PRObooks
C# and the NET Framework: The C++ Perspective
I am excited about C#. It is as object-oriented as Java and, and with the help of the .NET Framework, it may be even more productive than Java. In my view, C# (and .NET) represents everything Microsoft has learned through its competition with Java. This new technology takes a considerable amount of these learning lessons and wraps them up in a great package.
One of the unique aspects of the .NET Framework is the ability to support multiple languages in an almost completely agnostic manner. The details of this feature are covered elsewhere in plenty of reference materials. With this plethora of tools available, why would someone continue using C++? I don t know. However, ask yourself this: As a C++ programmer, how comfortable do you feel with the idea that your existing code base is made compatible with .NET via a process called managed extensions ? In other words, all the wonderful power and control that C++ affords to the programmer is being grafted onto .NET via a process that reminds me of the COM Interop layer. Using C++ in the .NET world almost seems like driving a Porsche in Los Angeles you can never get out of second gear.
Keeping the almost dichotomous nature of .NET and C++ in mind, what can a book like C# and the NET Framework: The C++ Perspective tell you about using C++ in this new environment? Not very much, it seems. On the whole, there is only one C++-specific chapter, along with occasional anecdotal references to C++ sprinkled throughout the book. It almost seems as though Powell and Weeks were interested in writing a C# book but had to find an angle that nobody else had used.
In its essence, apart from the creative title and some per functionary C++ coverage, this is another book about C# and the .NET Framework. With that in mind, I suggest that it s very much outdone by two other books on this specific subject: A Programmer s Introduction to C# by Eric Gunnerson, and C# and the .NET Platform by Andrew Troelson.
Thomas Wagner
C# and the NET Framework: The C++ Perspective by Robert Powell and Richard Weeks, SAMS Publishing, http://www.samspublishing.com.
Rating:
ISBN: 0-672-32153-X
Cover Price: US$39.99
(620 pages)
