C# and the .NET Platform, Second Edition

Aimed
at the reader with some previous programming experience, C# and the
.NET Platform provides an enjoyable and well-paced tutorial for learning
C# and Microsoft's new .NET Framework. This well-written guide is all
you need to get onboard with the latest in Windows development.
Today,
there are a growing number of titles available for C#. This text
strikes an excellent balance between a basic language tutorial with an
authoritative presentation of what's new and better in .NET with
coverage of the some of the inner details of the platform, including
deployment. The author's patient writing style is never dull or overly
technical, which will mean this book is a good choice for a wide range
of readers approaching C# from a variety of languages including C++,
Java, and Visual Basic.
At certain points, the author looks at
"intermediate language" (IL) bytecodes that underlie the C# language.
This is particularly informative in chapters that look at assemblies and
deployment. As a tour of the basics of the C# language, this book
distinguishes itself with short, effective examples (many of which use a
set of classes modeling cars). Coverage of programming Windows Forms is
really good, as is the chapter on getting the older COM and .NET
components to interoperate. The focus of this book is mostly on
traditional client-side development, though it does cover the latest in
Web development with sections on basic ASP.NET and Web services, which
round out the book.

The author does a good job at explaining how
.NET works while bringing readers of different abilities up to speed
with C#. Experts will appreciate the detail on class design, COM, and
Web services, while beginners will be able to follow the author's
well-organized tour of the basics. In all, this combination of strengths
makes C# and the .NET Platform an attractive choice in the growing list
of titles on Microsoft's latest programming language.