Rating: 
Summary: An excellent introductory real-world book
Review: All that is necessary to start programming using dotNet is the free download dotNet SDK (137M, 7M SP2) from MSDN and the source code (200K) for the book at Manning.com. In fact the author recommends holding off getting MS Visual Studio DotNet because he feels that it gets in the way of learning (p xiv). The SDK contains the MS C# compiler; the book has a 30-page Appendix A as an intro to C# language. He indicates in the text (p xiv) that VisualBasic.net and C# are getting very similar syntaxically, so the reasons to choose one over another is blurring. Most of his examples includes both. So you can hold off on that $1K expense for VStudio dotnet, or use the cheaper MacroMedia Dreamweaver MX... P>The client browser needs to be at IE 5.01 or later and Net Framework RT1.0, MDAC 2.6 RT, need to be installed which contains the framework libraries necessary to display the enhanced attributes of dotNet. The client OS can run on Win98 and higher. Your Win2K Server needs IIS 5.0 + security upd, and MDAC 2.6; a legacy WinNT4 server needs SP6a updaters and MDAC.The author has a tutorial that quickly goes from the ubiquous hello program to a video poker game metaphor to illustrate how to use object oriented C# techniques with COM, IE, ADO.net, XML, Client/Server, Remote Services, SOAP, Forms, ASP.net, and finally a WAP based program. What a tour de force!! Although this book is as comprehensive as possible in a short 300 pages, after listening to a local MS SQL Server UG on ADO.net, one needs a thicker reference for heavy lifting. I would highly recommend Dino Esposito's "...ASP.net and ADO.net" (0-7356-1578-0), for more content oriented websites. It has the most comprehensive description of the wild and woolly Data Grid.
Rating:
Summary: Great for developers, essential for architects
Review: Concise, follows a logical path, well balanced. Gives a good insight into C# programming. Covers essential topics for Software Architect and Systems Engineer. Buy it! You will go through .Net boot camp and you will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Good introduction
Review: Cover all the what and how-to about .NET in a simple and clear way. Can't believe the author does that so nicely in 300 pages. Great for experience programmer get started with .NET
Rating:
Summary: Short and snappy
Review: Easily the best .NET book so far. Short, sweet, and snappy. By assuming that the reader already knows a bit about Windows programming, SQL, HTML, ASP, XML, etc., (who doesn't?), the author manages to cover the whole of .NET in a lot fewer pages than other books out there. It's also full of good examples. The poker machine example is a killer .NET app.
Rating:
Summary: Great book great author
Review: Fergal Grimes is a great author after reading this book I went and looked for other books by this author. His Poker example game is addicting.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much expectation, but under delivered
Review: I had too much expectation on this book based on the ratings that I saw for this book here... I must say I am disappointed. Don't get me wrong that the book itself is not a disappointment, but clear word of caution, before buying this book: (1) This book is not for beginners of .NET, (2) This book does not talk all major parts of .NET. Some important topics of .NET, to the point, with a palatable code example. Think before you buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Great book to pick up .Net (quick and painless).
Review: I have a bookshelf full of programming books, and this is the first time I'm motivated to post a positive review online about a book. The author did a great job guiding readers through .Net technology with clear explanations leaving no assumptions about readers' skill levels. I loved the way the author planned the fun poker example which utilizes all of .Net's main features (database access, xml, remoting, message queue, web, etc). After you are done with the book, you will also know better to stay away from video poker machines at casinos.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent programming resource
Review: I have not read a good book like this in a long time. I like to learn fast and hence was looking for a book which could give me a clear picture of what's going on. The book is very concise and to the point, very readable and has great examples. There is no mumbo-jumbo. I would suggest this book to both beginners and experts. Gives a very wide and clear picture of today's tiered application programming. I am new to the Microsoft's 'hidden and obscure' world of programming and this book is giving me a sigh of relief.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly succinct
Review: I was leading a tutorial on .NET for our developers and have been looking around for a concise book to use that packs useful information and not fluff. Fergal Grimes knows his subject and moreover he can enunciate it well. This is an excellent book to pick up .NET, whether you come from a J2EE, CORBA or COM/DCOM background. There are nice nimble examples that keep things interesting and allow the reader to see the trajectory from whichever platform they have been developing before. This book is recommended to users that are already somewhat familiar with distributed computing - intermediate to expert.
Rating:
Summary: Strong from cover to cover. Now top 5 in my favorites list.
Review: I've been through many of the C# books, some from Microsoft Press, and some from O'Reilly, and on and on.
For beginners there is no clear winner. However, for experienced programmers looking to expand their knowledge into many of the more advanced areas of C#, I recommended Grimes book, Microsoft .NET for Programmers. It's for intermediate to advanced, and it's quite a bit of fun working through the example that builds and builds upon an engine, adding many interfaces, where each interface exploits a particular area of .Net. Plus he throws in his years of programming expertise to add in lots of programming tricks that also highlight .Net's flexibility and ease of programming. Do svidanija - moi tovarischi!
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