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Summary: The definitive tutorial on the C# language
Review: Unless you're just not paying attention, Microsoft .NET is poised to become the biggest thing to hit software development since the introduction of the Win32 SDK. At the forefront of this effort is a new language called C# (pronounced c sharp) - a hybrid of C++ and Java with the simplicity of Visual Basic.Unfortunately, until now all of the first books on C# have really been little more than superficial coverages of the language's syntax where the authors spend little to no time detailing why and when one would want to use the different aspects of C#. What I wanted was a book that not only tells me how to use something (they have on-line help for that), but explains the concepts behind the feature's existence. Now there is such a book: Tom Archer's Inside C#. Archer, who runs the CodeGuru Web site and writes the popular C#/.NET Web newsletter, offers the most complete tutorial on using this new and powerful language. The first section of the book is an overview section aimed at the programmer new to object-oriented and .NET development. This section includes chapters on .NET and the CLR and provides a clear and concise explanation of how it all ties together. Once that is done, he then has a chapter devoted to writing and compiling your first C# application to make sure that your environment is set up properly. From there, the second part dives into writing applications. Here you learn all the fundamentals of C# including its interaction with the .NET Common Type System, value types, reference types and the concept of boxing and unboxing. He then goes on to show how to define classes and struct and write applications using the basics of arrays, enums, properties and indexers. Archer finishes up this foray into the fundamentals of C# by explaining how you can extend the C# language with attributes and how interfaces enable COM-like interface-based programming in C#. In the third section (Writing Code), Archer then covers the topics of expressions, operators, the controlling of program flow and exception handling. In addition, advanced topics such as operator overloading and the use of delegates in writing event handlers is covered. Finally, the last section (Advanced C#) is easily my favorite. This section includes some of the best information I could find anywhere on such subject matter as multi-threaded programming, reflection and versioning. The Interoperating with Unmanaged Code chapter alone covers how to use COM components from C#, how to write "unsafe", or unmanaged code and how to use Win32 DLLs from C#. Having read several of the C# books currently available (Eric Gunnerson's A Programmer's Introduction to C# and Ben Albahari's C# Essentials) I have to say that I was quite pleased that Archer didn't take the easy route in simply telling me how to use a given language construct - but instead took the time to fully explain when and why I would want to use it.
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Summary: Great C# book !
Review: As the author points out in the introduction, if you're looking for Windows Forms or ASP.NET, then this book is NOT for you. However, if you're looking for a great table-side reference to C# that you'll refer to over and over, then this is definitely the book to buy. I was extremely impressed with the fact that the author teaches you everything about the language in a top-down approach ending up most times in the underlying MSIL in order to show you how a particular feature is implemented. Very nice work. I also liked the concept of showing key BCL classes that the author decided were integral to development (while technically not being part of the language). Definitely the right decision as a book on nothing but the language would not have been nearly as useful. Take it from someone who's read (or at least looked at) just about every .NET book on the market, this is the best C# book BY FAR. As one reviewer already stated, buy this book, Prosise's BCL book and Richter's internals book and you've got it made in .NET development.
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Summary: Another great Archer title
Review: I purchased this book after reading Mr. Archer's Visual C++.NET Bible and am extremely happy with it. I have quite a few C# books and can say without hesitation that this book, Jesse Liberty's and Petzold's SECOND C# book are the only C# books worth owning. You buy those three and you'll be set. I personally use them as follows: * Jesse Liberty - Better than Archer in terms of tutorial style writing. Use this book as your first C# book
* Tom Archer - Awesome reference material and low-level details of the language. Use this book as a reference after finishing Liberty's book
* Charles Petzold - Great for learning how to write Windows apps with C# - once you've learned the language with Archer & Liberty.
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Summary: Absolute GOLD!!
Review: Having read just about every highly rated C# book on Amazon, I can definitely state that Tom Archer and Andrew Whitechapel have easily the best book on the market. I will caution the buyer that this book is NOT a Windows Forms or Visual Studio book. It *is* a fantastic book on the language and several integral BCL classes the authors thought are important to any C# developer. I would highly recommend this book for intermediate to advanced C# developers because no matter how much you think you know, you'll find yourself learning more each daywith this book. For the beginner level C# person, I would recommend buying a Step by Step book on C# and this book because while this book may be too much for you to begin with, once you get under way, you'll need this book as an invaluable reference.
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Summary: A great book for intermediate/advanced developers
Review: As others have mentioned, this book is not aimed at new developers. However, if you are an intermediate or advanced developers, this is a great book for learning C# in depth. One thing I found very useful is that it often refers to C++ or Java to point out differences. This is very important in areas where C# works differently, like calling virtual functions from constructors. The book shows lots of MSIL for the examples. Although there's a table of the MSIL commands in the back, there's not enough information in this book for these to be comletely understandable. You'll need to learn more about the CLR and MSIL elsewhere for these to really be helpful. A wide range of topics are covered, including some advanced topics like COM interop. There is also a chapter on security, although I felt it lumped too many topics together there without going into enough depth on them. The biggest problem I had with the book was the huge number of typos and misprints. I noticed another reviewer said that many of the examples didn't compile. This could have been one of the reasons. I was amazed at how many errors I saw in the code, most of which looked like simple typos.
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Summary: Everything I could ask for
Review: For C# developers this book should be required reading. It will teach you to think in C#, to see the answers to problems without writing a line of code. Archer writes in a very straightforward and easy style. I found the book hard to put down. The explanations are clear and concise. The examples are extremely well-done. I learned as much from them as from the book itself. You'll want to work through every one of these - you'll learn tons from them.
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Summary: An excellent introduction
Review: and very very readable. The chapter on exception handling alone is worth the price. It's the best explanation I've yet read of why one should use SEH rather than return codes. I read it cover to cover and now it's time to fire up the compiler and go through the book a second time. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Not happy with this book...
Review: Several of the examples don't compile/assemble. Very annoying. I'm ascribing this to drift in C# syntax since the 2002 edition, but in my opinion the book is of dubious use at this point.
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Summary: Fantastic book!!
Review: I needed this book for a project I had to do in school and it was absolutely fantastic! I basically came across as a C# genius when I had only been using (and reading this book) for less than 2 weeks! Thank you Mr Archer for my A+ :)
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Summary: Book Support: Download Code, View Errata & Ask Me Questions!
Review: According to Nielsen BookScan - the retail sales monitoring service for books that is used by all major book publishers - Inside C# is now the best-selling C# book of all time! I'd like to thank all of you for your support and let you know that I've created several Web pages on my ArcherConsultingGroup site that include: * The latest demo source code
* A current errata
* A discussion board for asking me questions about the book Thanks again for your continued support!
Tom Archer
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