In-Depth
Book Review: Delve Inside C#
The C# Programming Language is a reference book that will benefit both beginners and veterans alike. Topics include exceptions, unsafe code, generics, anonymous methods, iterators, and partial types.
The C# Programming Language is great for both experienced programmers as well as those just picking up the language. It covers the original C# specification as well as features available in version 2.0. The authors give small examples throughout the book to drive home points.
The C# Programming Language is more of a reference book than a step-by-step tutorial book. The authors discuss topics and give examples, but you won't find verbose examples you'd find in tutorial books.
The first two-thirds of the book focuses on the C# 1.0 specification. Chapters 1 and 2 give you an introduction to the language, and then the book increases gradually in complexity. The authors address the topics of exceptions and unsafe code particularly well. The last third of the book focuses on the new features of C# 2.0, where you'll find information on generics, anonymous methods, and iterators. Generics will be easy for you to pick up if you understand templates in C++. The authors explain why the compiler won't accept generics being used one way and not another. They also discuss partial types briefly as well; partial types allow you to define a type across multiple source files.
I found this book useful—in fact, it's already on the community shelf at work for the other programmers to reference as they see fit. Beginners will benefit from the majority of the book, and there's a good amount of information for seasoned developers in the latter portion.
The C# Programming Language
by Anders Hejlsberg, Scott Wiltamuth, and Peter Golde
Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 0321154916
Price: $29.99
Quick Facts: Covers C# language specification for 1.0 and 2.0.
Pros: Excellent for both beginners and veterans.
Cons: None.
About the Author
David Mack is a technical lead and consultant for the National Intelligence Division at Titan Systems. He has more than 10 years of experience in management and software engineering. Reach him at [email protected].