Programming Microsoft Visual C#: The Language

This is by far the best C# resource available on the market today. It combines concise programming elements and nuances that are vital for anyone developing applications. If you are an experienced developer you WILL learn something new from this book.

People who like detail and enjoy understanding their computer languages richly and fully, will enjoy this book. I'm one of the wierd people...I had a hard time putting it down. Every page has some interesting tidbit. Donis Marshall is a walking C# Library.

This language guide is one of the best written and clearly communicated references I have read. First, the author is very careful to present correctly defined terms in describing the language. This is very important when trying to get a proper grasp early on when studying and learning about a programming language. Second, the book is not a casual read. In some ways the author challenges you to think and rise to the occasion because his concepts are so packed with information. It is definitely worth the time. The chapters on Debugging and especially Advanced Debugging are a real service to the programming community. I have never read any language guide that presented as complete and as practical a picture of debugging as these chapters. Another very helpful area of this book was the section on Dynamic Invocation in the Metadata and Reflection chapter. This is an area I needed help with, and the book delivered. I know as I make the transition to understanding and using the additions to C# such as generics, anonymous methods, static classes and such, this book will serve me well.

Being a VERY experienced software architect, developer and trainer, I go through tons of books - both as a reference and to recommend to students. This book is on both of those lists. Some of the other reviews already talk to the strengths of this book so I won't rehash them. I will give one specific example however - chapter 8. This chapter gives, among other things, a great explanation of delegates and how / when to use them. This one needs to be on your shelf as I think you'll find yourself using it time and again.

This book is great. I have been reading the chapters on Reflection and Debugging, and I'm amazed at the information that this book has over the other books that I've read. I was looking for an author who could describe generics and anonymous methods, and provide meaningful examples, and Donis Marshal gave me exactly what I was looking for in this book. I bought this book and several other C# 2.0 books, and what I found is that this book is the one that I contantly come back to. I hope to see more titles from this author.