Beginning C# 2008: From Novice to Professional

Product Description

This book is for anyone who wants to write good C# 2008 code - even if you have never programmed before. Writing good code can be a challenge, there are so many options, especially in a language like C#. If you want to really get the best from a programming language you need to know which features work best in which situations and understand their strengths and weaknesses. It is this understanding that makes the difference between coding and coding well. Beginning C# 2008 has been written to teach you how to use the C# programming language to solve problems. From the earliest chapters, and from the first introductory concepts, you'll be looking at real-world programming challenges and learning how C# can be used to overcome them. As you progress through the book the problems become more involved and interesting while the solutions become correspondingly more complex and powerful as C# features interact to achieve the results that you want. By the time you've finished reading this book and worked through the sample exercises, you'll be a confident and very competent C# programmer. You will still have many explorations of the .NET Framework API to look forward to in your future career, but you will have a firm foundation to build from and you will know exactly where to go to find the things that you need to progress confidently in your projects. What you will learn

* Everything to get you started with C# 2008 from scratch - from installing the tools to writing your first applications.
* All the core concepts of .NET 3.5 programming: from decision trees to data structures, exceptions to lambda expressions and from objects to components.
* Learn what LINQ is, why functional programming can be important, how generics make your life easier and much, much, more!

Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone who's just starting out to learn about C#. It doesn't assume any prior knowledge of object-oriented programming, of the .NET Framework, or of coding in general. It simply assumes that you're an intelligent person who wants to learn and starts the journey from there. About the Apress Beginning Series The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry-level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from "novice to professional." You'll start your journey by seeing what you need to know--but without needless theory and filler. You'll build your skill set by learning how to put together real-world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you there--it is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!
Product Details

* Amazon Sales Rank: #210809 in Books
* Published on: 2007-11-12
* Original language: English
* Number of items: 1
* Binding: Paperback
* 487 pages

Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Christian Gross is a consultant with vast experience in the client/server world. He has consulted for Microsoft on DNA solutions, and he has held consulting positions with Daimler Benz, Microsoft, NatWest, and other major corporations. Gross was a contributor to Professional Active Server Pages, Professional SQL Server 6.5 Administration, Professional NT Internet Information Server Administration, and Programming Microsoft Windows 2000 Unleashed. He is the author of A Programmer's Introduction to Windows DNA.
Customer Reviews

Did APRESS review this book before publishing it?1
Don't buy this book. Poor english, terrible analogies, no structure. After reading it for a day I had to stop myself from banging my head against the wall. Christian Gross tries to explain technical concepts with real world analogies such as going through shopping malls, having an instance of your private wallet and publicly exposing your credit card, limiting the public access to charging your account. He then goes on to try explaining "static" methods with a push-to-talk family phone analogy. All his analogies are confusing, and I cannot see how anyone can grasp any of the technical concepts without having a solid background. The problem is, if you have a solid background in programming, then the analogies are useless. If you don't have the background, they are even more useless. Sorry Christian, but you really messed this one up. So did APRESS and the technical reviewer Christian Kenyeres.

Very Disappointed...2
I made it through only the first 25% of the book, and I could take no more. This book is really quite bad.

Just a few of the things that make this book so bad: 1) Rambling and EXTREMELY confusing analogies that destroyed any chance of me actually understanding the material. Though I think that the author was trying to draw comparisons to everyday things in order to help a beginner understand the material, he failed miserably. A few simple drawings and basic descriptions of things like memory, stack, heap, etc. would have served the reader much better. 2) Code and terminology are used but never explained. Though I understand that learning a language requires referencing multiple sources, and I do it often, there was simply too much unexplained terminology and too much code that was never explained and was not found anywhere else in the book (e.g. Assert.AreEqual). 3) Typos and mistakes: In the midst of all the confusion caused by the writing style, there are also typos and editing errors that ensure complete confusion. As an example, there are block diagrams in which sections of code are pointed to and explained, but in some cases the wrong portion of code is pointed to for a particular description. I also found incorrect code results that belonged to other examples later in the book. Obviously they copied and pasted without paying enough attention. 4) I could continue, but there is just too much.

I do have one positive comment. I very much appreciate the author's emphasis on testing and code organization. I think it is a valuable subject that is overlooked by many. This is the only reason I gave this book a rating of 2 rather than a 1.

Can't believe it! A 2nd edition on the way1
I am totally dumbfounded at Apress. I have the VB version of this book. And from these reviews I can tell both books are similar. Meaning after reading some sections you will be left saying to yourself, "what just happened"?

As several have noted thru the constant use of analogies, the author takes you far down a beaten path that is typically very far from where you want to be. You end up trying to think exactly like him to try to understand what his analogy is trying to explain. Very bad writing style.

The examples he does use to try to demonstrate programming principles are bad also. I have been working in Java for sometime. So I have an understanding of Interfaces vs. Inheritance. With a good understanding of this particular topic, I found myself very confused reading some of his chapters that try to discuss Object Oriented principles.

If you check some of the other books this author has written you will see a general overall rating of 3 at best due to his poor writing style.

I used to heavily recommend any Apress book on any given topic. Seeing as Apress is coming out with a 2nd edition of this throwaway book, I can no longer abide by that. Will never buy an Apress book until I've had a chance to read some samples in a bookstore, or read several reviews.