Product Description

The programming language C# was built with the future of application development in mind. Pursuing that vision, C#'s designers succeeded in creating a safe, simple, component-based, high-performance language that works effectively with Microsoft's .NET Framework. Now the favored language among those programming for the Microsoft platform, C# continues to grow in popularity as more developers discover its strength and flexibility. And, from the start, C# developers have relied on Programming C# both as an introduction to the language and a means of further building their skills.

The fourth edition of Programming C#--the top-selling C# book on the market--has been updated to the C# ISO standard as well as changes to Microsoft's implementation of the language. It also provides notes and warnings on C# 1.1 and C# 2.0.

Aimed at experienced programmers and web developers, Programming C#, 4th Edition, doesn't waste too much time on the basics. Rather, it focuses on the features and programming patterns unique to the C# language. New C# 2005 features covered in-depth include:

• Visual Studio 2005
• Generics
• Collection interfaces and iterators
• Anonymous methods
• New ADO.NET data controls
• Fundamentals of Object-Oriented Programming

Author Jesse Liberty, an acclaimed web programming expert and entrepreneur, teaches C# in a way that experienced programmers will appreciate by grounding its applications firmly in the context of Microsoft's .NET platform and the development of desktop and Internet applications.

Liberty also incorporates reader suggestions from previous editions to help create the most consumer-friendly guide possible.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42733 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-22
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 666 pages

Amazon.com
Jesse Liberty's Programming C# provides an adept and extremely well conceived guide to the C# language and is written for the developer with some previous C++, Java, and/or Visual Basic experience.

It's no secret that many computer books are pretty much devoid of an authorial personality. This title is a winning exception. The author is able to weave in clever examples (using such topics as his own long experience in computing, his dog, Star Trek, etc.) without being coy or getting in the way of presenting real technical information. Liberty's wide experience in computers and general writing skill shows, as he is able to draw on a wealth of examples to move his text forward.

These are a couple of goals at work in Programming C#. First, it's an excellent language tutorial, certainly one of the smartest and best available guides to C# as a language. Early chapters explore basic and obscure language options using inheritance, delegation, interface, and the conventions in C# used to implement these techniques. The middle part of the book turns toward the .NET Framework itself, with two useful (and somewhat introductory) chapters on both Windows Forms and Web Forms, for standalone and Web-based applications, respectively.

Later sections crank up the technical knowledge again with several advanced topics on understanding .NET assemblies and deployment in detail, as well as "reflection" APIs that allow .NET programs to essentially modify their code at run time. (One technique, reflection emit, which literally writes bytecodes, will definitely interest expert readers, though it's unlikely most programmers will need to do this.) Final sections look at the .NET stream classes (rivaled only by Java's for complexity). Liberty looks at basic file and network I/O as well as how objects get serialized and marshaled both for SOAP and Web services and "normal" .NET remoting.

The author's sure hand here in navigating the difficult waters of C# and .NET makes for a relatively concise text that is chock-full of useful information on C#. Filled with notably clever and inventive examples, this book is possibly this veteran computer author's best title to date, and it's sure to be a noteworthy resource as experienced developers tackle C# for the first time. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to C# and the .NET platform
• A "Hello World" example in C#
• Tutorial to C# as an object-oriented programming language (types and variables, operators, namespaces, and preprocessor directives)
• Defining classes in C# (including static members, finalizers, overloading, and read-only fields)
• Inheritance and polymorphism implemented in C#
• Operator overloading
• Structures in C#, interfaces, arrays, and indexers
• Built-in .NET collections, strings, and regular expression support
• Structured exception handling
• Delegate and events
• Introduction to programming with Windows Forms
• ADO.NET database APIs (including basic XML support)
• Quick introduction to Web Forms and ASP.NET used with C#
• Introduction to Web services (SOAP, WSDL, and Discover services described)
• In-depth guide to .NET assemblies (including metadata, versioning, private and shared assemblies)
• C# support for attributes and reflection (including reflection emit techniques)
• Marshaling and remoting (with and without SOAP)
• Threads and synchronization
• Tutorial to C#/.NET streams (including basic I/O techniques, Web streams, and serialization)
• COM and .NET interoperability

Book Info
Introduces C# fundamentals, then goes on to explain the developments of desktop and Internet applications, including Windows Forms, ADO.NET, ASP.NET, and Web Services. Illustrates how to interoperate with CO objects. Previous edition c2001. Softcover.

From the Publisher
This book is based on beta 2 of the .NET Framework.

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Customer Reviews

Confused and assuming
I found this book one of the most confusing I've owned and I've bought 20 books in the past two years. The Author has a choppy writing style that leaves me highly confused. An example is the chapter on delegates and events...a short introduction, a complex example, a little more complex example, then more of a complex example...too much code samples and not enough concepts! I think a book should explain a basic concept with a short example first, then develop upward. Out of my collection of a few dozen books, I'm sad to say this ranks the lowest.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS
This is one of, if not the single most poorly written book I've ever read. If you want to read from a monotonous author who is overly presumptuous about your prior programming knowledge, then buy this book! But if you want to learn anything about programming C# in a somewhat reasonable, logical way that doesn't make you want to jump off a bridge - buy another book.

I'm an experienced php programmer with moderate knowledge on the principles of object-oriented programming, and this author just confused me more. Don't ever buy this book other than maybe as a reference if you're already an expert.

This might just be the only C# book you'll ever need

A natural first step for me when looking for a book is to see what O'Reilly has available. This book was the first hit in my search results. And that hit was a homerun. Jesse Liberty has written a rare Dot Net book, a book that does not waste precious text (read time) editorializing on the wonders of Dot Net or prediciting the extinction of all things not MS. The organization of material is natural and intuitive and Liberty's writing style encourages the reader to keep turning pages without resorting to corny jokes to do so.
Sections are handily decorated with comments pointing out areas where C# diverges from the legacy of its C++ and Java heritage. I've read more books than I care to mention that would have doubled their value had they included such annotations.Example code is relevant and well thought out; and it's available for download. Between this book and the near-infinite resources online, I don't think I'll need another C# book in my library.
This was a great book and I'd recommend it to anybody.