programming and writing about computer topics. Eventually, I became a lab instructor in the computer science program at IUPUI.

I moved to IUPUI as a full-time gig in 1995. Since then, I have been involved in creating a certificate of applied computer science. I have also worked on building a distributed education program. I especially love designing curricula using emerging and interesting technology and ideas.

I have taught many applied CS topics, but there is always more to learn.

Right now my focus tends to be on applied computing in programming languages, game programming, and mobile computing.

My favorite part about writing is hearing from readers. It's great when somebody sends me a link to a game or project they've written using one of my books. I'd love to get a line from you about one of my books, what you'd like to see me work on next, or just to say hi. I hope my writing feels like a conversation, and I'm looking forward to hearing from your side of the talk.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
29 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

N. Carty
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for starting in C#
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2007
Verified Purchase
I previously had started with Beginning C# Game Programming by Ron Penton, which was a disaster since much of his code doesn't work with DirectX 9.0c. I picked up this book and started back over from scratch.

Harris does an excellent job of introducing a concept, explaining what it is and how to use it, then implementing it. Some of the code is a little dated and has to be altered to run in C# 2.0, but I was able to do it with only a little effort. Same with a few of the form components. Additionally, I contacted the author, and though he doesn't work in C# very often any more, he was able to point me in the right direction to get my questions answered.

By the end of the book, I had successfully built a few C# applications to use at work.

My only complaint with the book is that it just ends. There is no prologue at the end, just the end of the last chapter reviewing that material. It would have been nice for a summary and maybe some direction in where to go next.
4 people found this helpful
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Peter Chen
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, but tons of distracting editorial errors
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2012
Verified Purchase
The book is good in that it's consistent with the series title - "for the absolute beginner." 1) As discussed in earlier reviews, some of the example code is a bit hard to follow because they're snippets and you're not entirely sure what changes were made unless you flip back a few pages to manually/visually compare. 2) Apparently they didn't have budget for a tech editor. This book has more editorial errors than any other book I've ever read, by multitudes. Bottom of page 42 reads "Console.WriteLine("5f/4f = {0}", 5f/4f);" but it should read "Console.WriteLine("5/4 = {0}", 5f/4f);". Bottom of page 45 in the "In the Real World" box reads "Converting numeric data to strings..." but should read "Converting strings to numeric data...". Page 50, 3rd paragraph reads "Please notice that the equality operator is two quote signs, not one." But it should read "...two equals signs, not one." Page 54, middle of the page, reads "is equivalent to the following code, which contains a switch statement:" but it should be "...an if statement:". Page 106, second paragraph reads "...put a variable declaration inside the quotes that follow the method's name" but "quotes" should be replaced with "parentheses". Countless times throughout the book, the text says "main method", but it should be "Main method". Page 122 section headers and throughout the text he uses "get()" and "set()" but it should be "get{}" and "set{}". Page 114 and 117 the code is "public string name", while on page 124 he (correctly) writes "public string Name". The difference here is between the lowercase "name" and uppercase "Name", but the irony is that his hint at the bottom of page 124 reads "[By]...convention...Public entities begin with an uppercase letter, and private ones begin with a lowercase." All of these errors are within the first 4 chapters of a total of 11. The frequency of errors is baffling. Some of these errors don't make a difference, they're just sloppy. Other errors, like using () for get/set instead of {}, using double quotes instead of double equals, and declaring a variable in quotes as opposed to parentheses, will not be able to compile correctly and will cause errors.

Overall, the book is good for beginners with respect to content and approach. However, the amount of errors is highly distracting and makes me second-guess the author (though, again, I should probably place the blame on a tech editor). In general, I would guess that most books (fiction, non-fiction, all types) may have 1-2 errors FOR THE WHOLE BOOK. This book, if you count the same error each time (e.g., "main method" and "get()/set()") probably has an error rate of 1-2 errors PER PAGE.
2 people found this helpful
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PSC
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2015
Verified Purchase
Lives up to its title.
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bolo591
2.0 out of 5 stars Too messy to be usefull
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014
The book is not pressed anymore... So if you are lucky, you may get it with the CD-Rom and have the full program code as a teaching support (some reviewers claim the source code is useless...). I selected this book since it was recommended in C# game programming for teens as prerequisite to learn C# (If you plan to read that book, make sure you got a decent understanding on programming in C#).

The book starts great going with the approach of making simple video game to get acquainted with programming and C#. The game are not great but somehow can make your mind work on what you could be doing with C# in term of game development. This works pretty well for the 3 first chapter but suddenly everything gets pretty messy at chapter 4 when the author introduces Object. The author going back and forth showing how useful class can be but in the process kind of completely loose you in what he is trying to achieve.

This is going worth on the following chapters when reviewing Windows form designer or other stuff. the main problem is some information might be missing or not properly annotated... Hence the teaching itself is far from efficient. In the meantime, this forces you to workup the code to find out what is missing from the book (a sort of forced self-teaching by lack of details...). This can be quite frustrating!!!

The book being old (2002), it is not up to date to date with MS Visual Studio 2013 version. But so far whatever is in the book can be adapted to the latest Visual Studio (and missing the graphic use in the book is nothing detrimental, they are bad enough you could do them by yourself (and learn to use Gimp, Photoshop,... by the same occasion).

Finally, after searching the author name and finding his website: he is not advertising on this book (He does for author book on Java, HTML...). C# is barely present in his website forum and he sorts of remind to have written some teaching book (this.one) on C# long time ago...

In short, the book is eventually good (assuming you have acquire a version with the CD-Rom (you won't be able to download it!)), but right not I mainly using it as an introduction/overview of C# and as support for doing mockup of some of the code (the force practice), and I will use another book for further practice/knowledge... Not sure which one, so if you want to help me: drop me a reference.
2 people found this helpful
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John Lister
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2018
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It's what I ordered ! Thank You.
JL.
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E. Jorgensen
4.0 out of 5 stars Something good for Kids
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2004
Verified Purchase
I bought this book for my ten-year-old son who is self-motivated in learning how to program C#. It has been hard to find a book tailored to such a young audience and this book fits the bill. It is very simple to follow and the game examples keep my son interested. At the end of each chapter are imaginitive challenges to help stretch a young exploring mind.

The only things I would add if I could would be some hints on the challenges to help keep a young reader from getting stuck, and some general tips on techniques for entering code.
13 people found this helpful
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