Database Programming with C#

I'm pretty fanatical over anything relating to database technology as well as .NET. So I'm probably quite biased but I think this book is really great. It's written such that a total beginner could pick it up and get going, but there's a lot of great material intertwined that I think intermediate developers would enjoy it too. My number one criteria for a book is that it's interesting. I read the whole thing and never got bored even though I was already familiar with much of the material. That's a big plus in my book. The content is good and the examples are practical and well discussed. On the other hand, I think he does a great job of discussing things in proportion to how important they are. Let's face it, twenty examples of using the DataAdapter Configuration wizard is silly and there's a title or two out there that goes down that road. This is what I really enjoyed because he shows you both ways of doing just about everything (using code or doing it with UI tools) and explains the what's and hows.I've liked every book he's written and this is no exception.

I expected this book to be about getting to SQL Server from .NET. It certainly is but it also goes so much further. Thomsen gives his main examples using SQL Server but also includes Oracle, MySQL and other databases in his coverage. He also goes into depth about Active Directory (and other LDAP) access, interfacing to Exchange Server etc. There's even a handy reference to the Normal Forms, which I always need to look up somewhere. A real database book!Thomsen does, of course, cover ADO.NET, splitting it thoroughly into two camps, connected and disconnected. This is a good approach because with pure .NET you really want to keep away from connected but you may be willing to 'compromise'. There's a useful chapter on Message Queuing, which I haven't seen covered anywhere else so well.Even though I code with VB.NET as well as C#, this book had a useful chapter on making full use of Visual Studio for database development and will certainly speed up my future developments.He uses a simple application of his own (software isn't provided but can be downloaded) to illustrate his points throughout. I like this approach and also find it refreshing to get away from the Publishing world for the examples.If you don't know C# at all, get another book as well as this one. If you need to do any kind of data access, including even designing your own database, get this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, because the authors writing style makes it real easy to pick up the information in the book. Speaking of information, it looks like it has taken quite a while to write the book, as the book is literally packed with detailed information. My favorite chapter is the message queues one, which I'm fairly new to. Like the other chapters, it starts at beginner's level and then gradually adds more and more information to the pile and by the end of the chapter I felt rather comfortable with message queues. That's how a book should be! Oh, and the concurrency bit was execellent.

I did some checking up on the author, which means I saw the rather mixed reviews about his first book. Based on that I decided to take a chance with this book and I certainly don't regret it. I never read the other book, but this one is really good. It gives meeverything I need to get started with ADO.NET and C#, but also a great deal more. The best chapter is the SQLXML one, which is coveredso detailed any 'idiot' can use it, but also the chapter about server-side processing is cool. I especially like the bit on using stored functions and procedures with Oracle.

This is a really good book. I was one of those not completely satisfied with the VB .NET version, but this one more than makes up for the issues found in the VB .NET book. I particularly like theconcurrency description and sample code, but also the SQLXML chapter is great.Personally, I think that the many tables in chapters 3A and 3B should be moved to an appendix, but as they're referenced in the chapters they do serve a purpose other than filling the book, which was my original impression.The chapter on exception handling is very good, and I particularly like the coverage of the Debug class,which is something that I as a veteran VB programmer isn't all that familiar with.I got this book mainly for the SQL Server coverage, but I deal with other database, such as MySQL and Access now and then, so the inclusion on sample code for connecting to these database is just great.Thomsen, move those tables to an appendix and you'll have the best C# database book out there. Still, 5 stars is what I rate this book, because the coverage of various database topics, including Message Queuing, Active Directory, and Microsoft Exchange Server, all of which I deal with occassionally, can't be found elsewhere.I haven't finished reading the entire book as I only just got it, but the stuff that I've read and the bits I've flicked throughmakes me say; Good job, and a much better job than your previous work.I didn't plan on investing in this book (got someone else to pay), based on the VB .NET one, but after reading what I've read so far, I can only recommend it; it's so much better.