Beginning Visual C# 2005 Express Edition: From Novice to Professional

Being a programmer for many years, this is one of the good books, which I would recommend a novice programmer to start of with. I also see it as a C# transition platform for C/C++ programmers. I like Peter Wright's "down to earth" and personal approach guiding the readers. A good book to have for beginners and intermediates.

With the advent of the "Express" addition of Microsoft's Visual Studio tools, it doesn't take a small fortune to start learning their environment. In fact, it doesn't cost you a dime. They're free. Peter Wright takes advantage of that fact in his book Beginning Visual C# 2005 Express Edition: From Novice to Professional. It's a good book, but I think I would have titled it somewhat differently... Contents: Welcome to C# Express; The Basics of C#; Working with Variables; Classes and Object Orientation in C#; More-Advanced Object Orientation; Handling Exceptions; How C# Express Helps You Code; Building Windows Applications; Windows and Dialogs; Lists; Menus and Toolbars; Delegates - Events Internals; Lists and Generics; Files and Streams; Working with XML; Database Programming; The Internet and C# Express; Threading; Where to Now?; Index You can pretty much view this as a tutorial to the C# language... how it's structured, how it works, and what you can do with it. The "Express Edition" part comes into play in terms of what IDE he uses to teach you the language... Visual C# 2005 Express Edition. Being that you can download it free from Microsoft (it's even on the CD included in the book), you don't have to plunk down a wad of cash to get into the game. In fact, the Express Edition of the software does most of what you'd need for personal projects and programs. I wouldn't want to try and run an IT department on it, as the features for the "real" version of Visual Studio address that market. But Wright uses this great option to get you familiar with the world of .NET and C# in particular. There are plenty of screen shots and code examples to work from, so there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to ground yourself in the fundamentals here. In the opening, I mentioned that I thought I would have tried a different title. The one that was used makes the book sound as if it's a tutorial on how to use Visual C# 2005 Express Edition as your IDE. Instead, it's really how to program in C# using the Express Edition IDE. It may sound like a minor point, but it might throw a few buyers. If I already knew C# and wanted a book on the IDE, the title here would lead me in the wrong direction... Even with that minor quibble, it's still a good approach to start down the C# path if that's where your programming interests are leading you...

This is a book that introduces you to the C# language using Microsoft's Visual C# Express Edition (which is now free to download). Things I liked: - Author's style of writing is on the casual side and it is engaging. - The range of topics covered is especially chosen to give you a good idea of what you can acheive with VC# Express Edition. So, not only are the basics of C# covered, but you also get coverage on how to use Windows Forms, databases/ADO.NET, Wev Services and XML in VC# Express Edition. - Aside from Chapter 7 (see below), I didn't find too many typos in the book. Stuff I wasn't so thrilled about: - Chapter 7, "How C# Express Helps You Code" is based off of the beta edition of C# Express. A lot of the keyboard shortcuts, along with a few other items, are not the same in release version, thus taking away some of the usefulness of this chapter. - Not a good choice for those new to programming. Despite its claims, this book is best for someone who's programmed before. - Don't expect to go "From Novice to Professional". If you're a novice, you'll still be one even after reading this book. It's short intro. book after all. - A few of the chapters covering more complicated topics, could use a few more examples to expound on the key points and drive them home. - The summaries of chapters are not very good at highlighting key points. While this is not so important when you're reading through a chapter, it's very important when you're going back to review a chapter. A tabular summary of key points and mini code examples would be much more useful. Even review questions would be helpful. Bottom Line: A good book if you're a programmer who's new to ASP.NET or C# and wants to have some fun with MS Visual C# Express Edition.