Newbie to dotnet

[Alan T]

I regard myself as newbie although I have been working with C#(VC# 2005) for
6 months.
I would say I should read books about .NET 3.0 or even 3.5.
Any step by step guide on these (C#) ?

 

[Marc Gravell]

Actually, IMO the .NET 3.0 pieces are all pretty specific (i.e. WCF
for comms, WF for workflow, WPF for presentation) - it would be /
entirely/ possible to get by without using any of them [not a
criticism; I use several of these].

..NET 3.5 has a much wider impact, however; I expect to use LINQ in a
*lot* of code, since it addresses the very common aim of querying
data.

What I'm saying here is that unless you are actually interested in one
of the 3.0 features, I'd look at 3.5 instead. There are a number of
good books etc. If you are interested in the language aspects, then
Jon's book (C# in Depth) is a good read - plus it will hone your
existing C# 2 skills.

If you simply want to extend your knowledge of the framework, then how
about looking at the MCP route, such as "Application Development
Foundation" (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/exams/70-536.mspx)?
Different people have wildly different views on MCP - but regardless
of how you view the qualification, having a known syllabus of topics
to cover can only be a good thing; I'll happily admit that I learnt
quite a bit while preparing for this exam, even after several years
of .NET.

Marc

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

Alan,

In my idea for sure not, the good books come mostly after a time when the
expirience writters know that all Beta stuff is evaluated and removed.

However, my idea.

Cor

 

[Ignacio Machin \( .NET/ C# MVP \)]

Hi,


Depend of your knowledge of programming you should select your book. If you
are a Java or a C++ developer then you can bypass a lot of stuff. In the
other hand if you come from VB6 you need more info about OOP basics.

 

[christery]

I regard myself as newbie although I have been working with C#(VC# 2005) for
6 months.
I would say I should read books about .NET 3.0 or even 3.5.
Any step by step guide on these (C#) ?

just my point of wiew...

One way to get an idea is looking at what courses/university use for
such a adventure, if there are any yet, 3.0/3.5 is quite new... so
"LINQ for dummys" hasn´t (didnt check that by the way) hit the market
yet, otherways thats the way I'd go

MSDN is a bit complicated to search, always finding what I dont need,
or wasnt looking for and wasting time on sidetracks "oh can u do
that..." (as usual when on the web) but start at Amazon...

I´d go with finding a project to build in .net 3.5 (CD collection with
db and web interface, B2B ready, of course making it able to sample
music and telling what CD its from) and use the web for reference
material, its mor fun learning by doing than lerning by reading.

//CY

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

just my point of wiew...

One way to get an idea is looking at what courses/university use for
such a adventure, if there are any yet, 3.0/3.5 is quite new... so
"LINQ for dummys" hasn´t (didnt check that by the way) hit the market
yet, otherways thats the way I'd go

There are plenty of LINQ books around now, going from a *reasonably*
basic start. LINQ in Action is good, for example.

However, you really need a decent grasp of C# and .NET before going
into LINQ. I wouldn't personally recommend venturing into LINQ at all
until the OP is comfortable with the basics.

I´d go with finding a project to build in .net 3.5 (CD collection with
db and web interface, B2B ready, of course making it able to sample
music and telling what CD its from) and use the web for reference
material, its mor fun learning by doing than lerning by reading.

Trying to start off without any books or tutorials is a recipe for
disaster, IMO. The web is good for reference, but not for initial
learning. The "just experiment until it works, referring to pages when
you run into problems" is a good way to pick up bad habits.

I'd recommend getting a book *and* having a project, side by side.
There's certainly no substitute for hands-on experience, but without a
good guide that won't help much.

Jon

 

[christery]

There are plenty of LINQ books around now, going from a *reasonably*
basic start. LINQ in Action is good, for example.

However, you really need a decent grasp of C# and .NET before going
into LINQ. I wouldn't personally recommend venturing into LINQ at all
until the OP is comfortable with the basics.



Trying to start off without any books or tutorials is a recipe for
disaster, IMO. The web is good for reference, but not for initial
learning. The "just experiment until it works, referring to pages when
you run into problems" is a good way to pick up bad habits.

I'd recommend getting a book *and* having a project, side by side.
There's certainly no substitute for hands-on experience, but without a
good guide that won't help much.

Jon

But he already was programimng C# for 1/2 year.. is this initial?
nope, a book or two yes, but on the new tech like 3, 3.5 is in my
opinion a bit hard to get a good one... (Jon:s excluded of course)
Should get that... U dont post ISBN so... Ill search for Skeet... lets
see if it is up to ....


But right, if no progamming experiance, dont jump, climbe, but on the
other hand why catch faults in 1.0 and the have to realize its been
changed?

PS.

Jon If I find that book then Im impressed, I wouldnt have the stamina
to write a book on something (that I would find) obvious, but to read
it when its not is another thing...
on the other hand, I might not find it... but I´m not betting on
that..

//CY

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

But he already was programimng C# for 1/2 year.. is this initial?

Is that 6 months of "an hour every couple of weeks" or 6 months of
"it's my job" though? We don't know. What we *do* know is that the OP
considers himself to be a newbie.

I don't believe LINQ is a good thing for newbies to learn immediately.
It's very important to get the foundations right first.

nope, a book or two yes, but on the new tech like 3, 3.5 is in my
opinion a bit hard to get a good one... (Jon:s excluded of course)
Should get that... U dont post ISBN so... Ill search for Skeet... lets
see if it is up to ....

I would definitely *not* recommend my own book to a self-proclaimed
newbie. It would be completely inappropriate.

(Mine's also not on .NET 3.5 so much a C# 3 - it doesn't try to be a
book about LINQ, although it covers it enough to give the big picture
without the details. It pays attention to how C# 3 interacts with LINQ
though.)

But right, if no progamming experiance, dont jump, climbe, but on the
other hand why catch faults in 1.0 and the have to realize its been
changed?

Oh there's nothing wrong with starting with a good book about the
fundamentals of .NET starting at 2.0, and then move on to WPF, and
*then* LINQ. It's just that if you try to understand LINQ without
understanding generics or delegates, you'll get nowhere.

Jon If I find that book then Im impressed, I wouldnt have the stamina
to write a book on something (that I would find) obvious, but to read
it when its not is another thing...
on the other hand, I might not find it... but I´m not betting on
that..

Might not find what? My book? Or LINQ in Action? Or something else?

Mine: 1933988363 or 978-1933988368
LINQ in Action: 1933988169 or 978-1933988160

(Oh, and I certainly didn't find everything that I wrote "obvious" -
I've learned an awful lot over the last 10 months!)

 

[Alan T]

Hi,

I am a programmer for several years from Delphi, so I say OOP is not a
problem and the 6 months C# experience was from my work frin scratch(because
my boss told me to start developing).

However, I would like to have a good grasp of .NET and C#.

But he already was programimng C# for 1/2 year.. is this initial?

Is that 6 months of "an hour every couple of weeks" or 6 months of
"it's my job" though? We don't know. What we *do* know is that the OP
considers himself to be a newbie.

I don't believe LINQ is a good thing for newbies to learn immediately.
It's very important to get the foundations right first.

nope, a book or two yes, but on the new tech like 3, 3.5 is in my
opinion a bit hard to get a good one... (Jon:s excluded of course)
Should get that... U dont post ISBN so... Ill search for Skeet... lets
see if it is up to ....

I would definitely *not* recommend my own book to a self-proclaimed
newbie. It would be completely inappropriate.

(Mine's also not on .NET 3.5 so much a C# 3 - it doesn't try to be a
book about LINQ, although it covers it enough to give the big picture
without the details. It pays attention to how C# 3 interacts with LINQ
though.)

But right, if no progamming experiance, dont jump, climbe, but on the
other hand why catch faults in 1.0 and the have to realize its been
changed?

Oh there's nothing wrong with starting with a good book about the
fundamentals of .NET starting at 2.0, and then move on to WPF, and
*then* LINQ. It's just that if you try to understand LINQ without
understanding generics or delegates, you'll get nowhere.

Jon If I find that book then Im impressed, I wouldnt have the stamina
to write a book on something (that I would find) obvious, but to read
it when its not is another thing...
on the other hand, I might not find it... but I´m not betting on
that..

Might not find what? My book? Or LINQ in Action? Or something else?

Mine: 1933988363 or 978-1933988368
LINQ in Action: 1933988169 or 978-1933988160

(Oh, and I certainly didn't find everything that I wrote "obvious" -
I've learned an awful lot over the last 10 months!)

 

[Jon Skeet [C# MVP]]

I am a programmer for several years from Delphi, so I say OOP is not a
problem and the 6 months C# experience was from my work frin scratch(because
my boss told me to start developing).

Okay, that sounds like a good start.

However, I would like to have a good grasp of .NET and C#.

I'd suggest getting a good .NET 2.0 / C# 2 book and try to grasp that
level first, and then move on to LINQ etc.

In order to properly understand LINQ, you'll need a firm understanding
of:

1) Delegates
2) Iterators
3) Generics
4) Overloading

The first 3 will heavily depend on C# 2 features - get comfortable with
anonymous methods, iterator blocks and all kinds of generics. These
will give you a good foundation on which to build.