Microsoft Visual C# .Net Step by Step [With CDROM]

by John Sharp and Jon Jagger

Book Overview

Build your dexterity with Visual C# .NET -- and begin writing applications for the Microsoft .NET platform -- one step at a time. This practical, hands-on tutorial expertly guides you through the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0735612897
• ISBN13: 9780735612891
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Microsoft Press
• Length: 621 Pages
• Weight: 3.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 7.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Best of Five Books on C# and Visual Studio

I hated to see it end. Thankfully, the extra exercises on the CD gave me more great practice that made me feel I finally could write good software in Visual Studio. Each lesson covered a useful technique or feature from Windows forms, ADO.NET, even customizing DataGrids, to ASP.NET and web services. The code was clear, useful, well explained, and it worked! I found almost no erratta and didn't realized the authors were in the UK until I had finished (great editing, no idomatic expressions). I look forward to another book by Sharp and Jagger. I like the way they write and learned more from them than all four other books I have on the subject. I had no unanswered questions and was never bored. Any repetition was good practice on things you need to know cold and use, like filling a DataSet from a SqlDataAdapter or try/catch and MessageBox.Show(). Things weren't over-simplified. I believe they had me practicing good coding technique throughout, even tier separation, unlike many other books. Covering ASP.Net Forms right after Windows Forms made it easier to understand and remember the differences. First, learn the basics of C# from a reference volume (I particularly liked Petzoldt's emphasis on SCOPE) then get this book to dive into Visual Studio and learn while doing it step by step. All major features of Visual Studio .NET Pro are used and code well explained (except maybe delegates but they take volumes to explain). I expect to refer back to this book when I get stuck building my own projects. These authors raise the bar for all the others. Six stars would be more appropriate.

Great book for an Intro to .NET and C#

I am about 85% through this book and it is great if you are looking for a comprehensive intro to .NET and C#. If you are already familiar with most of .NET and want something in-depth on a particular aspect of .NET, than you should probably look elsewhere. I attended a 1 week, $2500 class on .NET and this book is much better from my perspective. Covered most of the same topics, but in more depth than the class (although still not beyond intermediate level). The book is tutorial style which I like for the most part. So yes, you need to be in front of your computer. Remarkably, I have not had ANY problems with any of the code so far other than one difference in a diagram display which did not effect the programs operation. Now that I am about through the book, I know what I want to learn more about and have an excellent overview of .NET and C#. Just keep in mind that it is a beginning to intermediate level book.

Excellent C# tutorial

One of the best C# tutorials available. Also quite a nice intro to OOP as well as the Visual Studio.NET programming environment.If you are new to programming, coming from a non-OOP language such as Visual Basic 6.0 (or previous) or even a long-time coder who needs a quick into to the C# language, you should be able to find something for you here in this book. The first half of the book teaches you the basics of the C# language and how to program using the Visual Studio.NET programming environment. The second half introduces basic Windows programming, some ASP.NET as well as ADO.NET and even XML. Obviously, Windows programming and using the .NET framework are very complex topics and no single book can possibly cover everything, but for the newcomer, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better starting place.

Happy I picked it up

For once an MS Press step by step book has exceeded my expectations. This book does an execelent job of explaining C# from three perspectives. New to programming, C or C++ experience, VB experience. It explains the changes from the latter two and points out how this is an improvment.As an experienced programmer, I've been able to skim chapters I already understand. There is a guide at the front that suggests chapters that I'd be interested in.I also like the chapter format, that gives you a estimated time to complete each chapter.I was scouring for a C# book that was going to give me as much info as I could get, without dropping the typical [money] for a computer book. This is definately the best one I found. I can refer back to it as a reference, and it touches on the other .net technologies too.

Great beginner's book

I have not been a fan of the Step By Step series in the past. If this is the direction they are going, I may have to re-examine by own personal bias against them.Admitedly, this is a beginner's book, rather than a book for people who have already gained quite a bit of experience in C# through the betas. But, that is not all bad.My own personal reason for picking up this book is the large amount of time I have spent on Visual Basic .NET, as of late. The fact it was free made it worth even more to me.My personal love of this book comes from the fact it is the first one I have sat down and read that covers more than syntax. Okay, Wrox did have a book that went beyond, but it was rushed and not as well designed for learning a new language and paradigm.From the first chapter, you are encouraged to get into code and start developing with C#.NET from the first chapter. The book also covers a variety of types of projects. Parts 4-6 take you through Windows Forms and WebForm applications, as well as working with ADO.NET. Sweet!The book is broken down into nice bite size chunks, each with its own projects. Overall, I wish Microsoft was still putting the ebook on the CD, as I like to carry the CD instead of the entire tome, but that is a minor knock.There is one potential downside to the book. You can easily develop with C# using notepad. Much of the book, however, relies on Visual Studio .NET. While I don't consider this a major negative, those that are not using Visual Studio .NET will not get as much value from the book.I am a bit reluctant to give this book 5 stars, as I, as an advanced developer, do not get as much value out of this book. However, it hits its intended target and makes a wonderful book for someone just learning C#. And, with almsot 600 pages of content, and a reasonable font size, it packs quite a punch. The fact that the layout looks rather nice and makes it easy and enjoyable to learn is an added bonus.