Rating: 
Summary: Make a spot
Review: This simply belongs in your library. It's not just another book on the FCL, but rather a nice look into how the CLR works internally. I've only read the first chapter (browsed the others for now) and can already tell this is chock full of info. The first chapter already answered many questions I had (how does IL compilation work, mscoree.dll, etc...). This is a must have. Don't think twice. Haven't checked out the other CLR book another reviewer mentioned. That's next.
Rating: 
Summary: Title is a bit misleading.
Review: I bought this book because of all the good reviews...but. This book looks at .NET from a very low leverl. I just wanted to be able to write programs with .NET. I didn't really care about how it works and why it does things. I wanted a little bit of a higher view of things. Perhaps I didn't understand the reasons behind starting at this level. It was a good book for C#, but not for general .NET programming. The new Visual Studio was not touched at all. It was basically about writing your code for optimum use for the .NET platform. I found the information not very useful because I wanted a book that would immerse me in the environment and help me to use the tools, not look at how the compiler interprets the code and how to look at it. My 2 cents.
Rating:
Summary: A must have for .NET savvy developers
Review: i've always been a fan of Jeff Richter; i make sure i go to his talks/conference whenever he's in town(Chicago). his discussion of the clr is really a mind-opening for me. i've heard him one time talked about assemblies and manifest on one of his seminars and this book really helped me digest those notes i wrote. like my title said, it's another must have! Thanks Jeff and i hope you continue to write more books. Goodluck to you.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Basic Introduction to the CLR
Review: Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming is a solid introduction to the CLR. Richter provides a peek under the hood of delegates, the garbage collector, finalization and application domains.The book contains a mixture of practical advice and technical trivia. Some C# knowledge would be useful to get the most out of the numerous examples. There is a good level of detail for such a readable book. If you want more technical information about IL and the CLR, Gough, J. "Compiling for the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR)" might be a good follow-on from Applied .NET.
Rating:
Summary: Better be called "Inside CLR"
Review: This is an excellent book like other books from the same author. The book is detailed and makes complex concepts simple. However, the more appropriate title for the book should be "Inside CLR" since the book almost exclusively discuss how CLR works and how C#/VB.NET type/syntax would map to CLR. The book talked little about the classes in the huge .NET Framework Class Library. Saying that, I still give 5 starts to this book because it is a must have for any serious .NET programmer. A solid understanding of CLR is essential to reliable, high performance .NET applications. The book has excellent discussions are how boxing/unboxing works, everything you want to know about methods, memory allocation/garbage collection and CLR hosting. Of course, since .NET is huge, I do not expect a single book to cover every espect of .NET. You probably need to put, in your library, a few more books on various part of the FCL, such as Windows Forms, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, Threading and remoting. However, this book is the foundation and the place to get started.
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Summary: Required reading written by a longtime Windows expert
Review: As a C++ programmer moving into the C#/.NET world, I found this book essential to good .NET program design. With VS 7, Intellisense and MSDN samples it's possible to just "jump in" and start writing Windows apps in C#, but I wouldn't recommend it if you have the time to read this book first. Richter describes in detail the intricacies of compilation, IL, value types, boxing, interfaces, the garbage collector, and other things that work slightly different from how they did in the C++ world. It WILL help you know where to expect those subtle bugs and how to avoid them. In addition, Richter covers a lot of the new features built in the language that will save you development time. He doesn't tackle most of the specialized classes in the .NET Framework like other books (e.g. the Wrox one) does, but he does go in depth into the ones that will be used by most programmers - for example, the new things you can do with strings (all Unicode, with built in text conversion routines and methods for locale-sensitive comparisons), the new type objects that all objects expose (not just strong typing, you can query the inheritance model and all sorts of good stuff), and some delightful tricks you can do with enums that will make you fall in love with them all over again. If you tried to read Advanced Windows and were scared off or bored, I want to reassure you that Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming is more readable than Advanced Windows was - you can actually hole up in a little cafe and read it from end to end if you want to, in about a day and a half. It's also a little more accessible to people without a theoretical background or college degree in computer science. But rest assured, Richter goes into quite enough detail for the compiler geeks among us. Understanding of COM, object-oriented programming, interfaces, stack vs. heap memory, etc. is required. I thought I would be dragged into .NET kicking and screaming, but I've become quite the evangelist - partially due to this book.
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Summary: At last! An ESSENTIAL book from Microsoft Pres
Review: Others have said it all really. This excellent volume explains everything you need to know about the framework and the CLR. If, like me, you've been scratching your head about some of the things VS.NET does for you, the meaningless errors you sometimes get, the performance aspects of boxing and unboxing if you don't fully understand the implications of what you're doing... this is the book to turn lots of lightbulbs on. I've bought somewhere in excess of 20 different .NET books over the last 6 months. This is the first one I feel represents real value for money and would be the one I know I will refer to again and again in future. Buy it!
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Summary: If you want to do .Net programming, get this book.
Review: Before you even write a line of code, start reading this book. .Net is not just a Java clone as some have declared. It is a far more encompassing development platform and this book is a great introduction to the technology. I just wish there was a chapter on resources, as VS.Net leaves the Framework's rich support for resources out in the cold and many people do not realize it is there.
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Summary: Must read !!
Review: A Must Read!! This is by far the best book on Common Language Runtime that is out in the market. This book treats the reader to an indepth, accurate coverage of the fundamentals of CLR. I have been working on the CLR for the past 1 1/2 years and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book!! Ravi
Rating:
Summary: Solid .NET foundation
Review: Microsoft-begrudged developers beware, .NET is actually pretty cool. I am typically wary of any technology or claim that Microsoft makes (being a Borland fan), but I am impressed with the .NET Framework and the thought that went into its design. After reading Advanced Windows (3rd) by Jeff in the past, I knew that this .NET book would be well written and informative. He did not let me down. This is a GREAT starting point for C# and VB.NET developers (note that most examples are in C#). I would strongly suggest that you have a good grasp of OO programming before you read this. His explanations are well thought out and the end result is that you too will be excited (and well informed) about .NET. Don't be dismayed if at first you don't grasp Chap 2 & 3, assemblies & packaging are strange beasts at first. Things get much easier after that and you soon find yourself comfortable with the chap 2/3 material.
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