Many publishers have released books for learning C# programming. But some of these books cover only certain aspects of the C# language such as ADO.NET, Windows Forms, ASP.NET, etc. There are only very few books which examine the C# language completely. Moreover, these books are too bulky to handle. Core C# and .NET covers almost all aspects of the C# language in a concise format. This book is neither too bulky nor too small but provides information right from the fundamentals.

This book has been divided into four parts and eighteen chapters with two useful appendixes. Chapter 1 provides a basic introduction of the Microsoft .NET Framework and C#. It examines CLR, .NET Framework class libraries, various tools, and C# Compiler. Chapter 2 examines the core concepts of the C# language such as operators, loops, strings, arrays, etc. with the help of source codes.

Chapters 3 and 4 delve deep into various aspects of C# such as classes, methods, delegates, events, operator overloading, generics, exception handling, and serialization. You should note that generics are a new addition to C# 2.0 and have been covered with the help of a complete example. Chapter 5 provides a comprehensive explanation about strings, StringBuilder class, streams, and regular expressions.

Chapters 6 and 7 will help you to learn about Windows Forms and the various .NET controls such as Button, CheckBox, ProgressBar, Timer, etc. An important point to note is that the functioning of each control has been explained with the help of relevant codes and screenshots of the final output produced by each code.

Chapters 8 and 9 provide brief coverage of graphics, images, fonts, and printing. Chapter 8 includes a sample project: Building a Color Viewer. I feel that sample projects will surely help a reader grasp the concepts very easily. Chapters 10, 11, and 12 examine the core concepts such as XML, ADO.NET, and data binding with Windows Forms controls. Among other topics, you will learn the usage of GridView class with the help of Chapter 12.

Chapters 13, 14, and 15 throw light upon some of the advanced concepts such as asynchronous programming and multithreading. These chapters also cover remoting, security, deployment of applications, and much more.

If you are a .NET addict with a craze for Internet, then the chapters inside Part 4 are for you. These chapters examine ASP.NET Web Forms, usage of code behind techniques, master pages, usage of the web.config file, caching, Web services, WSDL, SOAP, and lot more. I feel that a project about developing a shopping cart application would be an added bonus for this part, and I hope the author will consider this when writing the next edition.

The final section of this book contains two appendixes. One is about C# 2.0 features, and the other provides information about events and delegates included with DataGridView controls in a tabular format. At the end, the author also provides answers to all the questions included with the exercises in each chapter. I feel that this will be useful for readers who want to know the answers to all those questions.

Each chapter ends with a short summary and also provides test questions under the heading “Test Your Understanding”. I found that each chapter is written in an easy-to-understand language with complete source code. Some books tend to give portions of code along with explanations, but Core C# and .NET provides complete source code.

I feel that this book should come with a CD containing the source code files and some of the freely available editors for programming with C#. However, the author maintains a website for the support of this book. The site contains complete source codes, errata, sample projects covered on the book, links to some of the important websites, and a useful C# quick reference card in PDF format.

Finally, Core C# and .NET is an exhaustive and accurate encyclopedia for learning C#. It is an ideal reference book for all levels of developers. No doubt this book deserves a five-star rating.

About the book

Core C# and .NET by Stephen C. Perry (Prentice Hall PTR)

Price: USD 49.99