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Summary: Single best book on C# I've read
Review: Liberty writes clearly and precisely. As you might expect from an O'Reilly book, Programming C# goes beyond the language to provide complete coverage of building applications and using the Framework Class Library. This book is the single best resource I've found for learning C#.I was particularly impressed by the level of support offered on Liberty's web site. He has a FAQ, the complete source code, and most important a link to a discussion center where you can ask questions that arise from reading the book. I found him to be very responsive to questions and eager to improve his book I was also impressed by the coverage of such advanced topics as remoting, threading, attributes and reflecton and so forth. His ocverage was extensive, knowledgable and accurate. I'm looking forward to reading his new book, Programming ASP.NET as well
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Summary: Excellent tutorial - World Class Writing
Review: This book is an excellent tutorial on C#. The author writes with a full understanding of how professional programmers and serious amateurs approach programming. He fills the book with useful insights, not only into how you accomplish things, but why. The examples are simple, straight-forward and to the point. The analysis following each example is excellent. Well written, cleary presented and very useful. This book starts out with the fundamentals. If you are an experienced C++ or Java programmer, you'll get through this section quickly and easily. The second section introduces .NET programming and the third section tackles advanced subjects. Throughout the writing is excellent, clear, well presented, humerous and there is great value in the professional insights provided. I can't recommend this book highly enough. I've also read Programming ASP.NET by the same author, and will post a review for that terrific book separately. World class.
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Summary: Excellent language introduction and reference
Review: This is a perfect introduction to the language and reference work. It doesn't have deep coverage of the class libraries, it focuses on the central languages features in the first two sections and then covers their application in the second and third. But it's the first section of the book, which covers each of the core language features (variables, conditionals, class use, class construction, collections and data structures, etc.) where the book shines the brightest. I don't having anything particularly negative to say about the book. The code samples are brief and use sparingly. There aren't many screenshots, and I prefer it that way. The text is well written and concise. And the author sticks to the central themes of each section without delving into the minutiae. This book is O'Reilly at it's best, well written and edited, built specifically with the engineer in mind, and taking the time to develop and refine a work that helps the reader as opposed to inflating the author.
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Summary: Great book for learning C#
Review: This is a great book for learning C#. The first part is an excellent tutorial in the language, just right for experienced C, C++ and Java programmers and for advanced VB6 programmers. The second part introduces how to use the language to create .net programs. This is a bit superficial, but his goal was only to provide an introduction, and it is a very good introduction. For more detail on really building advanced applications you will need an additional book (like his book on ASP.NET). The third part of Programming C# goes into advanced topics you won't easily find elsewhere, with excellent coverage of (for example) threading, remoting, reflection, streams and so forth. Liberty writes well, his examples are terrific, and he makes complex material easily understandable. Further, he supports his book on his web site where he provides not only source code but a discussion center where you can ask questions. I highly recommend this excellent tutorial.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good book
Review: I really enjoyed this book. I think its a great intro to C# and a generally good reference for it. The only negatives are that some of the examples simply aren't real-world. That's a minor thing, and I wouldn't let it deter me from buying the next edition of the book. I also wish there were more whole apps in the book. Writing everything to the console gets boring. Again, this isn't a big deal and doesn't detract from the overall usefulness of the book. If you are a serious C# developer or want to become one, I think you should give this one a good read and keep it close at hand as a reference.
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Summary: Good Book but Some Poor Example and Lacks Some Detail
Review: This is a very decent introduction to C# and the .NET environment. The book offers a reasonable introduction to the basics of the C# language: types, conditionals, loops. It also discusses OO basics in the context of classes, inheritance, and polymorphism. The book then goes on to introduce Windows Forms, ASP.NET, and ADO.NET. Finally, there are discussions of assemblies and deployment, interoperability with COM, reflection, threads, streams, Web Services and other goodies. Considering the breadth of the material the text is quite clear and the sample code is generally accurate and useful. Sometimes one needs to go through a whole program listing to extract the line or two that is being discussed, but that isn't so bad because it does provide a useful context. Setting the code
apart by making it bold might be a nice touch though. The section on interoperability with COM seems a bit weak, and I could not find the OCX and COM components on Jesse Liberty's Web Site as the book promised (the source code is there, but no pre-compiled components). I thought the section on delegates was also weak: The MSDN libary material is more clear in this regard. All in all, most of the chapters are quite solid, but now again there is a chapter that I think ought to be re-written from scratch. I find it a bit strange that the old material has not really been revised much since the 1st edition. I would say that the target of this book is a fairly solid, well-grounded developer. The book does tend to omit details that would likely stump a beginner, so if you're looking for a book that makes every step very explicit, this one is probably not the best choice. I consider this to be a good first C# book for developers who have solid experience in other languages. Supplemented with the material that's available free on MSDN, it provides a strong foundation.
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Summary: An excellent introduction for all but the novice programmer
Review: Programming C# provided me with a thorough introduction to Microsoft's new programming language. I have experience with C and Visual Basic 6, but little with true object oriented programming. Programming C# provided lucid explantions of both C# syntax and the object model used by the language. It also provided ample tips and stylistic suggestions. The organization of the book deserves praise. Part I covers the language fundamentals. I personally read all of part I, as well as chapter 13 on Windows forms and am now ready to program. I can also understand most of the MSDN documentation. I plan to read the remaining chapters on an as-needed basis. Thus, Programming C# will serve as a reference book of sorts. My only criticism is that the examples in Part I, while they clearly demonstrate language features and object oriented programming, only print messages to the console. Only in chapter 13 was a fully functional application given in an example. Still, I highly recommend this book to anyone with prior programming experience.
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Summary: Good way to start learning C#
Review: I have no .NET background, but I have programmed in Java, C, and C++, and I can tell you that this is a good book for an introduction to C#. I would not recommend this book for someone totally new to programming, this book references C, C++, and Java often when the situation calls for it. The first third of the book starts out with the OOP basics (i.e. language fundamentals, classes, inheritance, arrays, polymorphism, etc). The second third gets going with programming actual applications (both web and desktop), the final third gets into the .NET CLR (Common Language Runtime), which discusses versioning, threads, synchonozation, etc. Overall, this book is a good way to start learning C# for the person with OOP experience
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Summary: By far the best book on C# I've read
Review: I am one of those people who buy a lot of programming books. I must have six on C# alone, but this one is by far the best written, and the most to the point. The examples are short, clear and (most important) complete. The explanations are clear, but what is most important is that the author does not just repeat what is in the MSDN and other help files, he walks you through the language, teaching you exactly what you need to know to be productive. The proof of the excellence of this book is in the second and third part, where he goes well beyond the basics to show you how to use C# in building applications and then how to use the framework with C# to achieve advanced goals. This book does not stand alone. If you want to build ASP.NET applications in C#, start with this book and then go on to the author's book Programming ASP.NET. If you want to build Windows desk-top applications, start with this book and then go on to the author's Programming .NET Applications. In any case, though, this is a great foundation book, and far exceeds the other primers I've read. As others have mentioned, the author provides unprecedented support for his book on his web site, but what no one else has mentioned, as far as I can tell, is that he also recommends books by other authors (and even other publishers!) to further your study of .NET.
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Summary: This book deserves 5 stars and more
Review: This is the single best book I've read on C# and may be the best introductory book on programming in an object oriented language I've ever read. There are some surprising reviews below, I suspect they were written by people with an agenda that had nothing to do with this book, because Programming C# is clear and well written, with excellent examples. Liberty goes way beyond the standard documentation to explain all the fundamentals of hte language, which is why this book continues to be one of the best sellers in the field. The first part of the book is a primer on the language, and it is clear, and understandable and to the point. The second part is a quick review of how to use C# to create .NET applications, and the third part shows advanced topics in C#. In addition to having written an excellent book, Liberty supports his book on his web site, where he provides all the source code and a support discussion group, where he personally answers readers' questions. All in all, this is certainly the best C# book I've ever read and may be one of the best programming books I've ever read.
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