Pro C# 2005 and the .Net 2.0 Platform

First I would like to start off saying that this book is far from boring (as I have seen mentioned in other reviews). It's a book about programming! How exciting can it be anyway? This book really covers a LOT of material which starts off with an excellent overview of the .NET platform and the history that goes with it. I've had no problems with the style of writing in this book and the material is presented very clearly and in a well-organized manner. You can't expect a book covering all the information on the .NET platform and C# to be perfect and include everything you want it to include, however, this book is probably as close as a book could come. I am a professional Java developer and am expanding my horizons towards C# and .NET and this book is the best I've seen out there. There are a lot of Microsoft Press books that are just plain horrible. The book has a few errors here and there, but nothing major. One can't possibly expect a book of such magnitude to not contain any errors. I seriously recommend this book for an experienced developer (especially Java). A beginner would probably have a bit of difficulty with this book because it is not intended for a beginner. For core C# and core .NET, this is the book to own.

This 3rd edition is a great reference for those who already have had some exposure to C# and .NET. When you're encountering some aspect of the .NET framework for the first time, this is the type of book you can go to first before jumping into MSDN. In each chapter, the author does a good job of explaining architecture and how things work from first principles. When documenting a framework class for the first time, a description of the important members is typically shown in a neat table. The example code throughout the text is easy to follow and I found I could read the book from end to end without downloading the source code. I like the author's approach of showing you how to do things by hand, or using the command-line tools first, before showing how to do it in VS 2005. This helps me to understand what is happening behind the scenes. Of course, no single volume can tell you everything you need to know about .NET. What's important though is that this book gives you a good foundation before you look at more detailed texts on specific .NET areas. For example, I really liked the chapters on reflection, ADO.NET and ASP.NET. Good overview of architecture and the main features. Others have commented on the writing style and I would have to say that overuse of some phrases such as "Do understand ..." did catch my attention, but unfortunately in the same way that an exclamation point at the end of the sentence would have as well. I ordered the book online and for some reason, a couple of the pages were damaged. I didn't notice it until I had almost finished reading it. On one page, there was a quarter-sized hole in the middle of the page. On another page, a square inch of text was completely blanked out. Luckily, the book came with an option to download the PDF version.

I agree with some of the other reviewers. This book is an excellent overview of .NET in general, as well as 2.0 specifics. It is really a crash-course of many different topics, from C# 2.0 language fundamentals to multi-threading and remoting. Because of the broad scope, it is not too detailed on any one topic, and you will need other books or resources to get down to the nitty gritty. But this book will get you started in the right direction, and the writing style is clear and makes for an enjoyable read. I also bought "Core C# and .NET" by Stephen C. Perry, as Mr. Perry's book does cover a couple areas that Mr. Troelsen's book does not make a single mention of. However, "Pro C#" was still worth every penny. The combination of the two books makes a power-house reference set that no intermediate-level C#.NET programmer should be without.

I don't usually take the time to write reviews, but I felt compelled to do so in this case. I have been in development for over five years now, and like most, have purchased a library-worth of books for reference. I must say that this book is the most comprehensive and easy to read book in my collection. It covers all of the hardcore topics that every programmer needs to know in order be develop rock-solid apps. I used to buy MS branded books because you figure... hey they invented C#, they should be able to write the best books on the topic..... Well Microsoft, you would be best served to hire Troelsen and make him the head of your publishing department because this guy knows how to write books!

Pro C# 2005 and the .Net 2.0 Platform is a great book that covers the basics such as ASP.NET and ADO.NET but also covers topics that are usually forgotten such as Type Reflection and CIL. The depth of topics gives a great overall understanding of the intricacies of the .Net platform. The two best chapters in the book are the ones on Generics and the CIL. This is because Troelsen takes a very complicated subject matter and breaks it down into understandable language. When explaining Generics he discusses an in-depth discussion of why they are useful(alleviates unboxing/boxing). He also gives the CIL code that shows exactly what is happening underneath the hood which helps understand the fundamentals. I also liked how Troelsen tried to present material using best practices, sometimes left out in many books. For example, in the chapter that discusses data access, he goes through an example of creating factories which allows you to be database independent. Meaning you can connect to a SQL Server database, Oracle database etc., by just changing the configuration file. This code is very useful to understand and I think it runs in parallel with .Net Data Access Application blocks.