Pro C#2010 and the .NET 4 Platform (book)

[Jackolantern]

What an amazing book! I have worked with C# for years, but only considered myself an intermediate user. However, after thumbing through this book at the book store I was impressed by how in-depth it is and picked it up. I just finished it a few days ago, cover-to-cover (it is around 1500 pages). I was also wanting to get up-to-date with C# 2010 and .NET 4, as I had previously only used .NET 2.0 and 3.5 (aka C# 2005 and 2008).

This book goes far deeper into C# and .NET than any other I have ever read. It is also written for at least fairly competent developers, so there are no entire chapters discussing what a variable is, or how to use a for loop. Although these things are discussed, and their syntax are shown, the book moves at a brisk pace that should make it quickly clear that it is for established developers. In fact, you really need to feel comfortable with OO programming before picking up this mammoth book, including the three pillars (encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism). It however is not a requirement to already understand generics, interfaces, delegates, events, and other C# specifics because they are fully discussed. This book dives deep into first C#, then into the .NET Base Class Library itself, where it spends most of the text although it also includes chapters on ADO.NET, Linq, WCF, WF, WPF, ASP.NET and Silverlight. You get at least a taste of almost everything .NET has to offer from this one book and that is good for someone getting into C# without a clear idea of what they want to do with it. About the only major .NET technology that is not covered is XNA, but that is understandable considering that this is a book designed for professional software engineers.

About the only downside to this book is a dark-lining to its most major strength: the breadth. At times the author goes almost too deep into some topics which can obscure the true point of a section, which is to learn the strategies and techniques to deal with the applicable aspect of C# and .NET. However, if you have an inquisitive nature and want to know everything, right down to exactly how the .NET runtime handles Garbage Collection (and even some of the jargon for the GC algorithm!), this book will be perfect for you.

In all, there is nothing else like this book on the market today; definitely not for C#, and most likely for very few other languages if any. If finished cover-to-cover, it will be hard for .NET to stump you in the future, and it will try. If you have a week or more to sit down and truly absorb this book, you will surely come to know C# intimately and will be a better programmer for it.

5/5

[hallsofvallhalla]

that sounds awesome and just what I have been looking for. Thanks for the review I am heading to buy it right now. Seriously.

[Jackolantern]

Knowing you, I don't think you will be disappointed. Hope you enjoy it, and it will keep you busy for quite a while!

EDIT: As a follow-up mini-review, I actually don't suggest Pro ASP.NET 4 by Apress. Although it is in the same series, it is not by Troelson, the genius who wrote Pro C# 2010. It tries to use the same in-depth, professional style that Pro C# used, but the author just doesn't pull it off. I got it too hoping it would be as excellent as Pro C#, but it is just jumbled and confusing. It uses tons of forward-references, giving you "peeks" at future topics but only tells you enough to be confusing. After each of the first few chapters, I ended up with more questions than answers and did not feel I was getting any closer to being a fluent in ASP.NET. It felt like 1500 pages of fluff and filler with too much pointless drilling down on how the ASP.NET engine works.

[hallsofvallhalla]

APRess books are hit and miss. Seems like most programming books are that way. I have a whole office of programming books and only a handful worth reading.

[MAruz]

Thanks for the review Jack. We're just about to start a new semester at school, and we're supposed to use Programming ASP.net 3.5, but I've been looking for an alternative book (mostly to get a more updated view of the technology), and I just found it

[Jackolantern]

Thanks for the review Jack. We're just about to start a new semester at school, and we're supposed to use Programming ASP.net 3.5, but I've been looking for an alternative book (mostly to get a more updated view of the technology), and I just found it

I really don't know if this book would be enough to substitute for Programming ASP.NET 3.5. It is about 80% vanilla C# and .NET, and only about 5 or 6 chapters devoted to ASP.NET (not including web services chapters).

Now don't get me wrong, "Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008" (Apress) is not a bad book. It is just that Matthew McDonald, as an author, is not on the same level as Andrew Troelson. However, very few authors are.

If you are going to have to have to learn ASP.NET for school, I don't think "Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform" will be enough. But maybe check out "Pro ASP.NET 3.5 in C# 2008" (or 4/2010 if you want the Visual Studio 2010 version) at your local book store. Read the first few chapters on the basics, and see if they jive with you. The rest of the book is pretty consistent. I just didn't like the "all-over-the-place-to-explain-the-topic-thoroughly" style, but it has a 4.5/5 star rating from 28 people on Amazon, so obviously a lot of other people do like it. There just doesn't seem to be a "messiah book" for ASP.NET like there is for PHP, C#, C++, Perl, etc. So you just have to try a few out and see what works for you.