C# 2005, Murach
Microsoft .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Visual C# (CSharp, C Sharp, C-Sharp) Developer Training, Visual Studio
|
Contents |
C# Online.NET Book Review
As with many Murach books, I feel this volume is best suited to instructor-led training. The reason is that the trademark Murach paired page format and the series of How Tos often do not allow sufficent context or explanatory detail. And, the books are short on theory by design. Transitions between How-Tos can be a bit for abrupt for the novice. An instructor or a reader's prior experience can fill in the gaps and flesh out the concepts presented. And, there is plenty of room on the page or in the margins for making notes.
Readers whose learning style fits the Murach style tend to be fanatic about it. If you have tried a lot of books from other publishers without satisfaction, I strongly urge you to try a Murach title to see if the format works for you.
A reader who has already been exposed to the subject matter can definitely make good use of the How-Tos as reference material. However, an experienced programmer would find the inherent redundacy of the paired page format irritating if used as a straight read.
This book is an update of the 2002-03 edition of Murach's C# which received great reviews—especially from its readers. I consider it a very good sign when the readers, themselves, have a high opinion of a book and go to the trouble to make their opinion known. Murach's C# 2005 has the same basic layout and practical orientation as its predecessor, coaching the reader in beginning to intermediate C# programming skills.
This book devotes two entire chapters to the introduction of the Visual Studio integrated development environment (IDE). And, the use of Visual Studio continues throughout the book. This is a great asset; because, most C# books cover Visual Studio only cursorily. The book is especially lucid on C# basics, object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts, and database programming using ADO.NET (five full chapters).
Bottom line
Murach's C# 2005 is an excellent first C# tutorial for teachers and students in a classroom or on-the-job training setting.
Other books in this series
Publisher's description
From the Publisher During the last 30 years, many customers have asked me how it is that a small publisher in Fresno can make the best programming books. The short answer is that no other publisher works the way we do.
Instead of using freelance writers who get no training, we use a small staff of programmers who are trained in our proven writing and teaching methods. Instead of publishing 40+ books each year, we focus on just a few. Instead of showing pieces of code, we provide complete applications that have been checked and re-checked for accuracy. And instead of rushing books to market, we refuse to let schedule or budget interfere with quality. As I see it, that’s the only way to make sure that every book we publish is the best one on its subject.
From the Publisher's Web site
- It teaches you all the new language features that make C# 2005 such an outstanding development tool, like refactoring, typed collection classes, delegates, partial classes, and data sources.
- It teaches you all the basic C# features that have carried over from earlier editions of C# and that you'll use every day.
- It teaches you underlying OOP concepts and features like inheritance and interfaces that make you a savvy, confident developer.
- It teaches you how to handle databases…a must in business applications.
- In fact, we guarantee that this book will teach you to develop Windows Forms applications in C# 2005 more effectively than any other book on the shelf. Here are some of the reasons why.
1: A FAST start This book gets you going fast by showing you how to use Visual Studio.NET 2005, the C# language, and an essential set of .NET classes to develop Windows Forms applications. In fact, by the end of the first 3 chapters (section 1), you'll have designed, coded, and debugged your first business applications. And by the end of section 2, you'll be developing multi-form projects that validate input data, do repetitive processing using arrays and collections, manipulate dates and strings, and much more.
2: Object-oriented programming made clear When it comes to object-oriented programming, too many C# books resort to whimsical but useless metaphors, like illustrating objects by creating animal classes such as mammals, cats, and dogs. Then they leave it up to you to figure out how to transfer these concepts to business applications. In contrast, we present business objects such as customers, invoices, and products so you can see how OOP is used to create multi-tiered applications in the real world.
3: Database training you'll use all the time Most business applications require database handling. So this book gives you an entire section (5 chapters) that shows you what you need to know. That includes: using the new 2005 data sources and DataGridView control to develop complete database applications with a minimum of data access code...using ADO.NET to write your own data access code...and using ADO.NET with object data sources to create 3-layer applications that take advantage of data binding. This is powerful stuff that's glossed over in a chapter or two in other books, so you won't want to miss it.
4: No side-stepping of business requirements This book presents complete, non-trivial applications that illustrate what you need to know on the job. For example, chapter 21 presents an Order Entry database application that uses object data sources, business classes, database classes, and transactions. Studying complex applications like these is the key to mastering C# development, but you won't find them in many other C# books.
5: Practice exercises solidify your skills The exercises at the end of each chapter let you apply what you've learned, giving you valuable, hands-on experience. To help you make the best use of your time, we provide the starting points and solutions for these exercises here at our site.
6: Re-engineered with the 2005 developer in mind Some C# 2005 books are just C# 2002/2003 books with the 2005 features tacked on. But our book has been reworked from start to finish. So the new features are fully integrated into the text where they make the most sense. The database programming section has been redone because that subject has changed so dramatically in C# 2005. And the object oriented programming section has been overhauled because we knew we could improve it. The result: A book that's better than ever at being the on-the-job tutorial and reference you need in C#.
7: Paired pages make learning a breeze If you haven't ever used one of our books before, you may want to download a sample chapter before you buy. If you do, you'll discover why programmers are so impressed by our "paired pages" format and why college students ask their instructors for Murach books. Not only does this format make learning easier and faster, but it also makes this the ideal reference book when you're on the job.
Murach books have a distinctive format. Each two-page spread presents a single topic: the lefthand page explains the topic, while the righthand page shows the critical details, using syntax, code, screen shots, and how-to notes.
Beginners tell us they like this format because it breaks the material down into manageable bites. Experienced developers like it because they can pick up on information that's new or interesting just by paging through. And developers at any level find it makes a great reference format because it's so easy to pinpoint the development details they're looking for.
Who this book is for
This book is for anyone who wants to learn how to use C# 2005 to develop Windows Forms applications. It works if you’re new to Microsoft's .NET development environment. It works if you’re an experienced .NET developer who’s new to C#. It works if you have programming experience with another language like Java, C++, or COBOL. And it works if you’ve already read 3 or 4 other C# 2005 books and still don’t know how to develop a real-world business application.
Table of Contents (abbreviated)
Section 1 An introduction to Visual Studio
Chapter 1 How to get started with Visual Studio
Chapter 2 How to design a Windows Forms application
Chapter 3 How to code and test a Windows Forms application
Section 2 The C# language essentials
Chapter 4 How to work with numeric and string data
Chapter 5 How to code control structures
Chapter 6 How to code methods and event handlers
Chapter 7 How to handle exceptions and validate data
Chapter 8 How to work with arrays and collections
Chapter 9 How to work with dates and strings
Chapter 10 More skills for working with controls and multi-form projects
Chapter 11 How to debug an application
Section 3 Object-oriented programming
Chapter 12 How to create and use classes
Chapter 13 How to work with indexers, delegates, events, and operators
Chapter 14 How to work with inheritance
Chapter 15 How to work with interfaces and generics
Chapter 16 How to organize and document your classes
Section 4 Database programming
Chapter 17 An introduction to database programming
Chapter 18 How to use data sources with databases (part 1)
Chapter 19 How to use data sources with databases (part 2)
Chapter 20 How to use ADO.NET to write your own data access code
Chapter 21 How to use data sources with business objects
Section 5 Other skills for C# developers
Chapter 22 How to work with files and data streams
Chapter 23 How to work with XML
Chapter 24 How to enhance the user interface
Chapter 25 How to deploy an application
