Rating: 
Summary: All Over the Place
Review: Perhaps I'm writing this prematurely, as I'm not even close to being done with the book. But so far, I've found it to be a good book. I at first got a copy of _Learning C#_, and that was useless, aimed at a first time programmer. So I returned it and got this one.This book has a lot of useful topics. If some of the later ones aren't that great, oh well, I'll still be happy. I notice that some readers complain about typos. Usually, that doesn't bother me much--if the explanation is clear, spotting and ignoring typos isn't too hard.
Rating: 
Summary: I see the reviews are mixed, but I like it so far
Review: Perhaps I'm writing this prematurely, as I'm not even close to being done with the book. But so far, I've found it to be a good book. I at first got a copy of _Learning C#_, and that was useless, aimed at a first time programmer. So I returned it and got this one. This book has a lot of useful topics. If some of the later ones aren't that great, oh well, I'll still be happy. I notice that some readers complain about typos. Usually, that doesn't bother me much--if the explanation is clear, spotting and ignoring typos isn't too hard.
Rating: 
Summary: An okay book
Review: Some of the chapters in the book are good, some are vague. The book seems to lack the focus.
Many chapter-writers have tried to fatten the book unnecessarily with unclear garbage.
I would suggest anyone wanting to get started on C#, to buy the Andrew Troelsen book from APress. It's the most clear & concise one available.
Rating:
Summary: Great book, based on certain expectations.
Review: Talk about a tough (and HUGE) subject to cover! Well, I bought this book for two reasons (1) to get a better understanding of C#, and (2) to serve as a starting point for passing the C# for Windows exam. The book served both purposes very well. I read this text cover to cover with the exception of 4 out of 23 chapters. I saw another review of this book that said something like "1300 page cursory overview" Well, you're probably right. But, I challenge anyone out there to find a book that covers every aspect of .NET that's less that 5,000 pages. Here are a few examples: 1.) There's a chapter on security (there are entire books on the subject) 2.) There's a chapter on ASP (there are entire books on the subject) 3.) There's a chapter on web services (there are entire books on the subject) 4.) There's a chapter on XML (there are entire books on the subject) 5.) There's two chapters on ADO .NET (there are entire books on the subject) You get my point. This material adds up, and anyone expecting in-depth coverage of everything in 1300 pages should get a reality check. Unfortunately, to really get a grasp on .NET you're going to have to shell out for more books. (So far I have C# in general, web services, and ADO covered. The next purchase will be an ASP .NET book) Can you see where I'm going here? Professional C# is kind of an umbrella for all of the other books. Now, where I find this book does a nice job by itself (not requiring another text) is as follows: 1.) Nice job explaining the C# language itself (including some of the more advanced datatypes), as well as how it implements OO principles. 2.) Nice job explaining what and how the framework is constructed, as well as how a .NET application is constructed. 3.) Focuses mostly on the client-server (windows as opposed to web) side of development. 4.) ADO coverage is enough to get you productive. There are a LOT of other good features of the book. And most of the subject areas covered provide an adequate presentation of the material. A couple of exceptions are ASP and security. I realize that a book on C# must at least touch on these topics, but it probably could have just left those chapters out. Buy another book. (35 pages on ASP .NET? Don't bother!) I can't say if it's too advanced for some users. I've never purchased a "beginning" series book by Wrox, I alway go for the "professional". The only thing I would have expected them to do a better job on beacuse you can't really get a separate book on the subject, is deployment. Anyhoo, I think this is a great book for the purpose for which it was intended. If it was 5,000 pages long, I would have given it 5 stars. For the most part, Wrox usually does a good job. Remember, there are NO silver bullets with .NET books. Unfortunately you're going to have to get at least 4 titles to cover everything well. Bottom Line: If this is your first .NET book, it's worth it. It was my fourth, and it's still worth it. If you need to take it to the next level, you'll need more than one book - no matter which one you get first.
Rating:
Summary: Too many cooks spoil the food .
Review: The book is a great book for new comers to the C# language and to the .NET platform itself as well. It is kind of scattered about, not very much flow to it. Overall the I would highly recommend it to any one wanting to learn to language.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book for new comers
Review: The book is a great book for new comers to the C# language and to the .NET platform itself as well. It is kind of scattered about, not very much flow to it. Overall the I would highly recommend it to any one wanting to learn to language.
Rating:
Summary: Be warned: Wrox has been sold!
Review: This book does have good information if you are new to C# but do not expect to get the examples off the web as the book promises. The website is not providing the promised downloads and only collecting email addresses for future notification. The book has worked well for me as a .NET reference guide but I wouldn't have bought this volume if I had known about the lack of promised support.
Rating: 
Summary: Mistakes Errors and Wasted Time
Review: This book has nothing to do with professional!
I spend hours to get rid of the "bugs" this book put into my programs. A lot of mistakes throughout the whole book.
And also the topics are only scratching the surface and one is not really learning something (new). There are a lot of C# books out there - don't buy this one.
Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: This book is fine,, though I won't say its a great book..
the really good C# book I found was Inside C#,
some chapters stand out but in some places this bok just loses flow.
The best book for C# is C#:Primer Plus.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, worth for those who want to learn
Review: This book is packed with knowledge. Every page is worth its weight in gold. I read it from cover to cover. Re-doing EVERY exercise manually. Trust me, I know what I'm saying. I worked with the 1st Edition. Took me 8 months to finish the book thorougly. Yes there is some mistakes and typos. But if you understand the text, you can correct these mistakes easily. As a reward, the exercises I redo is always better than the book's ones. Some persons complaint that there's too much authors resulting in style discrepancy and the chapters slightly overlap their introduction. Yes it's true. And I found that it's rather a GREAT advantage. Just because each author gives you the best of their expertise. Do you think an author of ASP.NET could give you detailed explanation all the intricacies of the C# & .NET runtime environment? The repetition of some concepts is not really a waste, this book is advanced. I found that it's rather good. Actually, I found this book doesn't have enough pages. Sometime I can't do better than 3 pages a day. The chapters related to the .NET and C# language fundamental (Chapter 1 to 10) and advanced techniques (File IO, ASDI, COM+, GDI+, .NET Remoting, Windows Services and Security) are simply wonderful. They represent +80% of the book. I rated the ADO.NET and XML chapters 4 stars. The weakest part is ASP.NET, Web Services. I wish the author had choosen a simpler example and add may be few more chapters. The chapter on Custom Control is OK. In anyway, I can't blame the author, to get serious on ASP.NET, you'd rather buy a specific book. I particularly like the side notes and the Appendix giving a background comparison C# and traditional languages (C++, Java, VB). If you expect from this book a collection of recipes of code ready for cut and paste, then you will be likely disappointed. This book is for those who are willing to LEARN. The C# language and OOP concept itself is not that difficult. It's rather the .NET Framework itself and how to use wisely the wealth of its base classes. One reviewer said "too many authors who don't know their stuff". Not true, while I was redoing the exercise, I perceived the style of each of them. Generally they're good. And when needed, the authors answer to my emails. I'm an experienced programmer, when something is bad, I can see it easily. I come from a VB + ASP background, thanks to this book, I now have a pretty solid knowledge of .NET and a pure style C# programmer. I have had hard time to grasp the whole stuff but now I can tell you that I'm happy to leave the VB world. I wholeheartly recommend this book to anyone who want to learn C# _AND_ how to make useful application with it. Be courageous, spend some time, you won't be disappointed.
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