Book recommendations

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Hi there

I'm looking for a good book or a couple of good books for learning C#
and the .Net framework. I have a background with C++ programming and I'd
say I'm fairly competent, I have also used a bit of managed C++ and
little C# but now I need to get a better understanding of both the
language and the framework. I like the style of The C++ Programming
Language by Stroustrup and would like a book that is fairly to the
point. While I'm aware of the fact that there are quite a lot of good
material on the net I always like to have a good book, preferably one
that can be considered fairly authoritative if possible.

Having searched these groups I've seen a few recommending Pro C# 2005
and the .NET 2.0 Platform by Troelsen, and I was wondering if there are
any other good ones out there. One good book about C# and one good about
..Net would be better than a fairly good about both.

PS. Mind the cross-posting when replying
 
I'd have to say, I'm self-taught as far as it comes to writing code... I
always knew my code stunk, but it ran.

I'd recommend:

..NET 2.0 Wrox Box: Professional ASP.NET 2.0, Professional C# 2005,
Professional .NET 2.0 Generics, and Professional .NET Framework 2.0
(Paperback)

Code Complete, Second Edition by Steve McConnell (Paperback - Jun 2004)

I recently shared some code w/ a colleague of mine, and his initial
response:
"I am just getting started on your stuff, but just wanted to comment on the
code. It looks like you have learned quite a bit in the last year! The code
is well organized and easy to read."

This comming from a full-time developer, vs. my part-time hacking. I
attribute that to all I read in the above two (er, make that 4 references,
eliminating the ASP.NET book).

Well worth the investment.
 
I haven't read the latest version but when I was starting out with C#
I thought this was very good.

Learning C# 2005
by Jesse Liberty
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-20...596102097/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-0946813-0563331

and anything by Chris Sells

Windows Forms 2.0 Programming
by Chris Sells
http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Forms...321267966/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/102-0946813-0563331


Personally I would not recommend Andrew Troelsen. We have a few of
his books in the office and just skimming through them I found several
things in various books that are flat out wrong. I've posted about it
in these groups before when someone reading his book was very
confused--you can do a search on my name and his for very specific
details.

HTH,

Sam
 
That's why they publish 2nd Editions -- because the publishers often hire
incompetent reviewers who fail to catch mistakes we all make. Even Sells and
Liberty have had mistakes in their books.
 
Hi there

I'm looking for a good book or a couple of good books for learning C#
and the .Net framework. I have a background with C++ programming and I'd
say I'm fairly competent,
Click to expand...

I have followed some of your posts in comp.lang.c++. If the expertise
you demonstrated is anything to go by then to achieve something
similar in C# please consider:

CLR via C# by Jeffrey Richter
Professional .NET Framework 2.0 by Joe Duffy

Those two books should get you super acquainted with the .NET
framework. The Jesse Liberty book should be able to fill in the C#
gap.

If it were available you could go for Jon Skeet's "C# in Depth" but I
don't think its out yet (Jon: if you are reading this any estimate
when the book might be published?)
 
.NET 2.0 Wrox Box: Professional ASP.NET 2.0, Professional C# 2005,
Professional .NET 2.0 Generics, and Professional .NET Framework 2.0
(Paperback)
Click to expand...

I have "Professional C# 2005". Despite the name, it's surprisingly
accessible to a
hobbyist with programming experience.


Samuel R. Neff said:
Learning C# 2005
by Jesse Liberty
http://www.amazon.com/Learning-C-20...596102097/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-0946813-0563331
Click to expand...

It looked good in the store, but after getting to know it better I
found Liberty's book disappointing. Many of his assertions had me
shaking my head. For example, "Intrinsic types can't do much. You can
use them to add two numbers together, and they can display their
values as strings." Does he realize how much of the world's computing
is done with these simple types? (I mean directly, not indirectly via
classes.) What he ought to have said is that you can do anything with
intrinsic types, but you'll be working harder than necessary.

Elsewhere he says structs are so "constrained, and the savings so
minimal, that most programmers make little use of them." Does he know
that the C# integral and floating point types are all structs? (On the
other hand, he did say they can't do much.)

In the next chapter, Liberty introduces methods, using a simple Time
class. As an aside, he notes that in the real world you probably
wouldn't create such a class, since the .NET Framework already has a
DateTime type. He doesn't say so, but DateTime is a struct!

Instead of dissing structs, he should have used the .NET library for
examples of using them appropriately.

Having said all that, I've been leafing through the book (for the
first time in months) and thinking that there's much to learn here
despite the occasional boners.
 
Dilip said:
If it were available you could go for Jon Skeet's "C# in Depth" but I
don't think its out yet (Jon: if you are reading this any estimate
when the book might be published?)
Click to expand...

Ooh, my first plug on the newsgroup :)

The web site reckons April 2008. I'd *like* it to be a month or two
earlier than that, but these things take time...

In fact, I don't C# in Depth isn't really appropriate for learning C#
from scratch - although if the OP is smart, it would probably be fine
after reading a few tutorials on C# 1 or a short C# 1 book.
 
clintonG said:
That's why they publish 2nd Editions -- because the publishers often hire
incompetent reviewers who fail to catch mistakes we all make. Even Sells
and Liberty have had mistakes in their books.
Click to expand...
Actually, it's more a case of publishers trying to maximize profit by trying
to get perfectly competent reviewers to work on the cheap, IME.
I'm frequently asked to review college texts for technical accuracy at what
ends up being little more than minimum wage, given the time it *should
take*. Publishers are going through the motions and expecting an "acceptable
number of errors" because they know reviews are not thorough.
Further, coming out with "new" editions (or edition churning as we call it
in eduworld), is another way to increase revenue by pressuring professors
and bookstores to adopt the "new" edition. It's all about the $$ :)
 
Hi there

I'm looking for a good book or a couple of good books for learning C#
and the .Net framework. I have a background with C++ programming and I'd
say I'm fairly competent, I have also used a bit of managed C++ and
little C# but now I need to get a better understanding of both the
language and the framework. I like the style of The C++ Programming
Language by Stroustrup and would like a book that is fairly to the
point. While I'm aware of the fact that there are quite a lot of good
material on the net I always like to have a good book, preferably one
that can be considered fairly authoritative if possible.

Having searched these groups I've seen a few recommending Pro C# 2005
and the .NET 2.0 Platform by Troelsen, and I was wondering if there are
any other good ones out there. One good book about C# and one good about
.Net would be better than a fairly good about both.

PS. Mind the cross-posting when replying
Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of the help that comes with whatever version of visual
studio you're using. From my version of visual studio (vs.net2003)
the following sections may be helpful:

- "Visual C# Language - C# Language Tour "
- as a C++ person you may find the "Comparison Between C++ and C#"
helpful
- "Visual C# Language - C# Programmer's reference"
- ".NET Framework - Programming with the .NET Framework"
- I think this comes w/ the SDK - excellent, well-organized
introduction to many parts of the framework with plenty of C# code
samples.
- ".NET Framework - Reference - Class Library"
- The API. Loaded with explanations and relevant samples.

I usually install the help locally because articles I've found helpful
occasionally disappear (or move) from MSDN online. Plus local help
tends to load faster than over the web.

One last one thing I've found extremely helpful is the Help on Help
that's included in the help (from the help menu). "Search Syntax and
Guidelines" is a real gem.

As for books and blogs, others have covered these so I'll defer to
them :)
 
Actually, it's more a case of publishers trying to maximize profit by trying
to get perfectly competent reviewers to work on the cheap, IME.
I'm frequently asked to review college texts for technical accuracy at what
ends up being little more than minimum wage, given the time it *should
take*. Publishers are going through the motions and expecting an "acceptable
number of errors" because they know reviews are not thorough.
Further, coming out with "new" editions (or edition churning as we call it
in eduworld), is another way to increase revenue by pressuring professors
and bookstores to adopt the "new" edition. It's all about the $$ :)
Click to expand...

Same trend...

I'm sure every publisher is different, but a few I've workd with have
pretty much done away with formal technical reviewers/editors and
instead are going with "beta readers". Sometimes beta readers are
paid a little bit but mostly they're volunteers.

So instead of haing one or two technical editors responsible for
reading the whole book and making sure it's all technically accurate,
you get 10-15 beta readers that read as much as they want to and point
out what they see. There's a big difference between a beta reader who
just reads and provides feedback and a tech editor who is specifically
tasked with verifying everything and testing every code sample.

I've served as both a tech editor and a beta reader and am not hapy
with this recent change. Hopefully this is confined to just some
publishers.

Sam
 
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