2 comments about Professional Windows PowerShell Programming: Snapins, Cmdlets, Hosts and Providers (Wrox Professional Guides).

1. I've been developing PowerShell cmdlets for the past year and half for the PowerShell Community Extensions project. I really wish I had this book when I started. It would have saved me a ton of time. Having everything documented in one place alone would have been a huge timesaver. The examples in the book are really good and should give any would-be developer of PowerShell cmdlets or providers a huge jumpstart. One minor quibble is that the formatting on some of the sample code output wraps making it harder to interpret the results. Other than that it is a fantastic compendium of the knowledge necessary to start knocking off some heavy duty cmdlets and providers.



2. This very well may be the only decent book regarding PowerShell programming beyond the ordinary PS scripts. If you want to create your own CmdLets, Providers, etc this is the only book I've found that gets you there.
   
   With that said, despite the authors' efforts the book feels more like a reference than a tutorial. The authors' expertise is so deep sometimes they forget to explain all the "obvious" things.
   
   For example, when the PSObject class gets presented to the reader the details are outstanding, as always, but there's very little effort devoted to explaining why this class is needed at all. I've seen other books do better in that matter.
   
   A different example: If you've created your own CmdLets, you already know you can derive from CmdLet or PSCmdLet, the latter being a subclass of the former with additional features but additional requirements. The book totally avoids this discussion (did I miss it?) and PSCmdLet gets used exclusively all over the chapter without telling the reader why.
   
   Don't get me wrong, this is a wonderful book and honestly, I may come back in a few weeks to update this review and give the book an additional star. But I'm the kind of guy that always needs the "Why" before the "How".

5 comments about MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit: Developing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic .NET and Microsoft Visual C# .NET, Second Edition (Pro-Certification).

1. I just passed the exam with a pretty nice score 1.5 hours ago, and relied solely on this book for preparing for the exam for 10 days. I have solid background in Web development and use of C#. That said, here is my very personal comment:
   
   - The quality of this book is beyond my doubt. The book might have two errors that I think I saw when I read it the 2nd time, though I wasn't 100% sure. Other than that, I didn't find any errors/typos/mistakes in it. Many subtle issues are explained in the book in a way very easy to understand.
   
   - looking back, I believe that if one wants to pass the exam with ease by using this book, one'd be much better off by doing and studying all the questions that come with the CD. I'm a bit regretful that I didn't finish up most of the electronic practice questions.
   
   - I don't know any other book on the same subject. But looking back, I feel the book (including all the materials included with it) was perfect to help me pass the exam. I have no doubt that without the help of this book (or similar), I wouldn't have been able to pass the exam.
   
   
   Overall: the paper book alone may or may not be enough for anyone to rely on for passing the cert exam, but if you have taken advantage of all the materials that come with the book and if you have *FULLY* understood what is covered in the book, you'll be almost quaranteed to pass the exam on your very first try. I may be wrong on this because different people have different backgrounds, but that's what I believe while looking back.



2. I've not finished reading this book yet, nor have I completed all exercises. Already having a fair bit of experience with .NET and ASP.NET I can see that this book covers only the basics, though it seems to cover them quite well. I have, however, found a few code errors in the examples, which I feel detracts a fair bit from the overall quality of the book.



3. The book is well structured to cover the exam topics. It does, however, omit certain details in some topics which would be unclear from just the book alone if I didn't already know them or didn't find some better explanations elsewhere online. You'll need some additional resource, including .NET class library online reference and online tutorials to fully understand certain topics.



4. I bought this new book which I got it for $4 less than any other place including internet and book stores. I received the book on time and as I expected. Started reading and enjoying it...



5. I have no experience with Visual Basic but I have taken a few classes in C. Overall the book is a good read, finished it in a week and the exercises are very productive. I would have like for there to be a 2nd part just on labs alone.

5 comments about Professional C# 2005 (Wrox Professional Guides).

1. I dont feel very well studying with this book because they write a line of code of example an to explain it they write 2 pages. Too much bla bla bla which make it very difficult to study and read.



2. I really liked this book when I first got it, but after digging into more chapters, I was let down.
   
   
   I do like the overall style of short examples and quick descriptions, but I found chapters on collections and delegates unreadable. They start collections off with picking apart an Interface when I wanted more general theory first. They need to give some small complete examples first, then pick them apart on complicated sections.
   
   I also think the book is too big and many chapters could be dumped as they are specialized.
   
   The best part to me is how it compares different languages on doing things.



3. I have been programming for quit a while in Visual Basic 5.0. I purchased Visual Studio 2005 recently and wanted to try to program in C#. The main problem I have with this book is that all most all of the code examples are for Console application. I don't know why you would want to program in Console applications. I want to make Windows programs, not Console applications. I lost interest in chapter 10 when the code was still Console examples. Maybe I'm wrong in this, but I think all the code should be for Windows applications not Console applications.



4. Great book. So far seem very clear and decent coverage. Good starter book at least.



5. Those guys on the cover actually wrote this book! What a bunch of geeks.., er I mean, professionals. When you have to know this kind of stuff, these are the kind of people you need to ask. I expect to be mining information from this book for years to come.

No comments about Beginning C# 2008 Databases: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional).

5 comments about TCP/IP Sockets in C#: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides).

1. Did you ever just want a book get to the point and tell you what you need to know? This is that book. If your new to winsock, this book will get you rolling quickly.



2. I think this book is very good because es simple, explain clearly and go directly to the matter.
   
   Juan Ramon Divison



3. This book is a good intermediate to somewhat advanced book on TCP and UDP protocols using Sockets in .Net - all examples of-course as the title suggests are in C#. It does show some interesting examples and was able to get me started using Sockets in .Net - however it didn't go as far as I had hoped. But if you're needing something to show you how to start using Sockets it is a very good book.



4. This book gets very high ratings on both amazon.co.uk and amazon.com. I've given it a slightly lower rating than some, although still four stars, and will explain why...
   
   The subtitle on the cover of the book is "Practical Guide for Programmers" which suggests it is going to be good even for experienced developers. It is only when you read the preface (page X) that you find that the book is aimed "primarily at students", and even then is "intended as a supplement, to be used with a traditional textbook", which seems a bit of a contradiction when it then says that "we have tried to make the book reasonably self-contained".
   
   Anyway, what are the good points of this book? Well, it does mention most of the bits that a developer using sockets will want to consider. It has everything from blocking sockets, through non-blocking sockets and the select model, through to overlapped I/O. It also mentions threading, the use of thread pools, broadcast and multicast. All good stuff. Even includes example code for each.
   
   Where the book falls down is that having skimmed over all of those topics it (a) doesn't provide adequate information about how to choose the model (synch vs. asynch, blocking vs. non-blocking, 1 thread vs. fixed number (> 1) of threads vs. thread pool, etc) to use for a particular project, and (b) falls short of being self-contained, doing the blah-blah is beyond the scope of this book thing.
   
   I have seen many projects developed using the wrong model, resulting in poor performance, lack of responsiveness, inability to shutdown cleanly etc. I'm pretty sure that the authors of the book will have seen projects like that too. Books about using sockets really need to advise on this area.
   
   It is understandable that a book of this size and price will say that some things are outside the scope of the book, but not something as basic as socket options (p52 refers the reader to the MSDN). Again, socket options are an area where well-meaning developers or support staff set values that are little better than guesses, and which sometimes cause adverse effects. If there's going to be a second edition of this book, please include advice on such matters.
   
   So, all in all, good for students or people new to sockets, but not quite great. It tells you the basic techniques, but not how to use them to best advantage. Having said that, I prefer this book to C# Network Programming which rambles, uses language that is ambiguous in places, and contains a significant error (if being very generous, it could be very lazy English causing an unintended meaning) on the very page I opened it on.
   
   It's probably best for people who already know sockets really well, but who are switching from one language to another (e.g. C++ or Java to C#). Those people probably know what model and options to use, just need to see how to do it in C# - something the book does do well.



5. I have a technical book collection that rivals most libraries and this has to be one of the best programming books I've ever purchased. I'm very new to Sockets programming but I am familiar with C#. Therefore, all I needed was a way of familiarizing myself with the fundamentals of sockets programming, not a full-on long-winded lecture of everything-C#. The structure of this book is amazing. It starts each section by providing a brief description of the classes and concepts the authors are about to present. It then presents sample code illustrating the topic followed by an analysis of the code at key points by line number. It then follows up with a detailed summary of each class used in the sample along with its methods, constructors, and properties. Each example gets progressivly more complex which keeps the reader from being overwhelmed with the complexity of the subject matter too quickly.
   
   Quick, concise, and very well written, these authors did a fantastic job!

2 comments about C# 2008 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)).

1. I've read the 2005 version and this 2008 version and all I can say is these guys know their stuff. I've read many books on C# and this is the best book I've read. By programmers for programmers. Outstanding examples and explanations.
   
   If you authors are reading this, please write more books. I'd like to request a dedicated book on OOP concepts and class design using C#.
   
   Keep up the Great work!!!



2. I bought this book hoping to learn from scratch - as one would assume you can normally do from a "For Dummies" book. I own 12 "For Dummies" books on various subjects, but this has by far been the most scattered in flow and difficult to process.
   While the book exhausts you with lengthy dissertations on all of the possible variable types before you even get to write anything useful, it then completely leaves out the really useful information and techniques like how to write a program that can save text output into a separate file. There is no CD included, leaving you to have to go to the author's website and download all of the support files you'll need to cover your topics of interest. While I did find a "bonus" chapter on the author's website that covered creating programs that read from and write to text files, the code he published with it had errors and would not compile.
   Finally, I say there is no "mid ground" because it seems he can only take you along at either 5mph or 200mph - there isn't much in-between. There is a lot of "we'll cover that later" (my quotes) but it doesn't get covered in time to help you understand what he's discussing just a few pages later.
   BIG disappointment. I'm now looking for another tutorial source on C#.

5 comments about Expert C# 2005 Business Objects, Second Edition (Expert).

1. This is an exceptional book. It provides both the examples of how-to use the framework and how it is built. This internal view of the framework provides invaluable insight into the internal workings of reflection and gives real world perspectives to using objects consistently in a distributed architechture. I like the book!



2. This book has a very good discussion of frameworks and includes the details of the CSLA (Component Scalable Logical Architecture) framework. However, I don't believe the book is worthwhile for the discussion of frameworks alone. If you're required to use CSLA, then this is the book for you.
   
   I give the book three stars because its contents can't be separated from the design of CSLA. The problem with CSLA is the layers. The use of "fat", fully encapsulated business objects has fallen out of favor recently and is not the best architecture for enterprise applications. Despite what the author says, I don't believe CSLA is truly a layered architecture, either.
   
   The book lacks a discussion of when CSLA is a good choice and when another architecture is better. Choosing to use CSLA pre-determines your architecture (the "A" stands for "Architecture", after all). You should always choose your architecture based on your requirements and never select an architecture in advance.
   
   That said, CSLA can be a good architecture for smaller projects. New developers often have issues understanding true multi-tiered architectures. Because CSLA uses an encapsulated architecture that's similar to the OOP training they had in school, those developers may find CSLA a good choice because it's easier for them to understand.



3. Author spends too much time in theory and less time showing real examples. Author wants you to down load code and spends time discussing bits and pieces of each section. Very, very, very steep learning curve. Not a good investment - wish I could find a CSLA book that teaches you step by step....



4. The book itself is somehow disappointing. Sounds like the old vb6 bo book, rather outdated.
   The main concept involved as a guideline on design is the fat table module object arbitrarily called business objects by the author, when the market is more oriented to model domains. Why should we choose fat objects instead of other solutions? It is not discussed on the book.
   A big issue is the way the book is written. He assumes you are a vb6 person. The author is not fully aware of the asp.net architecture. Look at this paragraph about keeping state on the page:
   "There's no automatic
   mechanism that puts all state data into each page; you must do that by hand. Often this means creating
   hidden fields on each page in which you can store state data that's required, but which the user
   shouldn't see. The pages can quickly become very complex as you add these extra fields.
   This can also be a security problem. When state data is sent to the client, that data becomes
   potentially available to the end user."
   
   So he's completely unaware of viewstate object which address all these issues. I think asp.net has gone a long way now and this guy don't even know one of the basic revolutionary concepts brought up by as.net.
   I have constantly the sensation that he is addressing a vb6 developer, but vb6 is long gone.



5. A good written book, it's a step by step trip in the author's mind: from idea through design to coding of his framework. You may not agree with all choices (such as heavy reflection use) but you always know why he did. A good start point to build your own businnes objects and a rich bag for your developer's toolbox.

1 comments about Workbook to accompany Anatomy & Physiology Revealed Version 2 CD.

1. I'm currently preparing for my Physician Assistant program that starts afer summer. I had heard that Advanced Anatomy is pretty tough, and since it's one of my first classes coming up first, I wanted to seriously review. I used Vander's for my university Physiology class, and the Broyle's CD software was advertised. I took a chance and...wow. I ordered a few other texts along with this CD/manual, most of the recommended books, but this has turned out to be superior in it's approach and guidance.
   
   The workbook takes you through the software step by step (the software is amazing, by the way), with a degree of detail that would otherwise have been intimidating. Each and every area and aspect is explained with a fine level of focus. As someone who scored quite well in Anatomy, and who worked for a year in my school's anatomy labs, I'm very impressed and now feel greatly prepared for what's to come.
   
   *warning* This workbook is for serious students, it's not a general overview. Use it along with Netter's, Rohen's, or another of the recommended texts, for comparison and backup. Excellent!

5 comments about Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005: The Base Class Library (Pro-Developer).

1. Having sweated through thousands of pages of other C# books, I found Francesco Balena's eloquence as refreshing as a perfectly chilled Corona. It immediately tightened my loose grip on particulars such as string formatting, delegates, generics, regular expressions and interoperability. And it is the best discussion of the base classe I've ever seen. Be aware that this book does NOT intend to teach programming. However, if you're someone who can code in some OOP language, knows C# syntax, and seeks professional proficiency in this language, then in my opinion, there is no better book you could own.



2. If you have C# skills of no less then an advanced beginner, and want to find yourself securely in the intermediate range, then you have found the right book. Read it once and you will find your skill set drastically improved. Read it twice and study it thoroughly, and you will find yourself getting turned to for help from your more senior developers. Quite the ego booster.
   
   It's well written, has appropriate examples for the target audience, and doesn't get bogged down in beginning C# material. It has plenty of advanced material, if that is what you are looking for.



3. I sought and purchased this book for the purpose of moving to C# 2005 from 2003. I have an extensive library of language and class references, guides and detailed texts for .NET 1.1. Much of that information will, of course, serve me well with the newer language, so what I sought was a good, basic introduction to C# 2005 that covered the important differences in the base classes. This book seems to have been written exactly for me!
   
   Balena has an easy style of writing, also, that just seems to allow the information to jump right into your brain. There are other authors whose technical expertise is obvious to me, and whose books I regularly look to buy, but whose writing have quirks that can distract me at times. Balena is not such an author. Clearly, he knows how to make proper use of the IBrain.InputInformation(T info) method, rather than using the older, weakly-typed IBrain.InputInformation(object info) method. OK. Bad joke. But I hope you got my point!



4. Francesco Bakena is a well-known author, the book is good.
   The themes and the examples are clean. The same line as Visual Basic. I recommend.
   Manoel de Assis - Brazil - [...]
   
   Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005: The Base Class Library (Pro-Developer)



5. I have read a few programming books and I can honestly say that no single one has had more positive impact on my level of programming skill and knowledge than this one. Let me preface this by saying that this is not a beginner book. That is, if you have never programmed with C# before, this is not the book for you. However if you have just finished a "beginner" book and are looking for the next step, then I highly recommend this book for you. Whether you are planning on getting into ASP.Net development, WinForms, SOA, or even XNA, this book will provide you with a firm grasp of the language fundamentals that will make jumping into any or all of the above much easier. The book is broken down into several chapters, each one covering different key topics of the C# language such as basic data types (what is boxing? How does the compiler handle value types vs reference types and why should you care?), Generics, Serialization, Reflection, and COM Interop, just to name a few. Mr Balena also maintains an online blog at the Code Architects site and has even been kind enough to personally answer a few of my questions that I had about the topics covered in the book. I can't recommend this book more, it really did make the difference for me between being a C# enthusiast and a professional C# developer.

5 comments about Effective C#: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# (Effective Software Development Series).

1. First off, since writing my initial review, I find myself continually referring to this book. It has worn well. I wish I could change my rating from 3 to 4 stars. Unfortunately Amazon's review system doesn't allow that (only 3 stars for them!).
   
   While there are many books that teach the C# languague, this is the only book I've found that offers advice on how to effectively use the language once you know it. It is unique and therefore indispensible. It's a "must-read" for any serious C# programmer.
   
   The recommendations will help you understand C# so that you can write programs that are faster, more efficient, more maintainable, and easier to understand. Specific topics include things like value-types versus reference-types, "boxing" and "unboxing", minimizing garbage, the advantages of the operators "as" and "is" over casts, and so on.
   
   I believe the writing and explanations could be more clear and concise. I wish the editors had spent a little more time cleaning up the text. Also, A second edition that assumes C# 2.0 should be released, since some of the recommendations deal with shortcomings of C# 1.0 that have been fixed by C# 2.0. Also, I found a couple small errors. For example, "as" is not always faster than a cast-- in some cases they generate code that is exactly the same speed. However, that's a trifling point.
   
   I recommend this book.



2. Some of these glowing reviews are a bit misleading. Effective C# is a decent book, but not great. This book covers much of the same material as Jeffrey Richter's "CLR via C#", but in a different format and without the same amount of depth or clarity.
   
   Effective C# is not a bad book, and I probably would have given it 4 stars had I not read "CLR via C#". In short, pass on this one and get Richter's book.



3. I agree with those who say that Effective C# is not for beginners. Even experienced programmers should go elsewhere for an introduction to the language and the .NET environment. While other books might serve as a comprehensive textbook for learning the rudiments, this one offers some in-depth insights into how to build solutions that are elegant, efficient, reliable, and maintainable.
   
   I also agree with those who are disappointed in the poor editing. The book is riddled with typos, especially word spacing problems. Mostly, these are little more than a minor annoyance but they make the book a really poor example of publishing quality.
   
   "Software engineering" has been described as finding the best solution for a given problem where "programming" is merely a matter of developing something that works. That's what this book is all about. Sure, there are going to be times when you don't need to build the kind of quality into your code that the author advocates. The need to get something done quickly will often outweigh issues like whether you're really getting optimal performance, whether accepted OO principles are always being followed, or whether your employing the best of all possible solutions. But this book is about how build "industrial strength" classes that can be reused without breaking or creating undue heartburn for the poor slobs who have to rely on them.
   
   Like most programming books, lots of the information is conveyed in code examples. However, this is not the book you'll want if you're going to cut-and-paste somebody's sample program and hack it into your own working version. In fact, the code examples are so brief and simple that they often seem almost pointless at first glance. As you read the explanations, which are more punchy and to-the-point than they are eloquent, you begin to grasp the essence of the principle being explored. Personally, I feel there's room for improvement in Mr. Wagner's writing style, which can be a little too concise to be really illustrative, but he does get his message across.
   
   Possibly the book's greatest strength lies in the rationale given for the recommendations offered, as opposed to the recommendations themselves. The fifty items are more than a series of "best practices" to be blindly followed whether you understand them or not. Good programming is often a matter of choosing from a set of alternatives by weighing the value of each approach, assessing trade-offs, and making intelligent decisions. That's where this book can really help.
   
   Evidently, this book carries on a tradition of "Effective" books in that it consists of a series of relatively short articles, each of which illustrates some very focused aspect of how C# code is compiled, the nature of certain .NET Framework types, and/or how the CLR operates. I, for one, think a more conventional format, where the content is broken down into longer chapters that go into major concept areas in depth might have been a better way for Mr. Wagner to share his obviously thorough knowledge of the subject. At first glance, this book gives the impression of being a set of little hints and tricks, as opposed to the serious technical book it really is.



4. Excellent book. My only complaint -- where's the new edition for the new version(s) of the framework?



5. While C# is pretty easy to get up to speed with coming from a C/C++ background, the similarities can lead to costly blunders! .Net/C# is a "real" language and as such deserves the respect of any self-proclaimed professional. This book is a great resource for getting that first glimpse to advanced topics that every pro should strive for. It's an easy read and the format (recipe) lends itself very well to quick reading sessions that stick in your mind. Your coding style will invariably change for the best upon closing this book. Simply stated this book should be mandatory reading for anyone joining a .Net project but coming from a traditional language (C/C++).