Rating: 
Summary: Its a reasonable intro, but its no more than an intro
Review: On the whole I found this book was pretty good as far as it went, it just didn't got far enough. For example, the coverage of interfaces and abstract classes is very nearly nothing. I was expected a book on the C# language, and this is not the book I was after. I think the word Presenting in the title is misleading. This book does not present C#, it only introduces it. It also introduces the .NET platform.information. On balance I'd have to say you'd be better of slogging your way through the C# Language Reference (free download) or reading one of the C# FAQs that are springing up.
Rating: 
Summary: Short, but good for VB developers
Review: Really good! Two gripes, one minor, one major:1. Major: where are the excercises!!! K&R C has them, Stroustrup's C++ has them, Arnold's Java has them. This book would be in their league if it just had good excercises! 2. Minor: lots of typos in the last there chapters.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Primer
Review: Really good! Two gripes, one minor, one major: 1. Major: where are the excercises!!! K&R C has them, Stroustrup's C++ has them, Arnold's Java has them. This book would be in their league if it just had good excercises! 2. Minor: lots of typos in the last there chapters.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete, concise learning guide for C#
Review: Sams Publishing is excited to bring you the world's first book on C# --Presenting C# by Christoph Wille. C# (pronounced C-sharp) is a "new" language from Microsoft derived from C and C++. Unlike C and C++, C# is positioned to make Web development much easier. It is used to create standalone applications, more robust distributed applications, and is also used with ASP+ to create dynamic web-based applications and services. I believe you'll find that in most cases C# will be slightly faster than an equivalent program written in Visual Basic. Additionally, you'll notice the amount of code will generally be less. Since this is a new language, little documentation exists. We hired author Christoph Wille - who was one of few developers worldwide selected by Microsoft to review the language -- to write Presenting C# for you. Wille writes about this new language with such vigor, excitement and expertise that you will quickly master it. The 216 page book assumes you are already familiar with programming in another language such as C, C++, Java, Delphi, or Visual Basic, and will help you leverage your existing skills to quickly master C#. This book has already been seen by thousands of people at Microsoft's Professional Developer's Conference. Feedback has been outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: Since C# is such a new language I wanted something more than the marketing hype and less than the mountains of documentation. This book provided that to me. It jumps right into the meat of the language and teaches what you should know without making you read through pages of opinion, and provides plenty of examples that programmers can apply to their own language and put to use immediately. It is cleanly written, and really provides a good quickstart to C#.
Rating:
Summary: Get up to speed with C# really fast
Review: The main purpose of this book is to bring programmers up to speed really fast with the new programming language C#. This goal is reflected by the comparatively low page count of this book - only new concepts introduced by C# are presented (and the NGWS framework, of course), existing knowledge is "recycled" and applied to the new constructs of the C# programming language. This book first introduces you to C# and the underlying NGWS framework, and then dives into object oriented programming with C#. C++ programmers will have an easy time following the examples, because they do not have to learn many new concepts or even statements. Though more difficult, VB programmers will also be able to transition to C# with this book. I have put heavy emphasis on interoperability topics because these will be the major concern for programmers and their managers when considering this new language - how they can use C# code in existing applications, and how to use legacy code within a C# application.
Rating:
Summary: Why this book?
Review: This book is a great introduction to the C# Reference available on MSDN. This book is for experienced developers who want a jump-start on the new language and most certainly NOT for new programmers who are not familiar with C, C++, or Java... Also, an understanding of COM+ will certainly help you appreciate chapter 10. A MUST read for ANY Java developer who is willing to sacrifice a few hours of reading time, in exchange for a programming language with the speed, power, scalability, and compatibility that Sun has shielded us from. (Not all developers are idiots. We CAN handle power) I originally thought that "Presenting C#" did a lame job of introducing the "unsafe" conditionals in C#, which allow access to raw memory and pointer conventions, but I soon realized that this was done for a reason. If you want to use pointers in C# and the NGWS-COM interoperability will not do, a programmer that is capable of using pointers "safely" will know where to look... The ability to create cross platform applications, in ANY programming language is something the IT industry has been longing for...And although Microsoft's J++ language doesn't suffer any of Java's short-comings due to "delegates", its clear to me that C# will be J++'s replacement and the preferred language for the NGWS system.
Rating: 
Summary: repackaged white paper
Review: This book is a waste of your money, you would be better off simply downloading the information that is *freely* available from Microsoft webs site which it seems the author has often repackaged anyway. The publisher should be ashamed of himself. I'm waiting for my copy of "C# in a Nutshell" from O'Reilly that was announced at the PDC where they gave us all a free copy of this (useless) book!
Rating:
Summary: Very Helpful First Book For Experienced Programmers
Review: This book is not for everybody. It would be best for experienced programmers who already kno and object oriented programming lanaguage well. In about 200 pages it brings you upto speed with C# and most of its features that you'll use extensively. It covers data types, control statements, event handling, indexers, COM interop, configuration and deployment-pretty much everything at a high-level. I will definitely recommend it for a first read.
Rating: 
Summary: Hollywood and Java
Review: This book is OK (if somewhat lacking in depth) in terms of content. However, in describing the C# language and its background the author has whitewashed the influence Java obviously has on this promising new language (classes, interfaces, exception handling, and memory management or garbage collection, to name but a few). You will also find this fairly fascist erasing of history in any Microsoft spin on the C# language. Politics aside, the book isn't for programming beginners, it is an introduction (preview) for C/C++ and JAVA programmers to the forthcoming C# language and as such won't teach you much in terms of meaty application development. It's good for an overview, and seems to be the first book on C# available. Against no competition you can't lose. Perhaps if the author hadn't pretended Java doesn't exist there would have been one more star - it seems that this author and Microsoft have adopted a Hollywood approach to the past, they have rewritten it to suit their own perspective, leaving out crucial facts.
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