Rating: 
Summary: Not That Great
Review: I've read the first ten chapters of this book and I think its one of the best Wrox books I own. The author says you don't need any prior programming experience, but it sure helps if you do. The books covers everything, but it's tough reading for someone new to Object Oriented Programming (OOP) - I come from an ASP and JavaScript background. The only problem I have with this book is that the answers to the questions at the end of the chapters are missing from the Wrox web site (Wiley Publishing is the new owner), which is a real shame for a book this good.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book for beginners
Review: I've read the first ten chapters of this book and I think its one of the best Wrox books I own. The author says you don't need any prior programming experience, but it sure helps if you do. The books covers everything, but it's tough reading for someone new to Object Oriented Programming (OOP) - I come from an ASP and JavaScript background. The only problem I have with this book is that the answers to the questions at the end of the chapters are missing from the Wrox web site (Wiley Publishing is the new owner), which is a real shame for a book this good.
Rating: 
Summary: Hey, Karli. Get a haircut !
Review: Is this really the best way to learn C#? Chapter after bloody chapter about the nuts & bolts of every variable type, class contruct and OOP concept. The reader tests their new-found knowledge building console apps until Forms are mercifully introduced on page 340. I think a much better way to learn is to start with a simple form app (like "Hello, World") and introduce new material step-by-step. Not that this is a bad book. Hustler magazine doesn't show this level of detail. The authors explore every nook & crevice of a subject and there are plenty of code snippets to illustrate each new concept. This could be a good companion book. But not a first book. If you want to get off the ground quickly, start with "Windows Forms Programming in C#" by Chris Sells. Otherwise, this book will keep you on the launch pad for months.
Rating:
Summary: Hey, Karli. Get a haircut !
Review: Is this really the best way to learn C#? Chapter after bloody chapter about the nuts & bolts of every variable type, class contruct and OOP concept. The reader tests their new-found knowledge building console apps until Forms are mercifully introduced on page 340. I think a much better way to learn is to start with a simple form app (like "Hello, World") and introduce new material step-by-step. Not that this is a bad book. Hustler magazine doesn't show this level of detail. The authors explore every nook & crevice of a subject and there are plenty of code snippets to illustrate each new concept. This could be a good companion book. But not a first book. If you want to get off the ground quickly, start with "Windows Forms Programming in C#" by Chris Sells. Otherwise, this book will keep you on the launch pad for months.
Rating:
Summary: No cd or downloadable code for exercises
Review: Let me quote the Wrox website: "The exercise answers to this and several other books are not amongst the files we've been able to recover from the old Wrox servers, yet. We're still trying to find them, or to recover them from some other source so we can repost them."
It is two months later and there is still no code for the exercises at the end of the chapters. The sample code is still available, however.
Rating:
Summary: No cd or downloadable code for exercises
Review: Let me quote the Wrox website: "The exercise answers to this and several other books are not amongst the files we've been able to recover from the old Wrox servers, yet. We're still trying to find them, or to recover them from some other source so we can repost them."
It is two months later and there is still no code for the exercises at the end of the chapters. The sample code is still available, however.
Rating: 
Summary: Covers more than needed, which can be both good and bad
Review: This book is excellent for anyone with little programming expericence. If you have ZERO experience, then I recommend starting with on of the "...for Dummies" books first, as the terminology in this book may be hard to grasp at first. But if you're moving over from C++, Java, or VB, this is a great place to start. In fact, this book contains much more needed for just beginning, and by the end of the read you should be able to write a full-fledged Windows app with little problems. The downsides of the book are few, but important to note. First off, the author doesn't spend enough time visually describing how OOP (object oriented programming) works. Before you know it, you'll be diving into classes, methods, delegates, and events before fully understanding basic concepts. Chapters 9-12 are by far the most difficult in the book to follow. Most everything else is cake. Also, because the book is just loaded with information, it may be hard for a beginner to differentiate from a beginners topic and a more advanced topic that you may never use. Overall the book is a great read and I recommend it for anyone who wants to jump into C#. I easily finished it within less than a month with a pretty sound basic knowledge of what C# is about. After reading this, I recommend buying Professional C# (Second Edition) from WROX along with The C# Reference book they also put out. With those three books, you have a foundation to do just about anything you can think of.
Rating:
Summary: Covers more than needed, which can be both good and bad
Review: This book is excellent for anyone with little programming expericence. If you have ZERO experience, then I recommend starting with on of the "...for Dummies" books first, as the terminology in this book may be hard to grasp at first. But if you're moving over from C++, Java, or VB, this is a great place to start. In fact, this book contains much more needed for just beginning, and by the end of the read you should be able to write a full-fledged Windows app with little problems. The downsides of the book are few, but important to note. First off, the author doesn't spend enough time visually describing how OOP (object oriented programming) works. Before you know it, you'll be diving into classes, methods, delegates, and events before fully understanding basic concepts. Chapters 9-12 are by far the most difficult in the book to follow. Most everything else is cake. Also, because the book is just loaded with information, it may be hard for a beginner to differentiate from a beginners topic and a more advanced topic that you may never use. Overall the book is a great read and I recommend it for anyone who wants to jump into C#. I easily finished it within less than a month with a pretty sound basic knowledge of what C# is about. After reading this, I recommend buying Professional C# (Second Edition) from WROX along with The C# Reference book they also put out. With those three books, you have a foundation to do just about anything you can think of.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: This book is outstanding! I never thought I would change over from Visual Basic but I am convinced C# is for me! This book covers everything from the basics of the .NET framework, all the way up the ladder. I would highly recommend this book to the Visual Basic crowd!
Rating:
Summary: Slow + No answers to exercises
Review: This book is quite easy to read for a beginner. However, for a true beginner who needs to check answers to the exercises provided in the book...well, that's another story. The authors forgot who their audience is and just like that they decided not to provide answers to the exercises given at the end of the chapters. This made the book quite a bit challenging for me, and the so called "P2P" forums in the publisher's website are many times not useful at all. Before buying this book, browse through all of the complaints posted in these "P2P" forums and you'll know what I'm talking about. Otherwise, the book is presented in a fairly comprehensive way for a beginner to understand.
| 
