Rating: 
Summary: very disappointed
Review: I bought this based on the rave reviews on Amazon but I must say after a couple of weeks I am very disappointed by this book. I had hoped it would be a convenient and quick reference to such questions as "how do I use FolderBrowserDialog and/or OpenFileDialog to open a file in my C# program?" but although these standard components are indexed in the book the discussion of them in the book is shorter than this review I am writing. What I would want is some kind of sample code, maybe a step-by-step description of how to add the components to my program. I am left wondering what exactly is filling up the 658 pages of this book. I much prefer Sharp and Jagger's Visual C#.Net Step by Step both as a tutorial and as a general reference.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must have for Winforms developers
Review: The book is not only full of usefull information but so well organized that can be used not only to learn the concepts but as support tool during development. Even containing so many concepts the writting is so well done that is easy to read and understand. Don't forget to download the supporting code from the web as the book doesn't include a CD, the address to download the code is http://www.sellsbrothers.com/writing/wfbook/
Rating:
Summary: Everything you wanted to know about WinForms*
Review: *but where afraid to ask.This is the only book on WinForms, delving to the deepest reaches the of the WinForms framework. If you loved Petzold for Win32 and you think that Don Box is the deliverer from evil (COM), then you have to read this book. Even if you are just starting down the road on your .NET journey, have lost your way, or need someone to shine the light on the path, Chris will be there with you all the way.
Rating: 
Summary: Easy Coding
Review: The book divides naturally into two parts. Both use the .NET forms package that Microsoft developed to simplify low level coding. The first part is very straightforward graphics programming. Someone who has used X11 on unix, or java's AWT/Swing or, of course, earlier MFC graphics will see no surprises. Font properties, drawing of curves, pens etc are all here. A very complete graphics package. By placing the above discussion as the first part, the author lets you have easy immediate visual feedback if you choose to code the examples. It is always good for readers to tinker; helps retention. The second half is slightly more abstract. Issues like resources - internationalisation of labels for widgets you made in the first part. Plus, how to connect to data objects or databases. He gives a brief discussion of ADO.NET. Along the way, there is a simple exposition of XML. As you can guess, the second part deals with backend, under-the-bonnet tasks. Slightly more abstract than GUI building. The WinForms do indeed seem to handle all these issues clearly, which is vital to your ease of learning and use.
Rating:
Summary: Everything you need to take the next step - In one place
Review: Windows Forms Programming in C# is both an excellent place to get started as well as a valuable source of reference to assist in learning more advanced tasks. The book is very well laid out providing easy to follow tutorials acts as an excellent reference. This title has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Objectively and Subjectively My Favorite Winforms Book
Review: Disclaimer: I had the privilege to help work on one of the initial drafts of the design-time chapter. Thanks to that experience, I've had access to the book for a little while. While my comments may be bias, I assure you they would be the same if I hadn't seen this book before. What strikes me most about the book as that it is very accessible. By this, I mean easy (if not entertaining) to read and easy to understand. Accessibility to what, you ask? Frankly, a myriad Windows Forms topics. You will not be disappointed by the width and depth of material discussed in the book (although, if you are, the book errata site is at http://www.sellsbrothers.com/writing/wfbook/). Where Petzold's book focuses on specific Windows Forms areas, Chris' book describes each of the key building blocks you might need for a Windows Forms application, from development to deployment. The material covers beginner, intermediate and advanced topics so there's something for everyone. I think the content is presented at just the right level (for me). As a comparison, it's why I tend to go to MSDN Magazine first: the articles there usually provide me with enough information to solve a problem immediately and, if not, enough information to solve the problem more rapidly. Once again, I worked on a very small part of it. Irrespective of whethery I have or not, it would be my number one Windows Forms book. At the very least, go to a book store. Hold it. Flick through it. Peruse the topics that interest you. Smell it if you so desire. I think you'll find it very hard to leave the book store without a copy (preferably via the sales counter :)
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Title
Review: The only missing piece of the puzzle so far in the
AW Microsoft .NET Development Series was a
good WinForms title and Chris Sells has answered that call
very elegantly. In a market where .NET books are churned out
by the hundreds and good .NET books are hard to find this
definitely falls under the latter category. The book starts with the basics of Windows forms development
and the author gently eases the reader into the more advanced
topics in a clever and un-intimidating fashion. This book covers
everything under the WinForms gamut for all kinds of developers be
it the novice or the sophisticated. It also throws light on several
obscure and hard to digest topics. It certainly is the most
comprehensive and easy to read WinForms title available in
the market today.
As an instructor I have recommended it to all my students
who is doing any kind of work in Windows Forms and plan to
use it myself in my class.
It is nice to see other authors of .NET titles to take their
time to write reviews here. That in itself speaks volumes!
Kudos to Mr. Sells for a job well done!
Rating:
Summary: A Must have for Winforms developers
Review: Most books on .NET cover winforms..after all, it's probably the first thing you address as a programmer. However, this book had wonderful examples of real world things you do with forms. The writing is great, the layout is very easy on the eyes, and whether you are using it for a reference, or trying to get new ideas from it...you'll be glad you bought this book.
Rating:
Summary: THE WinForms Bible
Review: Microsoft should make it mandatory to ship this with Visual Studio .NET for WinForm development. It contains more practical and usable information in one book than trying to search the help, MSDN, Codeproject, the tons of books in your current collection, or <Insert your favorite resource>. It even contains a center section of color pages of important figures that really need convey the importance of that particular demo. If your company doesn't buy it for you, suck it up and buy it yourself - you won't regret it!
Rating:
Summary: Get up to speed with WinForms
Review: A thorough reference to the wide world of WinForms -- though actually, Sells wisely leaves the reference material to the SDK documentation, so you won't find long boring tables of properties here. What you will find is everything you need to know about Windows Forms, starting with the basics of using forms and controls and events, on into advanced and non-obvious topics like drag-and-drop, multithreaded UI processing, "no-touch" deployment, and data binding. There is thorough coverage of the things you can do with GDI+ and printers as well. If you don't want to try to ferret details out of the SDK, this one will bring you up to speed on designing rich .NET user interfaces.
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