Section 1 provides a basic introduction about Visual Studio 2005. Chapter 1 examines how to get start with the C# language. The author provides a brief comparison about the benefits of C# over other languages such as Java including a short tour of the Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The relevant portions of the screenshots have been marked with notes and it will help beginners to understand the development environment in a quick way. While chapter 2 deals with the design of a Windows Forms application, chapter 3 examines how to write the code and test it. The author has examined the concepts with an imaginary example and I hope this will help readers to grasp the content very easily and in a quick span of time.

Section 2 provides a detailed explanation about the essentials of C# language such as data types, control structures, event handlers, exception, data validation, arrays, collections and debugging. The author also demonstrates the different ways by which you can tweak dates and strings including some of the advanced controls included with Visual Studio 2005. Section 3 examines the core aspects of Object Oriented Programming (OOP) such as Classes, Indexers, Delegates, Events, Operators, Inheritance and Interfaces. This section also provides a brief coverage about Generics which is a new feature of C#.

Section 4 provides a detailed explanation regarding the various aspects of database programming. The author examines the concepts using a sample application titled Customer Invoice Maintenance with the help of supported screenshots along with the source code and detailed analysis. I am sure that the sample project will be a big boon for beginners. The author also devotes a chapter about how to write your own data access code using ADO.NET and the usage of data sources with business objects. I hope these chapters will be of great use for advanced developers.

The final section deals with some of the advanced functionalities such as files and streams including the manipulation of XML using C#. The author also provides additional tips for enhancing the user interface of a Windows Forms application such as Single Document Interface (SDI) and Multiple Document Interface (MDI), creation of Menus, Toolbars, Tooltips and Context sensitive help. The final chapter of the book demonstrates the different ways by which you can deploy a C# application such as XCopy and Click Once deployment scenarios. The author also examines how to create and use a setup program including the deployment of a database application in a network server, local environment and on a remote web server. The author has provided a list of important properties, events and methods in a tabular format along with a brief description.