I think you have to take a multi-pronged approach to learning C#. This
includes:
- Reading several books.
- Spending lots of personal time experimenting with code (C# and XAML).
- Exploring the help topics in Visual Studio.
- Reading the questions and answers in this community.
- Sampling the information available on theWeb.
As you do these things, keep extensive notes about the information you find
useful and where you can find that information again.
Accept the fact that you won't fully understand many topics on first
reading. Just try to get the basic concepts into your brain and be prepared
to return to those topics after other things you learn prepare you for a
better understanding.
At $30 - $40 apiece, books cost a lot. Most of the books about C# and WPF
I've seen contain a lot of valuable information. Each book is written by an
author or team of authors who have different perspectives and, therefore,
focuses on different areas. A book that describes one topic in detail quite
likely gives little attention to a topic that's important to you. That's why
you need several books.
As an author of many books about computer subjects (not about C#), let me
give you some insight into problems with computer books. Book publishers
usually do a good job of recruiting knowledgable authors. Those authors know
their subjects but some lack writing skills. That's why publishers employ
editors who attempt, not always successully, to improve the authors' prose.
Publishers also employ technical editors (other subject experts) who review
the authors' material for technical accuracy. Unfortunately, publishers (as
far as I know) do not have the authors' material reviewed by people who read
the material from the point of view of potential readers who have no
previous knowledge of the subject. So, what you get is a book full of
accurate technical information, but a book that doesn't explain that
information in a way that newcomers to the subject can understand.
There is another problem. The last stage in the preparation of a book is
construction of the index, usually done by a professional indexer who has
little, if any, knowledge of the subject matter. The result is a book that
contains the information you need, but doesn't accurately refer to that
subject in the index. There is also the problem I encountered in one of my
books that, apparently, the indexer used Word with Show/Hide enabled to
create the index. This resulted in the index being created with the book
containing all the additional formatting text, resulting in an incorrect
index.
One more problem: C# and WPF use many technical terms that have very
specific meanings that are not obvious. The books I've seen provide some
information about these terms, but lack precise definitions. All the books
I've writtem contain a glossary that provides a basic definition of terms
referred to. I stronmgly recommend that all computer books should include
such a glossary.
In conclusion, my best advice to you is to purchase "Microsoft Visual C#
2008", by John Sharp, published by Microsoft Press (ISBN
978-0-7356-2430--6). Work through the exercises in this book to become
familiar with C# basics. Unfortunately, this book introduces many technical
terms without adequately explaining them and has an index that doesn't refer
well to subject matters. There is no glossary.
Welcom to the C# world. It's a challenge, but i rewarding.
Gordon
