1 comments about Programming C# .NET w/Student CD And 5-CD C# .NET software.

1. This is the second book I have read from this author on programming in the dot net environment. Both it the the visual basic book were excellent. Both provided the necessary essential information along with good programming examples to bring you up to speed quickly.
   
   Both are excellent texts and I would recommend this to anyone.

No comments about LINQ Programming.

5 comments about .NET Gotchas.

1. I got this book as a gift. I'm not sure that I would have bought it myself. Pros: good technical information, one of the few books to give both VB.NET and C# versions. Cons: very dry writing style and the topics seemed disconnected somehow. So, I give it a 5 for technical and a 1 for writing, for an overall of 3.0. I think this is a book you'll like a lot or dislike a lot.



2. Are you among the many programmers who have come to appreciate how powerful Microsoft's .NET Framework can be as a platform for development? If you have, this book is for you! Author Venkat Subramaniam, has done an outstanding job of writing a great book that shares his .NET experiences with developers, to help them avoid the gotchas!
   
   Subramaniam begins by discussing the features in the CLR and the Framework that can impact the behavior and performance of your application. Next, the author focuses on Visual Studio- and compiler-related gotchas. Then, he delves into gotchas at the language and API level of the .NET platform. The author continues by discussing the issues of language operability gotchas. In addition, the author next focuses on concerns related to garbage collection, and how to write code that handles it effectively. He also discusses, the things you need to be aware of in the areas of inheritance and polymorphism so you can make the best use of these important concepts. Next, the author addresses the general problems with threading, the thread pool, asynchronous calls using delegates, and threading problems related to Windows Forms and Web Services. Finally, he focuses on details you should be aware of to make interoperability work for you.
   
   With the preceding in mind, the author has done an excellent job of writing a book that focuses on the .NET Framework and language features that have consistently exhibited behavior that is not obvious to the programmer. So, why should you be interested in learning about these unexpected features? Because, knowning these little gotchas will help you avoid mistakes!



3. ... for many reasons, foremost in my mind - the format makes for very efficient reading - and if all you have is 30 minutes a day, a gotcha or two a day and in a month you are done. That being said, I found some of the topics rather esoteric, so chose to revisit those at some point in the unknown, er, future.
   
   Superb succinct read.



4. I made the mistake of buying this book based on recommendations I had read here on amazon.com -- don't make the same mistake. If you are looking for practical techniques that will help you write .NET applications, this is NOT the book you want. Now this book is sort of interesting and points out weirdnesses of .NET but nothing that I hadn't seen online. So, check this book out first by browsing through a hard copy in a bookstore to see if it's what you want. I wish I had.



5. This book is written with determination and care. Every aspect is explained at length and the examples are abundant.
   
   But this book is not for everyone. If you want to learn .NET, C# or VB.NET programming from it, you won't be able to do it. Also, if you have time to search through zillions of MSDN pages in order to seek various details on .NET and/or .NET languages, then this book is not for you either.
   
   But if your time is tight and you want to have many .NET common mistakes at your fingertips with no effort from your part, then this book is for you.

5 comments about C# Unleashed.

1. This is a good introductory book on C#. The author covers most of the topics by code which I like. The book is focussed on the C# language itself without much coverage on other .NET topics ( ADO.NET,ASP.NET,Remoting) rightly so. In short a good starter book on C#



2. This is a excelent book, my husband and enjoy it. We find this a little deeper that the usual C# books. I will recommended to you.



3. I came from a shallow programming background of VB.Net and C++, and this book was excellent for the transition. This book is great reference material for the language and the .net framework in general. Almost every aspect of C# is covered in this book, which makes this book is a must have for any person programming in C#. It is wonderful to have a book to be able to turn to instead of searching the internet.



4. This Book does what it says it will ;)
   It definately helped me!!



5. This book presents a good introduction to C#. After reading this book I have the good understanding of C# and ready to move on to advanced books.

5 comments about Code Generation in Microsoft .NET.

1. Much of this book is obvious - use of XSLT to to generate code files, how to consume sql metadata. But the author does a GREAT job of presenting the information in useful context. I recommend it.



2. This is a very frustrating book for a couple of reasons. First contrary to what the book and some of the previous reviewers have said, there is no C# support for this book.
   
   I quote the back of the book, "In addition to the text, the tools in the book (downloadable in both VB.net and C#)..." This is untrue. While there are some code examples in C# in the download, almost everything is in VB.net. This includes the code generation harness, which to me is the whole reason to buy the book. If you don't believe me download the code before you buy the book. There is a note in the read me that says as much.
   
   While this might be of small significance to all you VB types, I came to MS from the Java/C world and don't know VB.
   
   The second frustrating thing about the book is that it is about how to deploy a code generator not how to write one. There is a lot of discussion about metadata extraction, how to write good handcrafted code, etc. But the only discussion about how the code generation works is way out in Appendix C: Details of the Code Generation Harness.
   
   Now if this is supposed to be a beginning book on code generation, shouldn't it talk about the code generator and how it works in the actual book??
   
   I wish that someone would have told me these things before I bought it. I think down the road this may be a useful book once can get my hands around the generator. It has chapters on things metadata extraction and interface generation that look very interesting. For that reason I am giving it a 3.



3. I always respect authors and publishers who have the courage to publish highly specialized books such as this one. It will not be relevant to most of the developers doing general .NET development, for but those needing help with Code Generation this is absolutely required.
   
   In general, when I see many classes that are nearly identical they can be designed in a much better way using normal OO constructs (base class with children if required for special cases to override). In general, if possible do not mark your classes as SEALED and mark each method as virtual. This gives other the ability to extend your work. There is nothing more frustrated then finding a class that is close to what you need and finding it is sealed to you resort to encapsulation (which many would argue is a better approach anyway and in many cases they are correct).
   
   However when you have tedious classes that are different in fundamental ways (like a database layer) this can eliminate the drudgery of much of the effort.
   
   
   In addition to a deep understanding of multi-threading this is one area the senior developer should understand and study.
   
   Kind Regards,
   Damon Wilder Carr, Chief Technologist and CEO



4. I agree with the author that "code generation" will grow as a dominant force in the IT industry over the next 5 years. When you hear stories about programming tasks being shipped overseas, its not the deep, creative thinking of type work that is shipped... no, they ship the redundant, grunt type of coding which could be described by an algorithm. When you find yourself writing code falling into a predictable pattern, then perhaps you should consider code generation.
   
   Before I read the book, I was already convinced that code generation was a valuable thing to do, but the book helped reshape how I thought of code generation in the context of a large project, or even an IT department.
   
   Here are the main points that resonated with me:
   1) Code Generation should be thought of as a step in the overall project build process.
   2) The biggest payoff will be gained by generated stored procedures and middle tier components.
   3) Code generation allows the architect to decouple the system meta data from the technology. (eg. I can change my data access strategy by simply modifying my template)
   4) It is possible to generate UI components.
   
   Finally, the book goes beyond code generation. You will learn other interesting tidbits about Visual Studio .NET and the .NET framework. The appendices include good primers on XML/XSLT and her Code Generation harness. The freely downloadable harness is designed to orchestrate the CodeGen process, but you really need to the book to understand how it works and how it can be extended.



5. Overall I'm disappointed with the book, there is nothing new here. The downloadable code is also poorly coded. If you have experience with code generation I'm not sure you'll find anything new in the book otherwise if you're just starting out with code generation then it might be a good starting point. I'll have to agree with the reviewer Mox Blu on this one.

2 comments about Developing C# Windows Software: A Windows Forms Tutorial.

1. This book is a good complement to Eric Brown's "Windows Forms Programming with C#". The authors here cover items that Brown didn't or didn't cover as thoroughly. Since their style is different, in some cases, the added depth they provide enhanced my understanding of what was going on. They stayed focussed and covered a lot of ground in a short book. The sections on the Registry, adding Help, and Deployment were helpful as well. I only regret they didn't touch on Drag and Drop for completeness, although that is available elsewhere. Good, useful tutorial book with reference potential. Definitely belongs on my bookshelf, I'll just ahve to make more room.



2. This book is a good reference for those who need to build and deploy traditional Windows Application under .Net and C#. The authors do a good job of covering aspects of Windows Form programming, including showing you how to design and implement some advanced features that you won't find in any online documentation for C# or .Net. The authors even walk you through several sample applications to show you "hands on" programing with the controls.

   Unfortunately, they don't cover all of the Windows Forms controls, and leave out a few of the basics. However, the ones they have left out seem to be the more basic controls that don't require a lot of advanced explanation.

   Overall, this book is good material for your bookshelf for those times when you need to verify, or learn, how a control works. They focus on the Visual Studio environment of C#, so there are a few differences that non-VS people will need to make in other to use this book.

5 comments about Professional .NET Network Programming.

1. What does C# , network programming, and .NET technology have in common? This book! It doesn't matter if you are new to network programming or a seasoned developer - this book will be valuable to any level of experience.The author leads the C# programmer through the basics of network programming and then builds upon advanced concepts utilizing .Net technology.

   Although the entire book does a great job explaining important concepts such as socket and Internet programming (excellent coverage relating to protocols), my favorite section deals with secure network communications using .NET technology. Here the authors provide much needed and valuable information such as encrypting network traffic, using certificates and SSL, and authenticating and authorizing users with Kerberos and NTLM.

   If you are a C# programmer who wants to learn network programming using .NET technology, this is the book to get.




2. Not too many books attack the Network Programming side of what the .NET Framework can offer. I believe that this is a great book for anyone wanting to delve into the realms of protocols and get down to the nitty gritty!!! -Cool Book-



3. This is a great, easy-reading book for who wants to get the feets on network programming with .NET.

   It covers the basic you have to know about networks and network protocols and then covers how to work with that on .NET.

   The thing I like most on this book is that they loose almost no time with the common-places of distributed apps with .NET (the ones that every other book will cover, such as remoting and web services). The book covers really how to use TCP, UDP, and application level protocols such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP and other.

   Other aspect is that this book is really easy to follow and after you start you can't stop reading. I've received it on a friday night, so, I've consumed (devored) it on the weekend and I believe I would read it again...Great reading.




4. Wrox books are always a disappointment. This book does not include any decent example. On top of that does not include any source code. The author say's you can download the source from wrox website but its not there. Do not buy this book or any wrox book.



5. Wanted to create an IM app in .NET but didn't know where to start? Wanted to do file transfers via FTP in .NET? Here you go. This book gives a good primer on what is available for .NET and networks. While not comprehensive (use the MSDN on-line help for the details), it gives you good ideas as to what you can do and makes for interesting reading.

5 comments about Professional C# Web Services: Building .NET Web Services with ASP.NET and .NET Remoting.

1. If you want to get the understanding of .NET Remoting, this is the right book.

   XML Web Services with ASP .NET are quite easy to build, so, this book doesn't looses too much time on it.

   If you want to learn only ASP .NET web services then you can try other titles that covers only this.




2. This book is not organized at all. There are allot of code examples but they are totally useless. Since one can not really run any of the examples because they are not organized into applications and one can't really follow which part does what and which part goes after which. And I have successful 10 years of experience developing web and client service apps. So this book was waste of time and money for me.



3. Don't know why others are saying this isn't a great book. I think it is!



4. As a first read on web services this was not bad. It is a passable reference as well.

   The book starts with a summary of the technology and a brief overview of the component technologies - XML, SOAP, WSDL, UDDI - and how it fits into the .Net framework .A large section is devoted to .Net Remoting followed by more on consuming and updating web services and clients. There are ample examples of the design and coding of simple to moderately complex web services. While I noticed the usual mistakes and typos in a book that was probably rushed to meet demand for .Net literature, none were overly distracting or confusing. The book concludes with some case studies and more examples.

   While it is not really necessary to have a knowledge of C#, the reader should have a good grounding in object oriented programming languages and some knowledge of COM or RPC wouldn't hurt. I see this technology as the successor to COM (the fact that Don Box was involved in the SOAP standard definition reinforces that idea), perhaps even finally living up to the dream of plugable code modules. I could see using this as the text for teaching a web services class. P-)




5. For a beginner its good. I liked the way concepts are expressed.
   I just wish I read this few a couple of years ago, when it came out!

5 comments about .NET Framework Essentials.

1. Very well written primer on the .Net framework, internal workings of the CLR and language fundamentals. Great book.



2. IMHO, OReilly tends to have the best technology books (I own many) but this book isn't one of them. This book is lightweight even as an introduction. This book is certainly fine for managers, senior architects, and business types, but if you plan to design and write software I recommend Jeff Prosise's "Programming Microsoft .NET" and Jeffrey Richter's "Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming", though a bit dated, both cover the .NET framework essentials and then some.



3. This book delivers exactly what it promises - an excellent overview of essential .NET Framework. Easy to read format, good chapters on IL,Framework,COM+ Interop. Unfortunately very little or no .NET serialization, memory management or threading. But a lot of information for the size of this book. Gives excellent foundation to learn upon.



4. As the title says, this book gives the essentials of the .NET framework. It is not an exhaustive treatment, rather, it touches on the main features of .NET. The book assumes that the reader is fluent in object-oriented and component-based programming. Overall, the book was fairly well written with the main features of the .NET framework being clearly explained. The book has no distractive "fluff" in it, so one can easily dive into learning about .NET. The authors give an overview of .NET, and then present a description of the common language runtime (CLR). The common programming model and working with .NET components follow. XML data and web services are clearly explained with a lot of code snippets being given. The book concludes with chapters on ASP, Windows Forms, and mobile devices. The appendices are useful, as sometime acronyms aren't defined in the main text, but are explained in the appendix.
   
   Overall, I found the book well written. The coverage of topics is actually fairly decent. The authors have done a good job of focusing on the essential aspects of .NET. If you're looking for a book that gives gives an overview of the heart of .NET, this is a good book. If you're looking for an exhaustive reference, than you'll probably want something else.



5. I went to my local bookstore to get a functional understanding of ".NET". My previous readings had been hit and miss and provided little understanding of the new platform.
   
   This book provided that understanding. The writeups on the CLR, assemblies, garbage collection, net components, web services, etc. were skeletal but quite good. I came away with some understanding of what .NET is, why it was developed and why I believe it should leapfrog Java in the web development world.
   
   It wasn't an easy read since it provided good understanding with little detail, and takes some thought; but again, it serves it's purpose well.

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself C# in 21 Days (Sams Teach Yourself).

1. I am a start out Programmer but I figured it would be a good book to start from. I did it for a while and I got really bored the leasons took forever. Then I tried a C++ book called WeekEnd Crash course and it was great and kept me interested if you want to do C++ instead of C# try that book



2. I have thoroughly enjoyed the book and its ability to bring one up to speed with C#. He covers some very basic concepts such as structures, classes, indexers, and advanced topics such as delegates. All the constructs that one needs in order to put the language to work are detailed.

   If you are looking for a quick, down and dirty book to jump start your knowledge of the language I would rate the book 5 stars.

   One of the biggest challenges with OO languages is not using a procedural style when writing code. The author no doubt has a handle on the C# language. But I don't think he has a handle on OO. As the author mentions, everything in C# is class. With this in mind, I would expect to see good class design throughout the book.

   My criticism, which I hope is taken with a grain of salt, is that the examples which wrap up a week's lesson are too procedural. They are spaghetti code that I personally would re-factor before publishing. There is a Main method that is hundreds of lines long with nested do's nested in if's nested in do's that are nested in if's... get the picture?

   If this seems like harsh criticism, I apologize. I thought twice about writing this review until I hit is Black Jack program on about page 400.

   Respectfully,
   A fellow techie




3. The book is very barebones and basic. It does not cover anything in depth and you will find that you will need another book to help you with your project if you are counting on this one to do so. I find the topics discussed to be poorly documented and for a senior level developer moving to C# this book is not for you. Try APress's "C# and the .net platform" by Andrew Troelson (EXCELLENT BOOK..that has everything you will need to know about .net covered in depth!)



4. This is by far the best ever introduction to C# programming that I have ever read.
   Experienced programmers, especially those coming from a Java or C++ background, will be able to skim through the first few "days". Beginners to coding are introduced to fundamental principles such as variables, loops and conditions and then quickly move on to more interesting subjects.
   The book's examples are better than most too, they are generally of sufficient length to be realistic while still illustrating the point.
   The other highlight for me was an absence of typographical and more importantly technical errors. Spelling errors tend to distract and break up the flow when reading and when I see something that I know to be wrong I am always wary of trusting more advanced topics later.
   I can't recommend this book enough for those wishing to venture into the world of C#.



5. I came to this book with some knowledge of c++ and java so I can't really say how I would have found it if I was a complete beginner. Having said that, however, I must state that I found this book to be very well structured. The concepts were clearly explained and the author doesn't waste time with too many examples, only what is necessary to get the point across. So indeed, in less than 21 days I was up and running (well maybe walking briskly). I look forward to more books by this author.