Rating: 
Summary: There's a lot of errors
Review: I'm still reading the book, and I found more errors than I could expect.
The book embraces all the topics for the 3 exams, but is very superficial.
The questions, at the end of the chapters, are sometimes ambiguous and some of them are wrong, with primary errors.
Example:
"Choose the correct method for declaring a namespace:"
A - namespace Osborne.Chapter5
B - namespace Osborne.Chapter5;
C - namespace Osborne.Chapter5.MyClass
D - namespace Osborne.Chapter5.MyClass;
Answer: "B. The namespace is not a declaration of a class, and must be terminated with a semicolon (;)."Correct Answer:
None. A namespace declaration includes a pair of brackets. If we consider that the brackets is not essential to the question, then we cannot include the semicolon, which cause a compilation error. Finally, Osborne.Chapter5.MyClass is a valid name for a namespace, certainly not a good name, but valid. Despite the problems, this can be a reasonable guide to certification if you have previous experience, due to your cost and extent. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE NOVICE IN ASP.NET OR IN C#!
Rating: 
Summary: This book is RIFE with errors
Review: I've read the first three chapters and am extremely frustrated by the number and blatancy of errors. For example the book states that a namespace declaration doesn't need a semicolon, but the quiz answers claim explicitly that it does. There are many many errors in the SIMPLEST things and I don't trust the rest of this book. ** I'm adding this now that I'm on chapter 11. This is the WORST technical book I have ever read. There are errors EVERYWHERE. Blatant, stupid errors that show that the writer has NO idea what they are talking about. Full on contradictions between the text and the quiz answers are in EVERY quiz so far. How about this for a moronically incorrect history lesson, "The network designers used [TCP/IP] to provide MILNET, which initially connected the military computers and was developed into the Internet today." That is just WRONG and is tantamount to saying that chimpanzees were developed into mankind today. And what's this:
...
catch (Xcp e)
{
Console.WriteLine(Xcp.ToString());
}
...? It's on p. 250. Worst Book Ever.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is not for the exam
Review: If you like to pass th exams that is not what you need. buy M$ book for the exam. i passed 315 - 316 but mainly from msdn not this book.
Rating:
Summary: Stick to the MS Press books on this one
Review: It took exactly two days to read this book from front to back because of its super simplistic approach. I have read the MS Press books for 70-315 and 70-316 and I would strongly advise sticking to those. The book devotes very little time to what is actually going to be on the test. Those of you who are not going to take 70-315 and 70-315 and are looking for a book to learn C# as it relates to web development, windows development and xml web services, might consider this book. It's not a bad starter book. If you have any experience at all, this book will be a bore.
Rating:
Summary: Not even good for an introduction
Review: Much of the book is clearly just a rephrase of specific pages of Microsoft's MSDN library which you can get free online. The diagrams, tables, content and order of the paragraphs of the book section closely match the MSDN pages with the exception that much of the critical information is left out. In many instances it is clear that the authors - and I use the term authors loosely - did not understand what they were reading on MSDN while "writing" the chapter and therefore the re-write is inaccurate. For instance, the following quote is the authors' description of the ADO.Net Persist Security Info property: "Specifies whether sensitive security information is to be resent if a connection is reopened." Are these people just making it up as they go along, or what? If you know anything about ADO or ADO.Net then you know that Persist Security Info only refers to whether you can, in code, retrieve the password information from the connection string of an open connection. Regardless of how Persist Security Info is set, the password is available for opening or reopening the connection. Wait! Maybe this book was intended to be a work of fiction about C#! It's just listed in the wrong section! That would explain the authors just making it up as they went along. As for being All-in-One, I would call it None-in-One. Many key sections of the book are incomplete and don't tell you that they're incomplete. Other sections are incomplete and tell you to read MSDN for more information. I thought that was what I bought the book for...so I wouldn't have to read the tens of thousands of pages of MSDN. I have to wonder if the authors have ever written a C# program in Visual Studio. My guess is probably not. This is a quote from the book: "Notice in the code generated by the Windows Forms Designer that a call to the method InitializeComponent() is made in the constructor of the form. You can then place any of your initialization code in the InitializeComponent() method." There is no way that the authors have ever successfully done that - added initialization code in the InitializeComponent() method. Anyone who has ever written a C# program in Visual Studio.Net knows that the code in the InitializeComponent method is created by the designer and any changes you make there will be lost as soon as you make a change in the designer. This is the second (and last) McGraw Hill/Osborne All-in-One book I have purchased. I bought a CCIE edition several years ago. It was as error-filled as this one. Many of us who have been around a long time remember when Adam Osborne was a cultural icon. It's disappointing that the books that now bear his name are not of the same caliber as the books of yesteryear. But I am being too harsh. I should be sensitive and understanding. The authors are undoubtedly ridden with guilt over having caused hundreds or thousands of unsuspecting buyers to spend money on this book and then waste $125 each taking, and failing miserably, the Microsoft certification exams. That guilt, combined with the shame and embarrassment they feel for having created the lowest rated certification book on the topic, should be punishment enough. I should be reaching out to them, feeling their pain...
Rating:
Summary: Not even good for an introduction
Review: Much of the book is clearly just a rephrase of specific pages of Microsoft's MSDN library which you can get free online. The diagrams, tables, content and order of the paragraphs of the book section closely match the MSDN pages with the exception that much of the critical information is left out. In many instances it is clear that the authors - and I use the term authors loosely - did not understand what they were reading on MSDN while "writing" the chapter and therefore the re-write is inaccurate. For instance, the following quote is the authors' description of the ADO.Net Persist Security Info property: "Specifies whether sensitive security information is to be resent if a connection is reopened." Are these people just making it up as they go along, or what? If you know anything about ADO or ADO.Net then you know that Persist Security Info only refers to whether you can, in code, retrieve the password information from the connection string of an open connection. Regardless of how Persist Security Info is set, the password is available for opening or reopening the connection. Wait! Maybe this book was intended to be a work of fiction about C#! It's just listed in the wrong section! That would explain the authors just making it up as they went along. As for being All-in-One, I would call it None-in-One. Many key sections of the book are incomplete and don't tell you that they're incomplete. Other sections are incomplete and tell you to read MSDN for more information. I thought that was what I bought the book for...so I wouldn't have to read the tens of thousands of pages of MSDN. I have to wonder if the authors have ever written a C# program in Visual Studio. My guess is probably not. This is a quote from the book: "Notice in the code generated by the Windows Forms Designer that a call to the method InitializeComponent() is made in the constructor of the form. You can then place any of your initialization code in the InitializeComponent() method." There is no way that the authors have ever successfully done that - added initialization code in the InitializeComponent() method. Anyone who has ever written a C# program in Visual Studio.Net knows that the code in the InitializeComponent method is created by the designer and any changes you make there will be lost as soon as you make a change in the designer. This is the second (and last) McGraw Hill/Osborne All-in-One book I have purchased. I bought a CCIE edition several years ago. It was as error-filled as this one. Many of us who have been around a long time remember when Adam Osborne was a cultural icon. It's disappointing that the books that now bear his name are not of the same caliber as the books of yesteryear. But I am being too harsh. I should be sensitive and understanding. The authors are undoubtedly ridden with guilt over having caused hundreds or thousands of unsuspecting buyers to spend money on this book and then waste $125 each taking, and failing miserably, the Microsoft certification exams. That guilt, combined with the shame and embarrassment they feel for having created the lowest rated certification book on the topic, should be punishment enough. I should be reaching out to them, feeling their pain...
Rating:
Summary: So bad, I would give it minus 5 stars.
Review: Not only does this book a waste of money and time, but it is also misleading. I can hardly drive myself to read to chapter 3. I can find a hole, misleading, or wrong information in every 10 pages on average and end up cursing. The writer doesn't even know how to use @ for the verbatim string, but tried to explain it, and it appears to be completely wrong. They also provides a very bad example for garbage collection and lots of completely useless examples on even the simplest topics. My recommendation is stay away, or if you have bought, you had better just burn it before it cause of you fail the exam that you should have pass.
Rating:
Summary: Too many mistakes
Review: Seems to have decent coverage of the topics and does have plenty of useful information. However, as noted in other reviews, the book contains a substantial number of inaccuracies, many of which could mislead the reader toward incorrect answers on the exams.
Rating:
Summary: Too many mistakes
Review: Seems to have decent coverage of the topics and does have plenty of useful information. However, as noted in other reviews, the book contains a substantial number of inaccuracies, many of which could mislead the reader toward incorrect answers on the exams.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction but disappointing
Review: The book provides a good introduction for someone who is new to the .NET Framework and C# .NET, but falls far short as a test preparation tool. It doesn't go into near enough depth in several areas. It's a good starting point, but if you are serious about want to pass the exams, I would suggest looking at books that focus on each of the exams individually, such as the Microsoft Press self study series.
The biggest failing is that the book gives the reader the raw facts, but doesn't provide directed hands-on practice. You need to know the information, but also how to apply it in practical situations.
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