Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0596000790, Paperback)

If you want to learn Microsoft's new C# programming language quickly, you can perhaps do no better than C# Essentials, a compact and extremely intelligent guide.

While most of today's programming books seem to be trying to outdo one another in sheer page count, this one bucks the trend with an extremely concise--yet entirely thorough--treatment of C#. This is an efficiently packed, language-based guide that's perfect for those with some previous object-oriented programming experience. It covers all C# language keywords, with particular attention to class design constructs. Short code excerpts, rather than full-length programs, are used to illustrate every feature of the language, from basic design types to data types, class design constructs (including all the details of inheritance), and the basics of the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR). You'll learn how to model classes correctly using the most advanced features (such as reflection and attributes) that help make C# particularly powerful and elegant.

Advanced topics include a guide to making Win32 API calls from within C#, new threading options, and how to interoperate with legacy DLLs and COM objects in C#. At just 200 pages, this text still manages to cover a lot of ground with the specifics of C#, and with many of the features that help give C# its personality as a programming language.

Admirably concise, yet filled with expert knowledge for exploiting both basic and advanced features, this title earns high marks as a tutorial for learning Microsoft's latest programming language. It's sure to be a useful choice for any experienced programmer tackling C# for the first time. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction and tutorial for C# The Common Language Runtime (CLR) A minimal program in C# Identifiers and variables Inheritance Classes and interfaces Arrays Enums Delegates Events Exception handling Attributes Unsafe code Programming with the built-in .NET Framework classes Math and string classes Collections Support for regular expressions I/O and networking classes Threading .NET assemblies and deployment issues Reflection Interoperability with COM and .NET Overview of .NET packages for common programming tasks (including collections, Web services, XML, and Web-based applications) Essential .NET tools References to C# keywords References and format specifiers