.NET for Java Developers: Migrating to C#

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely essential for Java Developers!
Review: After being a Java developer for some time now, I had heard much about C# but did not know where to start other than reading through 1000's of lines of Microsoft documentation.
This book has been an absolute goldmine! The working examples and the clear concise descriptions and explanations of the differences between the two languages have made my move to C# quite easy.
Moving from Java to C# is more than just syntax. This book explains the details of the CLR and J2EE so that you will know the strengths and weaknesses of each.
If you work in a financial institution or other industry that insists on Java and you are curious about C# this is definitely the right book to purchase.

Rating:
Summary: Good coverage of topics dear to Java programmers
Review: I am a Java programmer by profession and have been recently tinkering with C#. Since, I was told that C# is very easy to pick up for Java programmers, I started converting one of my Java projects to C# and hit a roadblock when I spend quite a lot of time debugging one particular issue. Turns out that in C#
methods are not polymorphic by default, whereas in Java they are.

BIG DIFFERENCE! I had to rethink the way I had designed my class hierarchy and the access modifiers on my methods.

I later glanced at chapter 5 of this just to see if the authors talk about this, and I was impressed by the coverage. If only I had read this chapter before I had started converting my program.

I have since then, become less adventurous and am reading more about threads, IO and reflection in C#. A lot of it is very different from Java.

I am glad I have this book. Its a good reference for me to know
what mistakes I am not supposed to make...

Rating:
Summary: The book is really about C#
Review: The title of this book is ".NET for Java Developers", with the subtitle "Migrating to C#". These should have been swapped. The bulk of the book is devoted to explaining C#, with an emphasis to comparing it to java. Out of the 24 chapters, only a few really deal with .NET. Why such a misnomer? Perhaps the authors felt that the title suggested a topic that was underserved by other books, whereas there are already several books on C# for java developers. (Like "From Java to C#" by Mok, also published by Addison-Wesley.)

Now as to the actual subject, the authors DO cover it well. Java and C# are like Spanish and Portuguese. If you know one and not the other, it will still be recognisable. The structure of class files and the syntax are broadly the same. Certainly, you won't have any difficulty with the concepts.

A key difference though is the ability to use pointers. Java does not permit this in its standard formulation. (Though through JNI you can effectively manipulate pointers.) C# lets you use pointers through its "unsafe" keyword. The book only devotes 2 pages to this. Very cursory. It points out that bugs in pointer arithmetic are responsible for a lot of C and C++ breakages, and pointer manipulation is often exploited by worms and viruses. Given the ongoing propagation of these on Microsoft platforms, and that .NET/C# is run on those platforms, and that Bill Gates himself says Microsoft is putting more emphasis on fighting them, a more extensive explanation would have been merited for the benefit of non-Microsoft developers. Related to this is an explanation of when it is ok to use pointers (Eg. for higher performance if you have special hardware.) But there is no treatment of this at all. Pity.

Rating:
Summary: The book is really about C#
Review: The title of this book is ".NET for Java Developers", with the subtitle "Migrating to C#". These should have been swapped. The bulk of the book is devoted to explaining C#, with an emphasis to comparing it to java. Out of the 24 chapters, only a few really deal with .NET. Why such a misnomer? Perhaps the authors felt that the title suggested a topic that was underserved by other books, whereas there are already several books on C# for java developers. (Like "From Java to C#" by Mok, also published by Addison-Wesley.)

Now as to the actual subject, the authors DO cover it well. Java and C# are like Spanish and Portuguese. If you know one and not the other, it will still be recognisable. The structure of class files and the syntax are broadly the same. Certainly, you won't have any difficulty with the concepts.

A key difference though is the ability to use pointers. Java does not permit this in its standard formulation. (Though through JNI you can effectively manipulate pointers.) C# lets you use pointers through its "unsafe" keyword. The book only devotes 2 pages to this. Very cursory. It points out that bugs in pointer arithmetic are responsible for a lot of C and C++ breakages, and pointer manipulation is often exploited by worms and viruses. Given the ongoing propagation of these on Microsoft platforms, and that .NET/C# is run on those platforms, and that Bill Gates himself says Microsoft is putting more emphasis on fighting them, a more extensive explanation would have been merited for the benefit of non-Microsoft developers. Related to this is an explanation of when it is ok to use pointers (Eg. for higher performance if you have special hardware.) But there is no treatment of this at all. Pity.

Rating:
Summary: Great for seemless move from Java to C#
Review: This book helped me move into the C# realm very quickly and get upto speed in no time.
If you are coming from a full-fledged java development environment, this can be used as a reference aswell in your initial efforts to get the things done. Also, the examples provided are on par with books like "Core Java".
Two thumbsup to the authors for this initiative.

Rating:
Summary: To the point, lots of code examples
Review: To make this review brief, I will sum up my thoughts in as few words as possible: In some books there are too many words to sift through to find what you are looking for, but not in .NET for Java Developers: Migrating to C#. I appreciate that the writers kept in mind what is most important to a developer (other than time spent reading), the code!
*also a note: And yes, this book is about C#, isn't that obvious???