Product Description

Book DescriptionThe first edition of this book was released at the 2001 Tech Ed conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Since that time, this text has been revised, tweaked, and enhanced to account for the changes found within each release of the .NET platform (1.1, 2.0, 3.0 and now 3.5). The last version, .NET 3.0, was more of an augmentative release, essentially providing three new APIs: Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). As you would expect, coverage of the "W's" has been expanded a great deal in this version of the book from the previous Special Edition text. Unlike .NET 3.0, .NET 3.5 provides dozens of new C# language features and .NET APIs. This edition of the book will walk you through all of this new material using the same readable approach as was found in previous editions. Rest assured, you'll find detailed coverage of Language Integrated Query (LINQ), the C# 2008 language changes (automatic properties, extension methods, anonymous types, etc.) and the numerous bells and whistles of Visual Studio 2008. What you will learn Everything you need to know – get up to speed with C# 2008 quickly and efficiently.Discover all the new .NET 3.5 features — Language Integrated Query, anonymous types, extension methods, automatic properties, and more.Get a professional foothold — targeted to appeal to experienced software professionals, this book gives you the facts you need the way you need to see them.A rock-solid foundation – focuses on everything you need to be a successful .NET 3.5 programmer, not just the new features. Get comfortable with all the core aspects of the platform — including assemblies, remoting, Windows Forms, Web Forms, ADO.NET, XML web services, and much more.Who is this book for?If you're checking out this book for the first time, understand that it targets experienced software professionals and/or students of computer science (so please don't expect three chapters devoted to "for" loops). The mission of this text is to provide you with a rock-solid foundation to the C# 2008 programming language and the core aspects of the .NET platform (OOP, assemblies, file IO, Windows Forms/WPF, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, WCF,WF, etc.). Once you digest the information presented in these 33 chapters, you'll be in a perfect position to apply this knowledge to your specific programming assignments, and you'll be well equipped to explore the .NET universe on your own terms.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27902 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1370 pages

About the Author
Andrew Troelsen is a partner, trainer, and consultant at Intertech-Inc., and is a leading authority on both .NET and COM. His book Pro C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform won the prestigious 2003 Referenceware Excellence Award and is now in its third edition. Also of note are his earlier five-star treatment of traditional COM in the bestselling Developer's Workshop to COM and ATL mirrored in his book, COM and .NET Interoperability, and his top-notch investigation of VB .NET in Visual Basic .NET and the .NET Platform: An Advanced Guide. Troelsen has a degree in mathematical linguistics and South Asian studies from the University of Minnesota and is a frequent speaker at numerous .NET-related conferences. He currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his wife, Amanda, and spends his free time investigating .NET and waiting for the Wild to win the Stanley Cup.

Customer Reviews

An excellent introduction to the .net framework 3.5 and C#
An update to the original Pro C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform. The new chapters on Workflow Foundation and Windows Communication Framework are great additions, but only give a brief introduction to these new technologies. More space is dedicated to both LINQ and WPF, in fact the majority of winForms development is devoted to the new WPF technology. As a professional web developer I would highly recommend reading this book, whilst it will only be of direct use to somebody new to C# and version 3.5 of the .net framework development the book can provide indirect guidance and assistance to the most seasoned developer.

#1 Bible of .NET Framework Fundamentals
After the recent release of Visual Studio 2008 and .NET framework 3.5, I was eager to get my hands on a book that would allow me to quickly grasp all the new features in C# 2008. As always I look to the professional series on .NET from APress. This book is the first one I picked out because its previous edition covering C# 2005 and .NET Framework 3.0 is one of my favorite .NET books.

This new edition offers readers a good understanding of all the C# 2008 language features and solid fundamentals of LINQ. It also expands on many of the topics found in the previous edition. You'll find much more in-depth coverage of the .NET framework 3.0 material such WCF, WF and WPF. With a whooping 1370 pages divided into 33 chapters that cover various building blocks of .NET framework, this book is no doubt my #1 bible of .NET framework fundamentals. If this is not enough, you'll find an additional five chapters for free on APress site.

I highly recommand this book not only to professional .NET developers but also someone who's just starting on .NET.

Broad but neither deep nor concise
I can recommend this book but only to programmers experienced in an OO language.

I have only read 500 pages so far but am sufficiently annoyed that I felt the need to write a review. I have covered all the core and advanced C# features and am now heading in to the .NET assemblies section.

I have found the phrasing imprecise and the editing substandard. I am surprised that no errata has appeared on the publisher's "Pro C# 2008" web page despite it being released last year. Code examples are copious but frequently differentiate themselves very little from previous examples and could save hundreds of pages by being cut down.

Despite my criticisms, I feel that I have now gained a working knowledge of C#. I am sure that any experienced OO programmer could do the same but I shudder to think that somebody might rely on this book to introduce them to OO concepts.

To be completely subjective, I really dislike Troelsen's writing style. I had the opportunity to dip in to the text before I bought it and at that time I felt it was written in an approachable style but after 500 pages I am grinding my teeth. Sentences that equate to, "X is a feature of C# but is useless until it is made use of," are not uncommon. The phrase "to be sure" now makes me flinch. Some sentences just stagger me with their irrelevance.