Many publishers have released an array of books about the latest version of C# and even though they are useful, there is something special with the C# 2005 book recently released by Murach Publishing. The book is written by Joel Murach and has been divided into 5 sections which consist of 25 chapters of high quality content. Each chapter provides a comprehensive explanation about the various concepts involved with C#, source codes with detailed analysis, screenshots with screen notes and much more.

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.

I wonder why the publisher has specified code listings as figures. I feel that it will sometimes create confusion among readers. With the help of the book, a learner can easily dissect source codes since relevant explanations are provided along with the code itself in the form of Notes marked with square brackets. You will find this statement absolutely true if you go through some of the pages on the book.

I would recommend the author to include multiple choice questions at the end of each chapter so that computer training centers can use the book as a course material for imparting training for their students. However, the author has provided exercises at the end of each chapter and I hope it will be of great benefit to students. If you would like to learn ASP.NET 2.0 using C# then you should buy Murach's ASP.NET 2.0 Web Programming with C# 2005 instead. I would like to emphasize that the title of the book will possibly create confusion among readers. It should be either Murach C# 2.0 or Murach Visual C# 2005. I hope the publisher will think about this comment deeply.

Finally, I would say that the book is a must for those students who wish to master Pure C# in a quick span of time. I have no hesitation in giving this book a five star rating. In fact, Murach books are a great addition for a developer's library.