Murach's C# 2005 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

This is actually my third C# book, after Programming in the Key of C# by Charles Petzold and Programming C# by Jesse Liberty. I'm learning C# as my first programming language, basically just for fun and out of an interest in programming. I bought Murach's C# as a way to reinforce the basics that I've already learned, and it's doing a good job of that. And I suppose if you are already a programmer and are learning C# (but already know C++ or Java, etc.), then this book is a good intro. But is this really a good book for a beginner to start with?

I'd have to say no. It seems more like a good book to go back to once you already know some things about C#. As I read the chapter in which the "C# Essentials" are introduced, I felt like that's all that was happening: they were being introduced. Here is what the data types are, here is what an if statement is, etc. One page for each topic, and then the authors move on. Furthermore, they introduce some methods of the Math class before they even cover what methods are (or how static methods differ from instance methods, and so on). If I were reading this book as my first intro to C#, I think I'd be very confused. I feel like I can understand what's being said only because I've read two other books on the subject already.

One advantage this book has over all other books I've seen is that it takes the time (two chapters) to introduce you to Visual Studio (the development environment for C#). This is great since programmers will presumably be using this IDE as opposed to an external text editor, for example.

Two complaints I have about the book are these:

1. The paired page format is nice, but at the same time it leads to a lot of redundancy. Often the points made on the left-hand page are repeated in bullets on the right-hand side. Sometimes there's a bit of new information on the right side, so I still felt obliged to read it anyway.

2. It is often difficult to tell which parts of the right-hand page correspond to the left-hand page. The left side is paragraphs of text, but they are not broken up to indicate that we should direct our attention to the right side. I often find myself reading the left side and getting too far ahead before I look to the right side (or vice versa, I continue reading the examples on the right side until I reach a point that I haven't read the explanatory text on the left yet, which can be confusing).

My ultimate opinion is that this book is a good reference or refresher for those who already know another language, or who want to 're-learn' C#. It is not the best book for a complete beginner.

For the beginner with no prior programming experience, I highly, highly, highly recommend Petzold's Programming in the Key of C#. He takes the time to explain everything in great detail, and you will learn so much. It is an excellent foundation for reading other books, such as Murach's C#.

This is an excellent book for the beginning C# programmer. The book uses a "paired-page" format where the page on the left gives descriptions of a concept and the page on the right provides examples, syntax, and additional information. Although this does lead to some repetition, overall it provides clearer explanations of concepts that are laid out in front of you all at once. It also makes it easier to go back, find, and review information read previously.

The book starts with a tour of C# which leans heavily on Visual Studio. The first three chapters cover using VS.NET and very little C# code is presented. In fact, explanations of how to work in Visual Studio are provided throughout the book. The next two sections, covering 12 chapters, cover the details of programming in C# and writing object oriented code. The coverage of OO is excellent and it will remove much of the mystery associated with OO programming. Database programming using ADO.NET is covered at a good level of detail in five chapters. The final section covers reading and writing files including using the .NET classes to read and write XML files.

In many ways this book provides a level of detail not found in other books with plenty of code samples to help clarify the material. The only thing not covered is ASP and web forms. I can highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning C# or to anyone planning to teach a C# programming course. The book is well designed as a textbook for a programming class. It includes objectives, a summary, a list of important terms, and programming exercises at the end of each chapter. A student workbook and an instructor CD are available.

For several years now I've been successfully avoiding having to learn C#. Why? Because it basically only works with Microsoft, part of their .NET effort to tie everyone to their software. Why should I go learn something that is tied to just Microsoft systems?

Answer: Because someone came by and was willing to pay a rather large amount of money for a project but insisted on C#. Like the old joke, we know what we are, we just quibble about the price.

OK, so now I need to know C#, and I need to know it quickly. The solution to that problem (regardless of the language) is really simple - a Murach book.

Murach has developed a format that is hands down my favorite way of learning a new language. Basically the put every tidbit that you need to know on a pair of facing pages. Typically one page has a texual description of that tidbit. The facing page then says the same thing, but in a different way. Often this is a screenshot, sometimes a drawing or a table. The key is that the facing pages use different words, different techniques to cover the same point. I find that I read both, and very frequently find myself saying, 'Oh, that's what they were talking about.' The result is that I learn the point better, faster.

This new book covers the latest version of C#, Visual Studio and the .NET framework. It took me about two weeks to go through the book, the two weeks before this contract started. When I got started on the gig, I could hold my own with the other C# programmers. And that's all you can possibly ask of a book.

This was not my first programming language. I've worked in at least a dozen languages over the years. I've seen some complaints about this book that it isn't really suitable for a complete beginner. Perhaps that's true, I'm not really competent to say because I'm not a complete beginner. On the other hand, when I was a complete beginner they handed me an assembly language programming book and told me to go read it. This book is a hell of a lot easier than the way I started.