C# Primer Plus

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Summary: C# Primer Plus
Review: As the title suggests, this book focuses almost entirely on the C# language stopping only briefly to explain key elements of the Common Language Runtime (CLR) and by extension the Common Type System (CTS).

Where this book differs from many of the other titles out there is that it doesn't attempt to walk the reader through the .NET Framework at the same time. At the moment there are a number of books on the market that proclaim to teach C# but use it only as a tool to explore the framework.

The target audience for C# Primer Plus is hard to classify; the book provides depth coverage of the C# language constructs and important parts of the CLR, yet this detail is punctuated by practical examples and discussion which should have the programming novice up to speed in no time.

Much of the first two chapters are devoted to explaining introductory programming subjects such as Object-Orientated Programming, the value of design in the development process and conventional computing models. In my opinion, this is still valuable to even the most senior programmer as sometimes we forget the fundamentals of our trade.

What really makes this book stand out is the widespread and strategic use of diagrams to provide visual context. Further, the book provides ample practical examples for all the material it covers. Klaus has an exceptional writing style which sadly only a few percent of the authors out there possess.

In many ways this book reminds me of some of the older C++ books which focused key programming concepts and the core of the language and left discussion of the various libraries for the reference materials.

It would be a real shame to see senior programmers overlook this title because of some of its novice material. It heartily recommend it as usable language reference for the experienced programmer and an educational tool for those just starting out.

C# Primer Plus has earned a place on my bookshelf and I recommend it to those who want a quality language reference with good supporting material. Because of its introductory material it is also ideal as a educational tool.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: Being new to C#, but not new to programming:

1). Pros - Attention to detail of the language and concepts - minus typos (no biggie).
2). Cons - Too much detail. A little wordy and slow sometimes. Had a hard time keeping my attention because of the "wordiness".
3). Examples - I think the concepts the author was trying to get across could've been accomplished in shorter examples.

Or maybe it's me. ;-)

Overall good book, though. Will be referring back to it for some time. Glad I started out with this one.

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Summary: The best "First Programming Book" you can find
Review: C# is the first programming language that i am learning. There are many books which claim to teach you programming from scratch, but c# primer plus is the best book which actually does that. The author assumes no knowledge of programming. He starts by explaining the basics of computers. So , if you are like me(with no programming experience) and want c# to be your first programming language buy this book. You cant go wrong with this book.

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Summary: Superb Beginner Book
Review: I just finished reading this book. Despite a number of typos, It's an excellent book. The authors explanations and examples are first rate. Important concepts are well emphasized, and often even linked together, as the author builds on and compares concepts in latter chapters using ones found earlier, while emphasizing important concepts.

As it's a beginner book, it does have some significant coverage of very basic concepts, which some programmers may find tedious. And the extent of the coverage doesn't extend much beyond intermediate level. Most advanced topics are either not covered at all, like marshalling, interop, threading, and regular expressions, and others are only briefly touched on, like attributes and XML comments. What's more it doesn't delve deeply into the FCL, as nearly all the examples are Console apps.

So since I need a complete tutorial of C# and .NET, I've had to complement this book with "Programming C#" and Richter's book on applied .NET. Nevertheless, I think this book provides a better tutorial of basic-intermediate C# concepts than you are likely to find anywhere else.

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Summary: The best book out there for new to OO
Review: I reviewed atleast 10 books on c# and own several books. But the book that takes the cake is C# Primer Plus. I have programmed in VB for over 7 years. My OO understanding was on shakey ground. This book provides a solid understanding of the fundamentals. The author has done an exhaustively excellent job in clearly explaining the concepts with clear examples. Anybody who is beginner to intermediate can immensly benefit.

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Summary: Great and clear cut introduction to C#
Review: I spent most of my Christmas holidays immersed in the pages of this superb C# book and was amazed by its clarity and attention to detail. Apart from being well written and well organized I particularly enjoyed the many inventive and well-crafted figures supporting the text.

Keep in mind that if you are looking for a book about Visual Studio, ASP.NET or Windows Forms (or similar .NET stuff) this book is not for you. It dedicates all its one thousand pages fully to C#, relevant core parts of .NET, and important programming techniques. Even though this initially disappointed me a bit, I now appreciate the great depth this apparent deficiency allows Michelsen to engage in when he probes into the C# language.

The book begins by explaining the very basics of computer programming, but because of its rock solid focus on the C# language it manages to span across the entire set of C# features and even provides a thorough and extremely clear treatment of its most advanced features (many of the advanced C# features are treated more extensively in C# Primer Plus than in a lot of the advanced C# books I have sifted through in the book shop)
For example the two meticulously written chapters about inheritance don't just scratch the surface of this subject but made me more excited about programming than I ever thought possible. The case study found here (one of several case studies in the book) about a simple drawing program utilizing inheritance and polymorphism to implement its functionality was a real eye opener for me.

If you are a beginning (C#) programmer and want a complete and clear cut introduction to this exciting new language, without being sidetracked by tons of .NET and Visual Studio stuff, you can't beat this book.

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Summary: Let U know what is C#...
Review: I thought it's a basement of C# programming , It also tells you lots of Class detail...I use it as reference and futher more programming...

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Summary: Very wordy and slow - for non-programmers only.
Review: I was wondering how the new crop of C# books would compare to the better of the first generation books (Troelsen, Liberty, Gunnerson, Archer) so I have been buying a few of them. I don't think the big four have much to worry about from this one. Although extremely clearly written I still have to say this book bored me to tears even though I eventually just started skimming it.

What it is is an extremely careful introduction to programming and seems to be written to be a textbook on learning programming using C#. It therefore takes hundreds of pages to get anywhere, since it assumes you don't even know what a loop is! (There is almost nothing in this book that is .NET specific.)

Still, if you need an introduction to programming using C# that starts with things like what is a loop and therefore doesn't get very far into .NET, you can't beat this book.

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Summary: Very good practice problems
Review: If you are looking for practice problems to learn C#, this book is a must buy. The practice problems are well thought out and are useful to understand C#. Also, most of the elementary topics are covered. So this is a great first book to learn C#. On the downside, the author's writing style is wordy. Finally, the author does a poor job of explaining WHEN to use certain features of C#. The benefits of using one approach over another is not apparent to the beginners. For example, I wish the author had spent some time explaining when to use inheritenance and polymorphism, especially when one can write perfectly decent C# code without them.

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Summary: Outstanding Beginner Book
Review: If you are new to programming, or new to Object-Oriented Programming like me(COBOL programmer) and want to start with C#(great choice!) then this is best book out so far. I also have C# for Dummies, Beginning C#, and Programming C# and none of them are as good for beginners as this book. Trust me, I tried out all these titles on two of my co-workers who are OOP beginners too and they all liked C# Primer Plus the best. Now all three of us are using it in a group study and enjoying it. One warning, extra .net stuff is not covered, like windows forms, asp.net, web services. This book focuses purely on the C# language and writing OOP code. That's the beauty of it, it doesn't rush past the core C# langugage just to get you to the other flashy .net framework classes. Heck, you can learn all the extra .net framework classes later, get the C# language down first!! I give it 4 stars because of annoying errors and typos.