Rating: 
Summary: Too much extraneous staff, irrelevant to the C# language
Review: The first couple of chapters gave a decent introduction to C#, but later on the book strayed away to include things like ado.net, windows forms, etc. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with this, but the author utterly failed to make these *extra* chapters a value-add.If you think about it, the c# language itself is a large enough topic, as are ado.net, windows forms, web forms etc. It's a herculean task to single-handedly pack them all into one title and cover everthing well. The author is apparently stretching himself too thin by taking on such a big assignment, and could have done a much better job by sticking to c# itself.
Rating: 
Summary: good introduction for C#
Review: This book comes with 1 CD that include the soft copy version of this book and 1 DVD that include 60-day trial version of Visual Studio .NET professional. To use the trial version, you have to go through registration process. I bought my academic version of Visual Studio .NET which is about $100, instead of full version which is about $1,000. One feature that I like about Visual Studio .net is integration with internet explorer. You can have tabbed browser, like mozilla or opera, along with other source code. This book is well organized. I have previous experienced with Java, so first half of book went relatively smoothly. I wasn't familiar with Delegates feature, but most of sample code throught the book use Delegates you are forced to understand the feature. The book cover .net framework, windows forms (gui stuff), web forms, ADO.net, XML and etc. It is targetting beginner or intermediate programmers.
Rating: 
Summary: Nonsense
Review: This book lost the ground of its course. Not good enough on C#, very little .Net framework, and gives only simple things about Windows programming and other key areas. One of the two big problems is beginner can't use the book. It's very difficult to follow it. There's no complete codes and instructions to get the pictures of the samples. The other big problem is it's too simple for experienced programmer. They can't get any decent lessons, or tips. What a reference! Obviously the auther had not much experience in developing applications, and poor teaching. Microsoft needs to clean dead woods to keep reputation. They needs to publish good books link Thinking in Java, Java Swing. Not bunch of Core Reference craps.
Rating:
Summary: not a great book.
Review: this book starts off very well. I was happy that I bought this book , I based my decision on the reviews available here. but I was only partly right. this is not a great 4/5 star book. the beginning gives you a good feeling about the concepts , but as chapters move forward, you don't find much code to support the explanation, for eg:- ADO.NET chapter is bad. the author tries to explain the concepts , but without any actual code to support why and how and where you can use this concept. for almost everything you have to refer back to the CD for examples, it gets quite frustrating most of the times. guess nobody needs a huge 5 page example, but a class for example with methods and properties and code to support the explanation goes a long way. this book lacks this big time. sometimes I felt like, OK I have the code here in the book, now what where do I put this ?
could have been a better book with some more concepts and on the spot codes rather than just refering to CD 95% of the times.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written tutorial
Review: This is a very nice introduction to the C# language using Visual Studio.NET. Although the book is referred to as a "Core Reference" it is not a reference in the typical sense. Microsoft Press also publishes a "Step By Step" book on the same topic which is a basic introduction for the inexperienced programmer. This book is a more advanced tutorial, more suitable for a programmer with Java or C++ experience. However, it is not a complete introduction to the language. Several major topics are missing including regular expressions, inner classes, and, most surprisingly, I/O. The book does cover a wide range of features in .NET and does a nice job of explaining how to use these features in Visual Studio.NET. The first half of the book is an introduction to C# starting with the basics and going up to threading and debugging. The second half of the book covers topics such as creating windows and web forms, ADO.NET, XML, and web services. The section on windows forms is the most complete while the other topics are covered lightly. Overall, the book is generally well written and well edited. I found no obvious mistakes. The book is in hardcover and comes with a CD containing all the code and a DVD with a 60 day version of Visual Studio.NET. The book is not as complete as the O'Reilly C# book but because it is more fully integrated with Visual Studio, may be more useful to most developers.
Rating:
Summary: Well written tutorial
Review: This is a very nice introduction to the C# language using Visual Studio.NET. Although the book is referred to as a "Core Reference" it is not a reference in the typical sense. Microsoft Press also publishes a "Step By Step" book on the same topic which is a basic introduction for the inexperienced programmer. This book is a more advanced tutorial, more suitable for a programmer with Java or C++ experience. However, it is not a complete introduction to the language. Several major topics are missing including regular expressions, inner classes, and, most surprisingly, I/O. The book does cover a wide range of features in .NET and does a nice job of explaining how to use these features in Visual Studio.NET. The first half of the book is an introduction to C# starting with the basics and going up to threading and debugging. The second half of the book covers topics such as creating windows and web forms, ADO.NET, XML, and web services. The section on windows forms is the most complete while the other topics are covered lightly. Overall, the book is generally well written and well edited. I found no obvious mistakes. The book is in hardcover and comes with a CD containing all the code and a DVD with a 60 day version of Visual Studio.NET. The book is not as complete as the O'Reilly C# book but because it is more fully integrated with Visual Studio, may be more useful to most developers.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent C# Reference
Review: This is an extremely well-written book. It is most defintely aimed at the intermediate/advanced programmer. Mickey makes you read each chapter twice! Chapter 6 (Delegates,Events, and Attributes) was the most comprehensive presentation of these topics that I have read (Had me reaching for the Tylenol :-) )
He covers alot of the ground that Richter does - strong name assemblies,reflection (a most brilliant presentation I might add),etc. I truly enjoy the way he handled Windows/Web forms.
It was not just the point and click stuff that you get in the
Step by Step series. Mickey took us to the nitty gritty of it.
This WILL definitely be my "go to" reference book on C# and the
.NET framework. I have read at least 5 other 'Advanced' C# books and this was by far the most enjoyable (honorable mention to Tom Archer and his "Inside C#" ). And finally, Mr. Williams has an endearing sense of humor --> Hey you gotta love someone who gives you baseball and overdraft applications ubiquitously.
Rating:
Summary: Simply outstanding!!
Review: This is one of the best Visual C#.NET books available in the market at this moment. It is a good mix and balance of tutorial and reference material, explained in a clear way. Visual C# is the brand new general purporse language that you can use to write any kind of application. Mr. Williams teaches you the language first, and then he shows how to use the .NET libraries with your applications. So you get an excellent foundation before dealing with the .NET framework. The narrative is very easy to read and understand, and it will help you to see that the learning curve for C# is almost the same as VB.NET. This is the language of 21st century and with this book you will be a proficient C# developer in a short time, trust me. I am a former VB6 user and moving to Visual C# with this book was a wise move and an easy one. Highly recommended!!
| 
