Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better!
Review: As other Nutshell books that i loved, this one is exceptional too. Quick reference to the language features, the detail reference layout for most classes. Precisely there are not many books covering this much info (at least, these days). On the other hand I am not sure how many times I went digging into it and yet couldn't find the classes that I was looking for. Looks like some of the core classes have left out from the classes reference section eg. system.data classes(duh!) and others like remoting, xml.schema, Enterprise, Web... classes (duh! again). Authors could have added more class- reference beef in it (if not released in hurry). Also they should have atleast listed what is the coverage of classes in this reference. I believe the next release of this Reference, would ADD the remaining classes at the soonest( let it go over 1000 pages, atleast it would be a complete desk reference).
Overall its a better prompt reference.
Rating: 
Summary: O'Reilly at its best!
Review: As usual, O'Reilly delivered an excellent "in a nutshell" book for a C# programmer. Many complain that some of the namespace were left out, like ADO.NET ones. All I have to say is that only the major things were covered and that is the most exciting thing about the book itself - it doesn't carry any unneccessary information at all. 20% of the book covers the C# features, includin data handling, data types, inheritance, delegates etc. Another 20% tell us about some advanced C# tecniques. The rest of the book is completely devoted to the classes that belong to the major namespaces. It's a comprehensive on-hand guide to every C# programmer out there! (Another O'Reilly book - "Programming C#" by Jessy Libery would be useful as well.)
Rating:
Summary: O'Reilly at its best!
Review: As usual, O'Reilly delivered an excellent "in a nutshell" book for a C# programmer. Many complain that some of the namespace were left out, like ADO.NET ones. All I have to say is that only the major things were covered and that is the most exciting thing about the book itself - it doesn't carry any unneccessary information at all. 20% of the book covers the C# features, includin data handling, data types, inheritance, delegates etc. Another 20% tell us about some advanced C# tecniques. The rest of the book is completely devoted to the classes that belong to the major namespaces. It's a comprehensive on-hand guide to every C# programmer out there! (Another O'Reilly book - "Programming C#" by Jessy Libery would be useful as well.)
Rating: 
Summary: A better quick reference than MSDN online.
Review: I bought this book because, after using the JDK javadocs for Java for years, I found MSDN's .net online documentation unfriendly in comparison. For the past year, I've been using this book as my first reference, before checking anywhere else. I've found I can usually get what I am looking for the quickest in this reference.
The one problem I have with it is that it doesn't list the exceptions thrown by methods.
Rating:
Summary: In a Nutshell this is a must have book.
Review: I have other nutshell books and find them to be the most used books on my bookshelf. This book is no exception. You should get this one even if you have other C# books.
Rating:
Summary: In a Nutshell this is a must have book.
Review: I have other nutshell books and find them to be the most used books on my bookshelf. This book is no exception. You should get this one even if you have other C# books.
Rating: 
Summary: A reference for C# programmers
Review: I'm the publisher of "C# in a Nutshell" and given my admitted interest in the success of this book I would not ordinarily post a comment in this space. However, a previous reviewer suggests that we should have stated more explicitly which .NET namespaces and types the book covers and explained
the rationale behind our decisions. He also faults us for omitting a number of important namespaces, including System.Web and System.Remoting. If this view is widely shared, then clearly we need to add such information to the next edition. But since a revision lies somewhere in the future, for those of you considering purchase of "C# in a Nutshell" today, here are some answers. First, the complete list of the 22 .NET Framework namespaces documented in the 450-page "C# in a Nutshell" API Quick Reference is a follows: Microsoft.Win32
System
System.Collections
System.Collections.Specialized
System.Diagnostics
System.Globalization
System.IO
System.IO.Isolated System.NET
System.NET.Sockets
System.Reflection
System.Reflection.Emit
System.Runtime.InteropServices
System.Runtime.Serialization
System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters
System.Text
System.Text.RegularExpressions
System.Threading
System.Timers
System.Xml
System.Xml.XPath
System.Xml.XSL These namespaces comprise more than 700 types, and thousands of members, which are listed in a quick-lookup format that complements, we believe, the syntax used by the official Microsoft documentation. O'Reilly customers who have purchased "Java in a Nutshell" or other Nutshell titles already know that the series aims to provide experienced professionals with usable quick references that are reasonably complete, but not exhaustive. In the case of C# (and Visual Basic .NET), our idea was to first match the coverage of the Java Standard Edition core classes found in our best-selling "Java in a Nutshell," and to then add additional namespaces that were core to programming the .NET platform itself. The first criterion clearly required us to document the System namespace, as well as more specialized namespaces for threading, collections, reflection, diagnostics, and so on. The second led us to include serialization, COM interop, and the Microsoft.Win32 types needed to interact with the Windows
platform. In addition, because XML is so core to .NET, we included the most important XML namespaces as well. We decided early to exclude the specialized .NET libraries for building Windows and web applications, web services, and data-access applications. We felt these libraries deserved volumes of their own: "Windows Forms in a Nutshell," "ASP.NET in a Nutshell," and "ADO.NET in a Nutshell." We had a hard time deciding what to do about remoting, enterprise services, security and a number of other important .NET libraries. In the end, we decided these would be of interest mostly to enterprise application builders and should also be presented in a Nutshell of their own, much like "Java Enterprise in a Nutshell." In the end, we hope our readers will appreciate "C# in a Nutshell" as a reference for C# programmers that also documents the core runtime .NET libraries most programers need to complete their basic tasks: manipulating strings,
performing mathematical operations, doing I/O, and so on. In this respect, the book resembles existing core volumes on C, C++, and Java, where one would expect coverage of the C standard library, STL or the Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition. Thanks for the feedback -- we rely on our customers to tell us when we've missed the mark. We'd welcome additional feedback from Amazon.com readers about "C# in a Nutshell." And as the previous reviewer has suggested, we'll try to be clearer about our choices in the next edition. (I'm giving the book 3 stars in an attempt to avoid unfairly influencing its rating.)
Rating:
Summary: Would've liked more code samples
Review: If you have picked this book to learn C# because you don't have much time, most likely you will find that it's a hard nut to crack. In my view, it's a handy reference book for intermediate C# progrmmers who want to review key features of the C# language, essential programming concepts using the NET framework classes and the details of any of the 700 .NET Framework Classes in 21 important namespaces without using MSDN online libaray. If you often find yourself printing topics from Visual Studio NET Online Help and read them on weekends, then this book is for you. Section I (chapter 1- 4) summarizes key concepts of the C# language, illustrated with succinct code. Section II (Chapter 5 to 19) covers programming using the Framework Class Library, such as String, Collections, Streams and I/O, Serialization, Assemblies, Reflection, Custom Attributes, Garbage Collection, Threading and Interop.
I felt that each topic discussion is a little too brief and many important topics mentioned in the overview section of the book are not discussed at all, such as graphics, data access with ADO.NET, Remoting, Window Forms, Web Application, globalization, Configuration. In section III, some useful .NET Framework SDK tools are covered, which is very helpful. The last section is detailed listing of the most important core types/classes of the .NET framework. I like the UML diagrams illustrating class hierarchy and relationships. Personally I would like to see some code samples under important types. The book is 832 pages thick, I hope the future edition will add the missing topics mentioned above and more code, making it a 1,000 page reference book. -- Reviewed by Timothy D.
Rating:
Summary: Would've liked more code samples
Review: If you have picked this book to learn C# because you don't have much time, most likely you will find that it's a hard nut to crack. In my view, it's a handy reference book for intermediate C# progrmmers who want to review key features of the C# language, essential programming concepts using the NET framework classes and the details of any of the 700 .NET Framework Classes in 21 important namespaces without using MSDN online libaray. If you often find yourself printing topics from Visual Studio NET Online Help and read them on weekends, then this book is for you. Section I (chapter 1- 4) summarizes key concepts of the C# language, illustrated with succinct code. Section II (Chapter 5 to 19) covers programming using the Framework Class Library, such as String, Collections, Streams and I/O, Serialization, Assemblies, Reflection, Custom Attributes, Garbage Collection, Threading and Interop.
I felt that each topic discussion is a little too brief and many important topics mentioned in the overview section of the book are not discussed at all, such as graphics, data access with ADO.NET, Remoting, Window Forms, Web Application, globalization, Configuration. In section III, some useful .NET Framework SDK tools are covered, which is very helpful. The last section is detailed listing of the most important core types/classes of the .NET framework. I like the UML diagrams illustrating class hierarchy and relationships. Personally I would like to see some code samples under important types. The book is 832 pages thick, I hope the future edition will add the missing topics mentioned above and more code, making it a 1,000 page reference book. -- Reviewed by Timothy D.
Rating:
Summary: C# in a Nutshell - Supports my day-to-day efforts
Review: In my opinion O'reilly continually puts out the best technical books and "C# in a Nutshell" further supports their excellent reputation. As usual with O'reilly's other offerings in their "in a Nutshell" series they leave out the fluff and provide just the facts. This approach makes "C# in a Nutshell" easy to recommend if you've already gotten your feet wet in C#. On the other hand if you're still green you're better off with books that offer a traditional tutorial approach and then come back when you're ready to get into some advanced topics or need a reference to the namespaces and C# implementation. Understanding this book is not a tutorial for the beginner will help acclimate yourself to what to expect. Even though the subtitle reads "A Desktop Reference" ample content exists to introduce beginning topics that lay the ground work for its reference sections. The first nineteen chapters, approximately two hundred and nineteen pages, cover beginning topics such as .NET Framework and C# basics to advanced subjects including reflection, XML serialization, and threading. The remaining chapters are devoted to a quick reference to classes in the namespaces. Several topics that I'm interested in, including GDI+ were mentioned only briefly and then referred to related namespaces. I'm hoping that GDI+ and other UI related material are covered in more depth in O'reilly's ".NET Windows Forms in a Nutshell" offering or the next edition of "C# in a Nutshell".
Code examples in the book were sufficient to reinforce my understanding of each topic and the `animal tracks' notes were a nice touch and more than mere filler. Other niceties include UML diagrams detailing the namespace structures, DLL / namespace associations, and the C# API Quick Reference encapsulated in a Visual Studio.NET plug-in supplied on the included CD. "C# in a Nutshell" has already helped me in a VB to C# conversion project. I'm already looking forward to the next edition that may address some of the missing namespaces, otherwise it's a very important tool that supports my day to day efforts.
| 
