Essential C# 2.0 by Mark Michaelis

[Book Review Team]

<pre>Author/s : Mark Michaelis
Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
Category : C# and .NET
Review by : Jeanne Boyarsky
Rating : 10 horseshoes</pre>
"Essential C#" does for C# what Deitel did for Java. It's great book to learn C# from the ground up or for experienced developers. I was a bit skeptical of the claim that the book is for everyone -- beginners, experienced developers, structured programmers, C/C++/Java developers and C# professionals. However, through a combination of sidebars and text that makes sense on different levels, the author managed to achieve this lofty goal.

This truly is a book for developers. It includes refactoring and other best practices. I especially liked the part on well-formed types and how to properly implement equals. There is a strong emphasis on the language itself, which is great. The first mention of Windows Forms is almost page 600. A nice contrast to those book that teach the language solely through visual editors. The author also gives equal time to the .NET and Mono implementations.

The back cover states the book is "clear and concise." Weighing in at 700 pages, the book does manage to stay true to this claim. Code examples are short and focused. I only found one over a page long. Descriptions are clear, accurate and easy to follow. I strongly recommend this book to any considering working with C#. t really is "Essential" !


More info at Amazon.com
More info at Amazon.co.uk

[Khaled Mahmoud]

Very strange to see feedback about C# books in Java Forum

[Theodore Casser]

Originally posted by Khaled Mahmoud:
Very strange to see feedback about C# books in Java Forum

And while I agree, I have to admit that the review is quite accurate - it's right on topic and has been a great help so far while I'm working on a C# project. (And it's not so strange when you realize that many programmers on here are developing for multiple software languages... )

[Jeanne Boyarsky]

Originally posted by Theodore Casser:
And while I agree, I have to admit that the review is quite accurate - it's right on topic and has been a great help so far while I'm working on a C# project.

Thanks Theodore!

Khaled: It was written by a Java developer (me), so you can say it evaluates how the book would be for this audience.