Brand new to C#, requesting book recommendations

[Mike]

Hi,

I am planning on purchasing VS2005 to learn C# very soon, and I need good
book recommendations. I realize this is a question that may be asked a lot,
but please consider my background:

I have been a ClassicVB/ASP programmer for about 7 years. I have never done
anything with .NET and only have a very basic understanding of the platform.
Recently, I started working on a large JAVA project at my job (even though I
have very little JAVA experience). I am beginning to realize how far behind
I am because I do not konw much about OOP. Therefore in addition to being a
good introduction to C#, I would like a book that is a good primer on OOP
design and implementation techniques. Ideally, the book would also cover
the new features in C# 2.0 and VS2005.

What would you recommend? Is there any book out there that is considered
pretty much the standard C# reference book?

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide.

Best regards,
Mike

 

[Guest]

Jesse Liberty has some books out - I've always been happy with his books.
--
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[Jesse Liberty]

Mike,

There are a number of good ways to go about finding a good primer. Of
course, nothing substitutes for going to a large technical book store and
reading through a few candidate primers. Each of us write differently, with
a different emphasis and a different set of priorities. You'll want to ask
yourself a few questions while examining the various candidates:

Do you like the author's writing style? Is it clear, easy to understand?
Will the author leave you with questions or does the author anticipate your
areas of confusion? Are you the target audience?

Are there enough (too few? too many?) examples? Are the examples simple and
clear? Is the complete source code provided so that you can try the program
yourself? Is there a web site with source code you can download? Every book,
no matter how carefully edited has errors. Is there an errata sheet you can
access on the web?

Another question is whether the primer offers itself as a comprehensive
reference or as a tutorial? Some rare books are excellent at both, but most
books are better as one than as the other.

You want to be sure the C# book you buy is targeted at C# 2.0 and covers the
important new features (especially generics), and that C# 2.0 is integrated
into the entire book. You also want a book that applies C# (sooner or later)
to building .NET applications (that is what C# is for, after all.

I hope you will consider my book, Programming C# 4th Edition (O'Reilly).
Programming C# is divided into three parts: Part I teaches the language
(completely updated for C# 2.0), Part II shows you how to build Windows and
web applications as well as web services and Part III explores the .NET
framework.

It is my goal to provide a smooth transition from other programming
languages (notably C++, Java and VB) to C#. I did not set out to reproduce
the Microsoft documentation; but rather to tell the story of C# .20 and how
C# is used to produce applications in .NET.

I provide extensive support for my books on my web site
(http://www.LibertyAssociates.com) where you will find a sample chapter,
Table of Contents and Index and where you can buy the book at a 30%
discount. You will also find that my site provides the complete source code,
a link to the errata, and a FAQ. Finally, I offer a private support
discussion center for questions that arise while reading my books.

Finally, if you decide to go with Visual Basic 2005 instead (and there are
good reasons to do that as well) then I hope you will consider my newest
book Programming Visual Basic 2005, which is targeted squarely at VB6
programmers, and takes the approach of "start programming instantly" and
explains concepts as we go (there is a solid introduction to both the
language and to OOP in the final section of the book for those who like
things explained all in one place).

Thanks and best of luck.

Jesse Liberty
http://www.LibertyAssociates.com

 

[GS]

Fantastic. Thank you for taking the time to write a lengthy reply, you've
got yourself a new customer

Thanks again,
Mike

 

[Visual Systems AB \(Martin Arvidsson\)]

And I am buying these books to.

Programming C# and Programming ASP.NET

Regards
Martin, Sweden.

 

[Jesse Liberty]

You warm the cockles of my heart.

-j