Title: A Programmer's Guide to ADO.NET in C#
Author: Mahesh Chand
Publisher: Apress (2002)

In keeping first things first, I recommend this book to beginning and intermediate programmers that need a good starting foundation in database programming with ADO.NET in C#. The material is well presented and the examples are easy to follow.

I was mistaken a bit as I started this book by not realizing the target audience was the beginning and intermediate C# programmer with perhaps no experience as yet with ADO.NET. The introduction seems somewhat misleading when it states "This book is for experienced developers who want to write desktop or Web-based database applications using ADO.NET in .NET and C#." I don't want this to sound negative; it is really just a matter of identifying the correct audience for the book.

I read this book shortly before reading Data Base Programming with C# by Carsten Thomsen, another Apress offering. I found the difference between the two books worth noting here. In the case of this book, "A Programmer's Guide to ADO.NET in C#", I found the topics and examples to be a good starting point for beginning and intermediate programmers. However, similar topics discussed in "Database Programming with C#" provided not only a solid foundation for the beginner, but also carried the reader to greater levels of understanding and introduced some of the more advanced features of database programming and ADO.NET.

The author, Mahesh Chand, provides solid information for anyone needing to get started with ADO.NET in C#. There is also a great deal of information on using Visual Studio .NET and its design time features as they relate to ADO.NET.

A Programmer's Guide to ADO.NET in C#

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction to C# Chapter 2: Introduction to Windows Forms Chapter 3: Overview of ADO.NET Chapter 4: Data Components in Visual Studio .NET Chapter 5: ADO.NET Data Providers and Disconnected Classes Chapter 6: Working with XML Chapter 7: Developing Web Applications Using ADO.NET Chapter 8: Using Web Services with ADO.NET Chapter 9: Handling ADO.NET Events Chapter 10: Different Flavors of ADO.NET Chapter 11: Working with ODBC .NET Data Provider Appendix A: Relational Databases: Some Basic Concepts Appendix B: Commonly Used SQL Statements

Highlights

The first few chapters contain the obligatory introduction to C# and Windows Forms. And as the forward states, the experienced programmer can skip these sections; although, anyone who has concentrated solely on ASP.NET should look at the Windows Forms chapter just to understand some of the differences between Web Forms and Windows Forms, especially as they differ with the Visual Studio .NET design time features.

This book covers all of the release .NET Data Providers including OLE DB, SQL Server, and the release version of ODBC. Also, the XML chapters provide a good foundation and reference for the .NET XML classes.

One of the strengths of this book is its presentation of the Visual Studio .NET database design time features. In addition to the chapter on Data Components in Visual Studio .NET, the author generally presents the various uses of VS along with the examples throughout the book.

The beginning database programming should be aware that except for the Appendix, there is very little regarding basic relational database concepts. This is not to say the book is incomplete, but merely to point out that the information presented is "how to program with ADO.NET in C#", not necessarily "how to design database applications or relational database solutions."

Summary

This book provides a good tutorial and reference for beginning and intermediate programmers who want a solid foundation in ADO.NET programming in C#.

Steve Sharrock -   www.AspAlliance.com/shark / www.SharkCode.com