Rating: 
Summary: a good book
Review: Not everyone with mastery of a subject can teach it well. Mr. Liberty can, and does in this book. If you have a good understanding of C++ OO programming and are at least vaguely familiar with the concepts of COM/DCOM/COM+, then this book will be a gentle introduction. You can quickly skim through the first several chapters and then slow down for the main course. If you have no prior programming knowledge, you may find the learning curve a bit steep.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent choice for anyone with a C++ background
Review: I've been working through this book for the last week or so. After spending the last two years learning C++, COM, MFC and all things related to Windows and Microsoft Visual C++, I was leery when I started to hear the rumblings of .NET and C#. It became clear, however, that Microsoft's portion of the industry was indeed undergoing a tectonic shift. I began looking for a good tutorial and overview of the .NET framework and C#. For me, Jesse's TY C++ in 21 Days was such a good introduction to C++ that I was confident his new book would be a good investment. I am not disappointed. This book covers a lot of ground. For anyone who has programmed in another object-oriented language, this book will hit right at home. There is not much in the way of spoon feeding. The discussions and examples are short, but very insightful to the topics at hand. They're perfect for someone making the transition; probably a bit terse for a beginner. I must also commend Jesse's support for his book. His web sites for the errata and reader support for this book are helpful. He was prompt in replying to my posts. I'm finding the C# language to be very elegant and the .NET Framework to be far more convenient and object-oriented than MFC. He has succeeded in converting me to a C# enthusiast! I too will probably never look back!
Rating: 
Summary: does NOT live up to its billing
Review: i bought this book after reading through its glowing reviews - and i'm sorely dissapointed. i'm not familiar enough with C# to know if its clunky language design or ineptitude on the part of this author, but there at least seem to be what look like glaring errors in the book. for example in the interfaces chapter, the author advocates using runtime casts to cast a reference to an object to a reference to an interface that the object's class implements. but why should that be needed ? both the programmer and the compiler know if a particular class implements a particular interface. (if it doesn't, it should be a compile time error - you shouldn't need a runtime check.) on the other hand you would need (for type safety) a runtime check for a cast in the opposite direction but this point completely eludes the author.
another example: on page 27, the author has a sidenote about "The Stack and the Heap" where he claims objects allocated on the stack are garbage collected after the stack frame ends. hello ??? does the author comprehend what he's talking about ? when a stack frame ends, all that is done is that the items are popped off the stack, and the same space reused when the next block is entered or the next function call made. where does the garbage collector come in ? does he mean objects on the stack which contain references to objects allocated on the heap which are cleaned up when the stack frame ends ? (but that is covered when he says "Objects on the heap are garbage collected sometime after the final reference to them is destroyed.") or is he talking about objects on the stack which have corresponding "boxed" info on the heap ?
one more gripe: almost all the examples in the book are perfect examples of how NOT to do object oriented design. no encapsulation, the same tired old theories of how inheritance is a good form of reuse, etc. the author manages to quote from Design Patterns (by the gang of four) - this book really makes me wonder if he's ever even read the book !
Rating: 
Summary: Great for experienced C++ or OOP programmers
Review: I've a number of years experience with C++, COM, OOP etc. I was looking for a book to get started fast in C# without trying to teach the basics of OOP or component software development. This book does a great job of getting down to concrete aspects of the language and aspects of .Net. It does not serve as a primer on .net and in some cases does not clarify in enough detail what happens if you omit a keyword - you have to sit down with a compiler and try out your own variations on the examples.There are some typos and mistakes in some of the examples such as the section which states that Finalize is not callable directly (true) but immediately follows with a call to Finalize in the following example. Mistakes aside, I still recommend it highly especially if you have existing experience with C++ or Java and COM / CORBA / EJB.
Rating:
Summary: Full of mistakes
Review: I read the first half of this, and found an error every other page, ranging from typos and missing brackets to plainly incorrect observations about hashing.
I suspect the book was rushed to the presses without much proofreading.
Rating:
Summary: Efficient, but tough going for a beginner
Review: When I bought this book I was a beginning programmer setting out to learn C# and .NET. Liberty states in the book that beginners "may find some of it [the material in the book] tough going" but I took a chance and jumped out in the deep end and began reading it. Even though this is an extremely well written book (that I now highly appreciate) Liberty was right. I only made it to the middle of chapter 4 before I realized that the pace was too fast. Luckily I got hold of (and was rescued by) Michelsen's great book C# Primer Plus (on its nearly 1000 pages it teaches C#, OOP and programming basics from the very ground up). I found that the two books greatly supported each other because C# Primer Plus could fill in all my blanks while reading through Liberty's book. Moreover what C# Primer Plus was lacking in terms of .NET stuff (it doesn't touch ADO.NET, Windows Forms etc.) was presented by Programming C# in a now understandable and enjoyable form. Programming C# is a work by a highly motivated writer in top form and can be enjoyed by anybody who makes sure that the basics are adequately covered.
Rating:
Summary: C# in plain english
Review: Every topic is clearly and simply explained in the minimum number of words - no waffle. This is the best book I've seen for getting started in C#. In fact it's the best technical book I have ever read. Some people have requested more depth - that would make it too heavyweight for people starting out in C#.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Review: i'm a web developer from israel which never experienced oop developing, and my english is not so good.
though i found this book the best i have ever read about programming. so fun to read, so easy to understand,
short and to the point.
only 600 pages covers all the c# essentials, the .net framework essentials, asp.net overview, window application -
all that you need to start developing with the net framework.
don't miss this book. must read!!!
thank you jesse.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic resource for all C# programmers
Review: This is a fantastic book for anyone coming to C#. Regardless of your background or level of programming knowledge you will find it clear and concise. The examples and walkthroughs follow one another in a logical manner. Once again Jesse Liberty has produced a book that sets the standard, and sets it high!
Rating:
Summary: Great overview of C# for experienced programmers
Review: If you have programming experience in C++ or Java this book will get you up to speed on the new features of Microsoft's new language. It also lists "pitfalls" that point out differences of C# compared to C++ that could cause problems for us C++ programmers. This is great because some of these differences are pretty subtle.
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