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Rating: 
Summary: Not Recommended
Review: A one star rating is an overstatement of the value of this book. I believe the 15 hours is the time the author spent learning the language. It is not of value to beginning or experienced programmers. It does not serve well as either a review or an introduction. The examples are poorly chosen, (banking account), poorly explained. The other examples are lacking in clarity. Even when something that one knows well from other languages, such as the difference between ++i and i++ is mentioned - it is a mention without an example in a loop or a clear explanation. Look elsewhere to get started in C++. 15 hours would be too long to spend with this book. This was my first look at a "Crash Course"...... it looks like a train wreck.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good to Learn OOP
Review: I see many folks saying it's not a good C# book because the author didn't teach you how to use VS.NET, ADO.NET, Web Services, etc. Just remembering that IMHO, a C# book is supposed to teach you the aspects of the programming language and Not how to use an IDE or anything else. This book concentrates entirely in the C# OOP aspects and will give you a good foundation on how to use OOP in the .NET world. I give 4 Stars because A weekend is not enough time to learn it all, although I could Read the book in a weekend but needed more then that to learn and do the examples. Another good thing is that the lessons/chapters are time based (an average of 30minutes each) and they are very straight and compact. Note : The other reader comments seem to be from C++ Weekend Crash Course ?:(?
Rating: 
Summary: No Windows forms?
Review: Stephen Davis, C# Weekend Crash Course (Hungry Minds Press, 2002) A while back on one of the mailing lists to which I am subscribed, a chap popped up asking about books that cover programming console applications (you know, those things that when you run them, pop up in a command line box instead of running within Windows) in depth. My first reaction was "who on earth would want such a thing?" I still don't really know the answer to that, but if he's reading this, I recommend this book highly to him. Davis' whole book is devoted to console apps and DLLs. And therein lies its major fault. In a programming world where, let's face it, the GUI has won the day (be it Windows, Xwindows, BeOS, Apple, what have you), a book that doesn't even mention the existence of programming graphical forms is painfully outdated, no matter how recently it was released. (The other C# book I'm reading right now was published the year previously, before Microsoft had even finished the C# visual form designer, and still manages to devote a chapter to Windows forms in C#!) The omission is unforgivable in a book on program design in the twenty-first century, even more so when the books covers Microsoft's .NET technology. As for the program design itself, there's a decent amount to be learned here if you're trying to pick up C# after knowing another programming language. (As a longtime C++ programmer, I have no idea how total newbies will react; proceed at your own risk.) A few of the sections try to cram far too much into one thirty-minute session, especially towards the end (the Collections session is almost unreadable without a concordance of some sort; thankfully, I happened to be at the same portion of A Programmer's Guide to C# at the time, and it helped me figure things out without too much pain). Probably worthwhile as an adjunct, but I can't see it being a primary reference guide for any serious programmer. ** ½
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