Microsoft Visual C# 2008 Step by Step [With CDROM]

Coming from a background of MySql, I was interested in learning C# to help me make Gui based databases. I found this book to be very well written. It was so well done that even a newbie can learn and make programs. The exercises in this book are great because they are mind stimulating and force you to think, which in the end help you retain the knowledge. I highly recommend this book if you are new to C# and want to learn at a rapid pace. No fillers, no BS. This is the kind of book which writers of computer books must emulate ( Computer books are notorious for errata and poor authorship) I congratulate Mr Sharp on an outstanding work. Money well spent. M Khan

This is one of the better tech books I have read. Very concise, easy to follow, logically assembled, and progresses at a reasonable rate. If you are new to C#, then I highly recommend this book. If you are new to ASP.NET and are thinking about using C#, then I would also recommend this book. After laying the foundations of programming and introducing the standard lexicon, the book then delves deeper into the features of C#. The chapters are grouped together in a way that provides several starting points depending on your level of programming experience. Finally, the reader is introduced to databinding and working with databases (including LINQ), then finally web development with ASP.NET. Talk about comprehensive. This is a superb starting point if you are new to C#, or even programming in general.

And I don't just mean a person whose last name is Sharp! :-) Although each chapter is ostensibly about some particular C# programming construct, a reader would learn more than just C# syntax from this book. By the time one finishes reading this book, one would also have learned enough about useful .Net frameworks such as Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Communication Foundation and LINQ. Kudos to the author for pulling this off!!

unlike most books that may seem more entertaining-- this book makes you use c# for the common tasks you actually will be doing. The plan is that you program along with the author and learn "step by step" how to build many different essential programming building blocks using different net features. The section on wpf programming is wonderful'

I got this book because I wanted to learn Visual Studio 2008 and C# at the same time. It has certainly done the trick. I am currently at page 449, and I am amazed at how much information John Sharp has put in book. Even more amazing is that his teaching technique of a brief overview, and explaining while doing examples is surprisingly effective. If you are a Pro Developer familiar with C++ or java, then this book is probably not going to teach you anything interesting till part 4. I am very please and recommend to any novice who wants to learn.