PRObooks
C# and the .NET Platform
There are currently two must have C# books on the market. This is one of them (the other is A Programmer s Reference to C# by Eric Gunnerson).
The table of contents for C# and the .NET Platform reads very similar to other books on the market: Object-Oriented Programming with C#; Language Fundamentals; Interfaces and Collections; Assemblies, Threads, and AppDomains; etc. I am amazed that so many books cover the same material, often presenting almost identical content. Yet only a few excel at presenting that content. So what sets this book apart? Careful attention to detail, good organization, and good writing. For example, although many books use code illustrations to make a point, many are disjointed and often unrelated. Andrew Troelsen, on the other hand, has one central code example that threads its way throughout the book. A small application is built or modified as the reader traverses chapter to chapter. From basic object-oriented design and topics such as classes, collections, and interfaces, to data retrieval, UI design, and Web-based deployment, the same small application is used, modified, or extended. This approach facilitates the learning process well it gives the reader the opportunity to refer back to previous chapters and see very clearly how a particular piece of code has changed.
Of course not every page deals with just one small application. Aside from the fundamentals and syntactical chapters, you ll find coverage of GDI development, data access, Web Services, and even a few pages dealing with Visual Studio. One of my favorites is a section in the first chapter that talks about the meaning of .NET if you are a Win32/C programmer, a VB programmer, or a Java programmer. That section provides some guidelines and shows a good deal of insight into the questions being asked by many faced with .NET: Should I or shouldn t I?; and, I m a VB coder, should I switch to C# for .NET? Sound familiar?
Let s face it, programming is very different under .NET. Visual Basic .NET has more in common with C# than its predecessor. Unfortunately, many VB authors lack the true object-oriented experience needed for .NET, and may not be capable of producing a quality book on VB .NET. So where does that leave us? In the capable of hands of people like Andrew Troelsen and Eric Gunnerson, whose works are of interest to anyone contemplating the move to .NET
Thomas Wagner
C# and the .NET Platform by Andrew Troelsen, Apress, http://www.apress.com.
Rating:
ISBN: 1-893115-59-3
Cover Price: US$59.95
(970 Pages)
