Microsoft .NET for Programmers

by Manuel Dennis III

I have a over 2 dozen .NET books and this is one of a few that covers C#.  The book covers 8 chapters in  easy to read straight forward manner.    The book covers assemblies, ADO.NET, .NET Remoting, Web Services, Windows Forms, and ASP.NET Web Forms.  The book also includes a short, quick, easy appendix which is an excellent way of brushing up on C#.  

The explanations are simple yet clear.  The book takes the new C# developer across all aspects of developing an online poker game that utilizes all areas covered in the book.  The book is packed with many code examples, which makes the book quite easy to read and follow with true examples.  It did not contain a CD, but most newer books are posting  source code online.  

This book is a good read for any programmer who has an interest in the fundamentals of .NET and is willing to learn a bit of C# in the process.  The book also comes with a clear chart on what assemblies contain classes.  This book will make learning .NET much easier than some of those wordy 1000 page jobs.  Not that less is better, but this book is to the point.  If you want the stuff from the help file, you can read the help files.  There is very little "Let's copy what Microsoft says about .NET."

On the negative side, even though it may be a positive, I have seen some of this code samples already floating around the internet.  The email example one example I have come across before I read this book.