Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns: With Examples in C# and .NET Review

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Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns: With Examples in C# and .NET ReviewI was surprised that this book slipped under my radar for almost 3 months. I've been on the lookout for just such a unifying tome of knowledge that relates patterns and domain-driven design (DDD) to a practical .NET example for quite some while. The book delivers well on its promises, significantly surpassing the only other real competitor, Foundations of Object-Oriented Programming Using .NET 2.0 Patterns. The pros and cons, as I see them, are outlined below:
PROS
* Combines the ideas of Domain Driven Design (Evans) with Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture (Fowler). These books are pretty much mandatory reading prior to diving into this book.
* Draws upon a myriad of other well-known sources, including materials from Refactoring to Patterns and the GoF, work from Johnson and Lowy, as well as a rare reference to Naked Objects. The more experienced and better read you are, the more this stuff will make sense.
* Rare .NET coverage of advanced concepts like Plain Old CLR Objects (POCOs), persistence ignorant (PI) objects, O/R mapping with NHibernate, Dependency Injection, Inversion of Control, and Aspect-Oriented Programming.
CONS
* While some sections are really insightful and could contain more interesting materials, other sections seem to drone on too long. The work on defining the NUnit tests, in particular, flows like a stream of consciousness and doesn't really add a lot of structured value to understanding DDD, patters, or TDD for that matter.
* Embedded comments in the text adopt from the style used in Framework Design Guidelines. It worked very well for Cwalina / Abrams in their book because it seemed planned in from the outset. Comments like "one reviewer commented on the code with the following, more succinct version" seem like editorial comments left in and not collaborative authoring by design.
All-in-all a very solid book that fills a unique market niche, leaving it pretty much without peers. If Amazon had a 4.5 starts rating, Applying DDD would get it. As a secondary reference book, it doesn't offer the earth shattering insights of some of the innovative source materials found in the Fowler Signature Series, for example. It does, however, weave together an interesting example of how to tie all of these concepts together for the .NET architect looking to take their understanding to the next level.Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns: With Examples in C# and .NET OverviewApplying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns is the first complete, practical guide to leveraging patterns, domain-driven design, and test-driven development in .NET environments. Drawing on seminal work by Martin Fowler and Eric Evans, Jimmy Nilsson shows how to customize real-world architectures for any .NET application. You'll learn how to prepare domain models for application infrastructure; support business rules; provide persistence support; plan for the presentation layer and UI testing; and design for service orientation or aspect orientation. Nilsson illuminates each principle with clear, well-annotated code examples based on C# 2.0, .NET 2.0, and SQL Server 2005. His examples will be valuable both to C# developers and those working with other .NET languages and databases -- or even with other platforms, such as J2EE.

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Practical C# Charts and Graphics Review

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Practical C# Charts and Graphics ReviewThis is, by far, the best C# graphics book I've read, and in this case, really used. Working code is the basis of the book, and this code is accompanied by excellent explanations. All the code in the book is available online. I'm using the book in graphics projects both at work and at school, and I'm delighted to see well-explained working code rather than rehashes of Help. It is rare to find such a practical, useful book. Many thanks to Dr. Xu.Practical C# Charts and Graphics Overview

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Professional Test Driven Development with C#: Developing Real World Applications with TDD (Wrox Professional Guides) Review

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Professional Test Driven Development with C#: Developing Real World Applications with TDD (Wrox Professional Guides) ReviewThis book may not be helpful for Architect and other highly experienced Developers. However, for others, this books is great. It basically teaches you how to be a good developer and write good code. Its text is clear, concise and practical to the tooth. You see how to shows you step-by-step on how to program the right way and does a great job at it.As regards to the content, this book shows you how to use Test driven development in a real applications as opposed to showing you just theory or just lingering on principles. It also covers supporting topics like mocks and Object oriented development principles. It is one of the best development books I have read and I highly recommend it. I hope the authors comes out with more books.Professional Test Driven Development with C#: Developing Real World Applications with TDD (Wrox Professional Guides) Overview

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Accelerated C# 2010 Review

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Accelerated C# 2010 ReviewThis book was "Accelerated" to the market to capture market share of developers needing C# 4.0 information before the really good C# books are released. It is obvious that this was based on the old C# 3.0 stuff but some scant 4.0 stuff and a title were given to it in a hurry. The book is poorly written and disorganized and inconsistent. Some important types and topics don't even have an example code of how they are used. The typography is congested and hard to read. If you really want a good C# 4.0 book in a hurry buy the "C# 4.0 in a Nutshell". Otherwise wait for better C# authors to have their updates. This was a total waste of time for me and I'll be returning it.Accelerated C# 2010 Overview

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Illustrated C# 2010 (Expert's Voice in .NET) Review

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Illustrated C# 2010 (Expert's Voice in .NET) ReviewOver the past 10 years, C# has evolved into a rather complex computer language. C# is the de facto language for developing applications for .NET environment. As .NET platform evolves, so does C#. (It is statically type, object oriented based language, and yet supports dynamically type, generic, and some functional programming style.) To learn to use C# properly requires efforts and good text book. Illustrated C# 2010 is one of the few good books for the subject on the market right now. However, the book does not teach basic programming, nor does it teach windows GUI programming. It's strictly for teaching how to write programs in the latest version of C#. The author assumes readers have had some programming experience. Because of the book's format, it's also an excellent C# 4 reference for professional programers. It's in the same category of book as "C# 4 in a NutShell." But illustrated C# 2010 is way much easier to comprehend than the NutShell book due to author's writing stype. Each topic is covered thorougly first by simple, to the point and easy to understand short paragraph with well illustrated figures and diagrams, then a short (less than half a page) of complete C# example is given with output. The book also has a very detail table of content and useful index; it is essential to locate topic quickly.
The books covers following topics:
Namespace, assembly, Classes, Structs, dynamic, inheritance, methods, expressions, statements, operators, boxing, unboxing, enumerations, iterators, exceptions, interfaces, delegates, events, type conversions, arrays, generics, lambda expression, linq, reflection, attributes, covariance, contra-variance, Task Paralell library, and more.
The book is a joy to read and learn from. It's highly recommended.Illustrated C# 2010 (Expert's Voice in .NET) Overview
This book presents the C# language in a uniquely succinct and visual format. Often in programming books, the information can be hidden in a vast sea of words. As a programmer who has over the years used a dozen programming languages, the author understands it cansometimes bedifficult to slog through another 1,000-page book of dense text to learn a new language. There are likelymany other programmers who feel the same way. To address this situation, this bookexplains C# using figures; short, focused code samples; and clear, concise explanations. Figures are of prime importance in this book. Whileteaching programming seminars, Daniel Solisfound that hecould almost watch the lightbulbs going on over the students' heads as hedrew the figures on the whiteboard. In this text, he hasdistilled each important concept into simple but accurate illustrations. The visual presentation of the content will give you an understanding of C# that's not possible with text alone. For something as intricate and precise as a programming language, however, there must be text as well as figures. But rather than long, wordy explanations, Solis hasused short, concise descriptions and bulleted lists to make each important piece of information visually distinct. By the end of this book, you'll have a thorough working knowledge of all aspects of the C# language, whether you're a novice programmer or a seasoned veteran of other languages. If you want a long, leisurely, verbose explanation of the language, this is not the book for you. But if you want a concise, thorough, visual presentation of C#, this is just what you're looking for.

What you'll learn
Details of the C# 2010 language presented in a clear, concise treatment
New features in the latest version of .NET, in the author's unique visual style
How C# differs from and is similar to other programming languages, aiding migrating C++ and VB programmers who already know how languages work

Who this book is for

Visual Basic programmers interested in moving to C#
C++ programmers interested in moving to C#
Novice programmers interested in learning C#
Students in introductory programming classes learning C#


Table of Contents
C# and the .NET Framework
Overview of C# Programming
Types, Storage and Variables
Classes: The Basics
Methods
More about Classes
Classes and Inheritance
Expressions and Operators
Statements
Namespaces and Assemblies
Exceptions
Structs
Enumerations
Arrays
Delegates
Events
Interfaces
Conversions
Generics
Enumerators and Iterators
Introduction to LINQ
Introduction to Asynchronous Programming
Preprocessor Directives
Reflection and Attributes
Other Topics


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Effective C#: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# Review

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Effective C#: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# ReviewFULL DISCLOSURE: I know Bill Wagner pretty well, and consider him a friend. I don't think that has colored this review, but you have a right to know. (If you doubt my objectivity, consider that I have now purchased TWO copies of this book, even though I probably could have gotten one or two for free. It's worth it!)
Back when I was a C++ programmer, there was one book everyone said I simply had to read: Effective C++ by Scott Meyers. And they were right: when I read that book, I summarized it as "Here are 50 mistakes you're making in your C++ code right now, and you don't even know it." (Note: the latest edition has been expanded to 55 mistakes.) So now that I'm a C# programmer, I eagerly looked forward to Effective C# (edited by Meyers), because I wanted that same sort of "Aha!" enlightenment.
Well, Bill Wagner failed to deliver that enlightenment. But that's a good thing, actually, and something he couldn't help. But to understand why, we have to return to Scott Meyers.
After the 50 amazingly simple improvements in Effective C++, Meyers wrote More Effective C++; and I characterized that book as, "35 really deep subjects that you have to think about and understand. Some of them will apply to your work. Some of them won't. None of them will be easy. But you really have to think about them." See, Meyers covered all the simple, universal problems in his first book, making it darned hard to make any simple, obvious C++ mistakes. That meant his second book had to cover deeper design concerns, many of which apply only in particular circumstances.
And herein lies the difference for Wagner's book. See, a generation of C++ programmers learned and internalized Meyers's lessons -- including the Microsoft team who created the C# language. When they built their C++-inspired (and Java-inspired) language, they built in a lot of the safeguards and limits that Meyers advocated as a standard practice for C++. They also built in best practices from other sources. So it's my contention that the C# equivalent to Effective C++ can't really be written. The language won't allow it.
So what Wagner has written really falls somewhere between Effective C++ and More Effective C++. There are some simple "Aha!" tips; but there are a lot more deep design concerns. That's really what the C# programmer needs, after all; and that's what Wagner delivers in a very fine fashion.
Now Wagner can explain these topics better than I can, so I'm not going to try. But I do want to comment on the items I found most useful:
5. Always provide ToString(). Your maintenance and client coders will thank you.
15. Utilize using and try/finally for Resource Cleanup. And 18. Implement the Standard Dispose Pattern. .NET pretty much solves memory leaks; but memory is only the most commonly leaked resource. And in solving memory leaks, they made it harder to manage certain other resources. In these two items, Wagner shows how to do the best job you can.
I wish I could say I was following every tip in this book; but it's hard to break bad habits. Read this book before you form bad habits yourself.
Note that the original printing of this book had a lot of typos where words rantogether. I now have a copy of the second printing, where those all seem to be fixed.
Effective C#: 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# Overview

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Stephens' C# Programming with Visual Studio 2010 24-Hour Trainer (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

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Stephens' C# Programming with Visual Studio 2010 24-Hour Trainer (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) ReviewThis is not the only book I bought to learn C#, but after a lot of searching, it's the one I believed could get me "up and running" in minimum time. After a few days with Rod's book and DVD combo, I'm more convinced than ever it's "that good" if you are just getting started with Visual C#. And don't let the title fool you--there is a lot of breadth in the book and sufficient depth to keep you occupied, even while Stephens makes the learning enjoyable.
I'm fairly experienced with the Visual Basic product line (through VB6) and initially intended to move to .NET programming with Visual Basic 2008. Yet, for a number of reasons (mainly to rewrite a commercial application) I decided to learn C# instead. I do not write programs for a living, however, and I'm largely self-taught (OK, one class in college--FORTRAN--which I hated and swore would be the last of my life. It was!).
Rod's book is perfect for me and a lot of others, I believe, who 1.) think learning a language isn't necessarily linear--that is, start at the "beginning" and study each topic in turn until you become fluent and 2.) want to start being productive right away and 3.) don't want to be buried by minutae before understanding basic concepts. He deftly avoids these potential pitfalls quite nicely.
The book is very well organized and cross-referenced which makes study and review very straightforward. Stephens has a great feel for knowing what you need and when, and often anticipates where the questions will come from before you think to ask. Rod explains patiently but compactly--a fluid style that carries through the entire way. He really is a master trainer that teaches "at your desk" versus from a lecturn--and I think you'll like that approach a lot. I certainly do.
Predictably, the book begins by familiarizing you with the programming environment (i.e., the tool you'll use to write programs) but it's an important section and offers solid advice on using the Visual Studio framework. You'll want to refer back to it well after the rest of the book is familiar.
He then explains how to get the "visual" part of your program going--things like using fundamental controls (text boxes, buttons, etc.) and menus. From there, you move on to incorporating calculations and logic--backbones of virtually every program.
The next sections cover Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and do a lot to de-mystify its nature and implementation. Classes are covered in detail with concept descriptions of things like "encapsulation, inheritence, and polymorphism" , amongst others, as well as getting on to the nuts and bolts: properties; methods; raising events; and structures. A host of related ideas are also fleshed out like, collections; arrays; interfaces; overloading plus a whole lot more.
Following that are chapters with popular topics (graphics, databases, LINQ, files, WPF and more) that, while relatively introductory, will still allow you to write non-trivial code. They are largely independently so if there is something you want to find out about, you can easily jump in and out in whatever sequence suits you. Best of all, after completing a chapter, you'll know enough to ask meaningful questions and begin to explore beyond the book if there's something you need to know more about.
Two things really make Stephens' package unique but without a hint of gimmick: the DVD material; and the "Try It" and "Exercise" sections. The DVD, because it's so handy, might tempt you to focus on the videos at the expense of the book, at least to start....
While I think that's 'OK' when you're poking around, once you get serious, you'll realize that the book chapters and the videos go hand-in-hand. I suspect this is particularly true if you're new to programming. Even still, the videos don't cover everything in the book (though, as an aside, there are a few things mentioned in the videos that the book doesn't address.) The videos are well-paced but move right along. Of course, you can watch as often as you like and pause or rewind as needed.
Beyond that, there is simply no substitute for rolling up your sleeves and trying to practice what you've been learning about. The book accommodates that by providing directed study which guides your efforts and provides reasonable challenges. I think you'll find that to be a significant benefit! And how about this--you can email Rod, download source code used in the book and access blogs and forums about C#. The book is really a gateway to a great set of resources!
The only nits I have are small ones...
First, the narrative on the DVDs, while perfectly audible, appears to be the "raw" recording with no post-processing to filter out the occasional background noise. I was a bit surprised by this initially, but soon paid no attention to it.
Second, you might have to play around with your computer monitor's display resolution settings to optimize the video. (I settled on 1024x768 which seemed to work best for me.)
Lastly, and this really can't be considered a nit, Rod's book won't be the last if you want to really dig into all of C#'s nooks and crannies. You'll be able to do a lot with it (really), just not everything. But it will give you a fantastic and reasonably comprehensive start, even if you are new to programming--I'm sure of it.
One final thought--be prepared to highlight, write notes to yourself in the margins, flip-back and forth, review and the rest of the things needed to become a programmer. Some things never change, even if Stephens has made it a whole lot simpler and more fun. Highly, highly recommended!Stephens' C# Programming with Visual Studio 2010 24-Hour Trainer (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Overview

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C# Primer Plus Review

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C# Primer Plus ReviewAs the title suggests, this book focuses almost entirely on the C# language stopping only briefly to explain key elements of the Common Language Runtime (CLR) and by extension the Common Type System (CTS).
Where this book differs from many of the other titles out there is that it doesn't attempt to walk the reader through the .NET Framework at the same time. At the moment there are a number of books on the market that proclaim to teach C# but use it only as a tool to explore the framework.
The target audience for C# Primer Plus is hard to classify; the book provides depth coverage of the C# language constructs and important parts of the CLR, yet this detail is punctuated by practical examples and discussion which should have the programming novice up to speed in no time.
Much of the first two chapters are devoted to explaining introductory programming subjects such as Object-Orientated Programming, the value of design in the development process and conventional computing models. In my opinion, this is still valuable to even the most senior programmer as sometimes we forget the fundamentals of our trade.
What really makes this book stand out is the widespread and strategic use of diagrams to provide visual context. Further, the book provides ample practical examples for all the material it covers. Klaus has an exceptional writing style which sadly only a few percent of the authors out there possess.
In many ways this book reminds me of some of the older C++ books which focused key programming concepts and the core of the language and left discussion of the various libraries for the reference materials.
It would be a real shame to see senior programmers overlook this title because of some of its novice material. It heartily recommend it as usable language reference for the experienced programmer and an educational tool for those just starting out.
C# Primer Plus has earned a place on my bookshelf and I recommend it to those who want a quality language reference with good supporting material. Because of its introductory material it is also ideal as a educational tool.C# Primer Plus Overview

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Real World Functional Programming: With Examples in F# and C# Review

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Real World Functional Programming: With Examples in F# and C# ReviewA hallmark of this book is a very pragmatic, Rosetta stone approach to F#.
Since F# lives in .Net, and .Net is inherently object-oriented; it makes sense to understand something of the mapping that takes place behind the scenes when F# code is mapped into the .Net world.
Many of the interesting new features introduced into C# are actually hand-me-downs from FP (functional programming). This includes generics, LINQ, anonymous methods, lambdas, type inference, etc.. Since many programmers need to use C# in the work-a-day world, it makes sense to understand the functional elements of C# by seeing them in a functional language like F#, where they can be seen in their purest (least hobbled) state. Once these concepts are understood, it is then much easier to understand how to wield these tools effectively in C#.
That said, there are also limits to how much functional programming can be done in C# (and how effectively it can be accomplished). This book clearly demarcates the boundaries of what is (and isn't) feasible in C# vis-à-vis functional programming.
One of the things I liked best about this book is the discussion on why functional programming makes code easier to read, write, and verify. This discussion does not appeal to what might be (for many) inaccessible theory (i.e. denotational semantics, category theory, etc.). Instead it is demonstrated in amazingly simple, straightforward ways! This discussion is very effective.
Another facet of this book's approach that I applaud is the demonstration of lambda calculus. Why would a practical book dabble in theory? There's actually a very pragmatic payoff in doing this: functional programming has a lot of underpinnings in lambda calculus. Those that have been exposed to lambda calculus will feel right at home in F#. Those that haven't are likely to feel more "culture shock" when being exposed to concepts like currying and lazy evaluation. Functional programming really does represent a substantially different way of thinking about computation.
This book also features an excellent discussion about design patterns; comparing and contrasting how they are implemented in OOP (object-oriented programming) versus FP. Some classic design patterns in OOP essentially comes for free in FP (e.g. the "visitor" pattern).Real World Functional Programming: With Examples in F# and C# Overview

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Mastering C# Database Programming Review

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Mastering C# Database Programming ReviewThe book has a tutorial style with tons of screenshots. It works through examples step by step with lots of code and not much exposition. If you want an on-rails guided tour to the .NET database APIs with C#, this book is for you. For me I would rather go with an introductory style which gives an overview of an entire API. An example is the chapter three section on SQL, which is thirty pages long. It only veers off the rails twice, once to talk about less than, greater than, equals to, etc. and another time to talk about and, not and or. The chapter spends only half a page on insert, delete and update. If you wanted to learn SQL from scratch you couldn't do it from this chapter, and if you already knew SQL, you would skip this chapter. So I'm not sure what the purpose is.
Conclusion, if you like "on-the-rails" tutorials and you want to learn .NET database programming that way, this book is for you.Mastering C# Database Programming Overview

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Illustrated C# 2008 (Expert's Voice in .NET) Review

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Illustrated C# 2008 (Expert's Voice in .NET) ReviewThis book is for programmers not individuals new to programming. This book covers C# 2008 pretty well in terms of explaining C# constructs such as how to write a class and explaining all the nuances of it. However, very little to no explanation is given for why you would want to use whatever the author is explaining--the big picture is pretty much missing. This book will work best for someone that already has a basic understanding of the .NET framework and programming and just wants to get up-to-date on C# 2008.

So, why should you read this book?
1) There is a plethora of examples and they all work. I don't think I have ever seen more sample code.
2) This is a deeply object oriented approach to C#, as it should be.
3) You are a programmer and want to get up-to-date on C# 2008--you are not looking to learn how to program.
4) The functional explanations of C# constructs are clear and complete. Hey, the guy has a degree in English and it shows.
5) The book is not terribly long. You will be able to finish it in a reasonable amount of time (726 pages).
6) I found many illustrations useful even though a few seemed redundant.
7) The author's treatment of LINQ was done very well and clearly.
8) Once having read the book and worked the examples you will have solid C# 2008 skills and be ready to extend your knowledge with other books and training materials.
9) It is fun and mostly easy to read.
Okay then what's not to like?
1) My biggest criticism is for the most part there is no discussion of how or why you would apply a particular C# construct being taught. For example, if you were learning to use an auto mechanic's tools you would learn how to use a box wrench, an open end wrench and an adjustable wrench but no idea of why you would choose one wrench over another for a particular task.
2) Inner Exceptions were not covered in the chapter on exceptions.
3) While almost all explanations of C# constructs were done well I felt events in Chapter 16 needed to be reworked--it just wasn't that clear.
4) No treatment of ADO.NET
5) No treatment of XML
Illustrated C# 2008 (Expert's Voice in .NET) OverviewC# is the most influential language on the .NET platform. As Microsoft's preferred language it has established a solid user base over recent versions and is drawing in developers from older technologies at an ever increasing rate.This book caters to that migrating audience. Developers already familiar with the basic concepts of a programming language (any programming language) often find the traditional compendium-based ‘beginner's guides' heavy and difficult to read as they spend a lot of time explaining concepts the reader already understands from their previous technology.Illustrated C# is an antidote to this. It packs the essentials of the C# language into just 600 pages, using an array of visual styles to provide a clear, fast, reference to the core of the technology. It's a book migrating developers can read in a day and grasp enough of the language to find their feet and move confidently onto the .NET platform.

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TCP/IP Sockets in C#: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) Review

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TCP/IP Sockets in C#: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) ReviewI loved this book!
I bought this book not knowing anything about sockets. All I knew was that I had to use them for my next project. I bought this book, and within 2 weeks time had developed a full-scale proof-of-concept, distributed, client-server type application communicating over TCP/IP and using UDP for multicasting.
The examples are concise and practical, including examples of data framing/parsing and how to deal with different wire formats (big/little endian).
This book is a must-have for any serious C# programmer.TCP/IP Sockets in C#: Practical Guide for Programmers (The Practical Guides) Overview

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2010: A Beginner's Guide Review

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2010: A Beginner's Guide ReviewOne may wonder how anyone could write a decent introductory book to Visual Studio and related programming, do it just over 400 pages with decent sized type and screenshots, and still cover a little bit of everything from Asp.Net to MVC to WPF. This book successfully manages that task quite well.
The first four chapters get you up to speed on finding your way around visual studio enough to get a project started. It also includes brief tutorial on programming in both Visual Basic and C#. If you have programmed in other languages, or you are just starting programming, this will give you just enough knowledge to get started inside Visual Studio.. It covers program structure, some language syntax, and how to best use the Visual Studio make programming tasks easier.
The next three chapters cover creating projects, debugging, and accessing data. While whole books can be written on these subjects, Joe manages to hit the useful high points. Since much time can be spend debugging, understanding the debugging tools is essential for developers new to Visual Studio. Many hours of debugging can be saved by using the built in tools. He explains breakpoints and the useful debugging windows, and give a great walkthrough of using these concepts to track down a bug in a program with bugs.
The next part covers web and windows applications using ASP.NET MVC, Silverlight, WPF, and web services.. Again, whole books are written on these subjects. This book works through just enough information to understand how to use each topic, and a sample program for each to illustrate the concept. I, knowing very little about MVC, built the example in the chapter, and found how easy it was to learn.
Finally, enhancing and extending Visual Studio 2010 is covered. Templates, snippets and macro are covered as well as project add-ins.
Overall, I found the book well written, organized, and easy to use. Topics are introduced in a logical order. It is best to read the first seven chapters, and then after that, the chapters you are interested in. If you are interested in web, you can skip the WPF chapter and vice versa. This book is a must have for the entry level developer with little or no experience with Visual Studio. If you are a career developer with little or no Visual Studio experience, this book is a great introduction.
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Essential C# 4.0 (3rd Edition) (Microsoft .NET Development Series) Review

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Essential C# 4.0 (3rd Edition) (Microsoft .NET Development Series) ReviewThis is an excellent book about C# the language. Please read that again, as I can see a lot of people mistake what this book is - it is NOT a book about .Net (although it definitely is related to that) or about any specific frameworks that _use_ C#, such as WPF or ASP.Net or anything like that. It's a book about the C# language itself. And assuming that's what you want, it's a really well done book. It also clearly points out what C# features are in/from the different versions of C# much, much better than any other book I've ever seen.
I'm not going to give an overview of the chapters, as you can already see what those are in the information section above. The coverage of every topic is very thorough, and the writing and sample code are both of high quality. If I had to complain about something here, it would be that some things which seem like "advanced" topics aren't marked as such all the time, while others are.
This book is a great reference, but you'll probably want it along with another book about something you want to _do_ with C#. You can use that other book (about WPF or ASP or whatever) to guide you along what you want to do and then use this one as a guide to C#. If you're new to C# or moving over from other languages (as I am), then you might want to read this first (yes, this is a long read, but it's worth it), then go to the other book, and only consult this one again when needed.
Oh, one last note. This book actually mentions MONO much more than other books like it, which is a nice touch.Essential C# 4.0 (3rd Edition) (Microsoft .NET Development Series) OverviewEssential C# 4.0 is a well-organized,"no-fluff" guide to all versions of C# for programmers at all levels of C# experience. This fully updated edition shows how to make the most of C# 4.0's new features and programming patterns to write code that is simple, yet powerful.This edition contains two new chapters on parallel programming, multi­threading, and concurrency, as well as extensive coverage of new C# 4.0 features: dynamic typing, variance, optional/named parameters, and many other new topics. Mark Michaelis covers the C# language in depth, illustrating key constructs with succinct, downloadable code examples. Graphical "mind maps" at the beginning of each chapter show what material is covered and how individual topics interrelate. Topics intended for beginners and advanced readers are clearly marked, and the book includes indexes of C# versions (2.0, 3.0, and 4.0), which make it easy for readers to reference topics specific to a given release of C#. Following an introduction to C#, readers learn aboutBest practices for object-oriented programming in C#

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Effective C# (Covers C# 4.0): 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# (2nd Edition) (Effective Software Development Series) Review

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Effective C# (Covers C# 4.0): 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# (2nd Edition) (Effective Software Development Series) ReviewI have both editions of "Effective C#". The older, first edition did not have lambda expressions, LINQ, or generics (though it hinted at generics towards the end). In the second edition, tips (called "Items") that have since fallen out of practice are weeded out and are replaced with fresh concepts from .NET 2.0, through 4.0.
The items are written in a very clear manner. Most of the figures are illustrative of the concepts. Some of the pictures aren't quite as clear as they could be (.NET's Garbage Collector sticks out in my mind - Bill! read some Tufte! :) but for the most part, each item gave a firm understanding. I could read the first and last paragraph of each item to get a clear bird's eye explanation. Later, I would pore over the details with a highlighter and come away enlightened.
This book has a sister - "More Effective C#". This was released PRIOR to "Effective C# - Second Edition". I own that copy too, and it's dog-eared by now. The two books go together like peas and carrots, though "More Effective C#" touches on more advanced .NET 3.0 concepts. "More Effective C#"'s treatment of "yield return", dependency injection, and composition in the third chapter alone are inspiring.
If you really want to go all out, I'd recommend getting "C# in Depth" by John Skeet. There's a new edition coming out in the summer of 2010. Skeet's book will bring the reader up to speed on the advancements of C# in .NET 3.0 (and soon 4.0) without giving them any specific tips. The "Effective C#" series will give the reader specific tips without bringing anybody up to speed.
Also, the author is a cool guy. I emailed him back in 2009 with questions about the first edition and he brought me up to speed by responding on his blog. You are encouraged to give him feedback.
I consider "Effective C#" as one of the first books I reach when I want to brush up on my skill set.Effective C# (Covers C# 4.0): 50 Specific Ways to Improve Your C# (2nd Edition) (Effective Software Development Series) Overview

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Accelerated C# 2008 Review

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Accelerated C# 2008 ReviewI bought this book last Wednesday and figured it would be a decent enough overview of the new language features. I don't want to downplay the job he does covering new langauge features becuase that coverage is superb, but the job he does covering C# fundamentals is so well done that it eclipses everything else.
So it's a great book for beginners? Well, probably not. I think beginners would benefit by it but it's not a beginners book by any mean. What I do mean is that he does a really in depth job of covering just about every aspect of C# so that he can show the benefits of the new features as well. I've read over 100 books on .NET in the 7 years I've been working with it and frequently the Go to guy when it comes to exception handling for instance. So I really wasn't expecting to learn anything new here. But stylistically, the points he raises in showing how one could elegantly handle a Transaction rollback scenario is just really brilliant. And that same brilliance is exemplified throughout the book.
To that end, the examples in this book are it's real strength. As someone who's written a few books myself, I know how tempting it can be to come up with really simple and overused examples b/c basics aren't much fun to write about. Trey however totally resisted that temptation and I for the life of me can't see a single area that looks like he just 'wanted to get it done'. Everything is seemingly well thought out and written in a way that can clearly make his point clear. He also harkens back to C++ and the fact he has a ton of C++ experience shows through everywhere.It has a feel to it reminiscent of my senior computer science textbooks but without the stuffiness and without coming off as academic. On the contrary, it's the whole aire of advance business scenarios that makes it so cool
Now on to the new language features. I've read several books on LINQ and Lambda expressions. And while they are all great, his explanation of Lambda exprssions and the walk down Functional Programming memory lane is priceless. Had I read this book early on, the nuances of Lambda expressions would have been a lot easier to understand. His coverage of LINQ is in depth as well but he manages to really keep on track and show the business aspects of LINQ without every going down the path of sounding like a 'cool new feature cheerleader'.
I'll admit I have a pretty strong like of Apress books and have a pretty high expectation with their stuff. When I read Faison's Event-Based Programming : Taking Events to the Limit - I found it to be one of the most compelling and well done books I had read in ages. Internally, I thought it would be a longgg time before I came across a book anywhere near that good. Well, all I can really say is that Trey Nash proved me quite wrong. He exceeded any expectation I had by tenfold and got a lot out of this book - not just in C# terms but across the board.Accelerated C# 2008 Overview

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Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# Review

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Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# ReviewFirst, this book is well written and presents information in a constructive manner. It is well thought out, and is not just another C#/OOP/XP book.
Now for the bad news. One unnecessary oversight is the use of casts and "object" in some examples. Any author writing any C# book since 2005 must know that these idioms should no longer be encouraged. It is unacceptable for a book published in February 2007 to possess this flaw.
Generics, used in moderation, result in cleaner code that is also type-safe, and usually performs better due to the absence of boxing/unboxing. The authors should consider posting alternative examples that favor Generic types and collections on their errata web page. If you purchase this book, you would be well-advised to review the examples with a bias against the use of casts and the word "object".
To be entirely frank, I don't see how other reviewers can justify a five star rating.Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# Overview
With the award-winning book Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns, and Practices, Robert C. Martin helped bring Agile principles to tens of thousands of Java and C++ programmers. Now .NET programmers have a definitive guide to agile methods with this completely updated volume from Robert C. Martin and Micah Martin, Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C#.

This book presents a series of case studies illustrating the fundamentals of Agile development and Agile design, and moves quickly from UML models to real C# code. The introductory chapters lay out the basics of the agile movement, while the later chapters show proven techniques in action. The book includes many source code examples that are also available for download from the authors' Web site.

Readers will come away from this book understanding

Agile principles, and the fourteen practices of Extreme Programming
Spiking, splitting, velocity, and planning iterations and releases
Test-driven development, test-first design, and acceptance testing
Refactoring with unit testing
Pair programming
Agile design and design smells
The five types of UML diagrams and how to use them effectively
Object-oriented package design and design patterns
How to put all of it together for a real-world project

Whether you are a C# programmer or a Visual Basic or Java programmer learning C#, a software development manager, or a business analyst, Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# is the first book you should read to understand agile software and how it applies to programming in the .NET Framework.


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Functional Programming in C#: Classic Programming Techniques for Modern Projects (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Review

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Functional Programming in C#: Classic Programming Techniques for Modern Projects (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) ReviewThe author has done a tremendous job is picking out the key areas where functional programming suits well in C# programming, I liked the chapters on generics, iterators, closures. could have been better with a more organised flow and more practical examples, but reading this along with "C# in Depth" by Jon Skeet makes you a better programmer.Functional Programming in C#: Classic Programming Techniques for Modern Projects (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) Overview

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Learn to Program with C# Review

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Learn to Program with C# ReviewI have yet to see a beginner's book on C# that even comes close to this one. It is amazing how hundreds of C# books out there misses a critical point that the reader may not understand the material very well unless it is explained in easy detail. This book does not miss its easy details.
I have intermediate skillset in C# and I still found this book helpful because it provides a refreshing perspective on the fundamentals of C# programming. The book does not merely focus on how to program, but on what circumstances one should use certain features. This is something not every C# book will offer.
If you read this book and still can't understand the basic of C#, then programming is not for you.Learn to Program with C# Overview

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C# 4.0 How-To Review

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C# 4.0 How-To ReviewThis book's title does not quite match its content but the book's introduction does indicate this. This is primarily a very good book of code and code algorithms in the .NET framework using C#. That being said the book does cover the changes made to the .NET 4.0 framework and to C# 4.0.
The code is very well written--it is beautiful well structured communicative code. The code in the book is sparsely commented; it is so well-written that few comments are needed. As I have said, in many ways the book is a book of code algorithms, for example, in chapter 5 Convert Between Number Bases, Convert a Number to Bytes, Determine if an Integer is Even, Determine if a Number is Prime, Count the Number of 1 Bits etc. All these code examples are useful algorithms but have nothing to do with .NET Framework 4.0 or C# 4.0 per se.
Despite what the Introduction says this is decidedly not a book for beginners. While they may be able to find useful algorithms here and there the content of the book is way too terse for a beginner to follow and they should turn to other books for a more complete introduction to C#. Chapter 8 on regular expressions will only be useful to programmers that already have the basics of regular expressions well-understood otherwise even the first few code examples will leave them scratching their heads. This book does not do any hand-holding but rather shows you in very practical ways how to use the C# language and the .NET framework.
I loved the code examples using dynamic types as this was the best example I have yet seen of using them in a practical straight-forward way. The code is the book is not just useful and terse but it is also elegant. For example, the ternary operator is used multiple times in the CompressFile project in Chapter 11 producing really elegant concise and clear code.
The book, not the down-loadable code, has a few errors and code bugs but very few, for example:
Pg 16 code won't compile since _x is private and therefore not accessible to the derived class
Pg 17 line Console.WriteLine(d.MyProperty().ToString()); wont compile
Pg 17 code wont compile, class Derived not inheriting from Base class--missing : base
DoSomething method in class Derived needs to be marked override not virtual to eliminate compiler warning
Pg 65 example code given says, "Because ArgumentNullException is a type of ArgumentException, and ArgumentException is first in the catch list, it will be called." This is not true as the compiler is smart enough to recognize the problem and results in a compiler error and therefore the code will not even run.
I recommend this book for intermediate and advanced developers. Read the book and study the code examples and you will:
1) Learn the .NET Framework 4.0
2) Learn C# 4.0
3) Add to your inventory of useful code algorithms
4) Improve your written code by reading and studying the elegant code in this book.C# 4.0 How-To Overview

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