Microsoft Silverlight Books

Good content, thoughtful explanations

First, don't be put off by the irony of an 800+ page nutshell book.

I like how the authors explain some advanced topics, such as delegates, events, lambda expressions, anonymous methods, and contravariance. They seem to do in one paragraph what eludes most other authors.

I've read several of the sections off and on, and I get the feeling that the authors are writing from experience and with a practical deliberation. This approach seems to fit well with the spirit of a nutshell book, where you are looking to cut to the chase.

This is not a beginner book, and a reader would benefit from some previous knowledge/experience with C#. However, it is also written well enough so that a beginner would not be completely lost.

G. Askew
23 January, 2010

Helped me port code from C++ to C#

Very concise and easy to understand. I used this book as a reference while porting code from C++ to C#. First four chapters gave me a great overview of the language. The rest of the book handles the more specific mechanisms in C# and .NET

K. San Vicente
27 September, 2009

Nothing more I can really say...

That hasn't already been stated in other reviews.

Basically, if you have any experience with structured scripting languages whatsoever - even basic JavaScript - you can learn (or freshen up) C# with this book quite easily. It presents the information in a way that is easy for those who learn by definition: Telling you what each reference is and what it does, then showing you an example of how it's used and what the outcome will be.

My only real complaint, and it may not be a complaint for you, is that there doesn't seem to be a plan or methodology, no linearity, in the way the information is given. It jumps around in a way that is a bit difficult to follow; the content is easy to understand, but I was hoping for something that more closely emulates stepping through an actual script. Start with the 'using' reference, explain that, then go to some of the common entry points and explain those, etc. You don't learn about 'using' until like 50 pages into the book, even though that's 9 times out of 10 the first line in the code.

Small nitpick, but it did affect me a bit, so I felt it necessary to note here in case you feel the same.

I suggest if you can find this book at a Borders or Barnes and Noble and can flip through it before buying (and I would suggest buying it from Amazon to save $10 if you like it), please do so. Make sure the layout of the book works for you. The content is guaranteed to.

M.D.C.
25 September, 2009

Yes, a great reference

This is indeed a well written book that I rarely finds in the category of language references.
This book covers huge array of C# features without loss of technical depth. I'll keep it on my desk all the time.

Sang-min Park
02 August, 2009

Great Book

There are a lot of reviews with all of the details on why you should by this book. I agree, it's a great reference and learning aid, you need this book.

Side note, I would love to hear the story of why the authors of the 2nd edition are: Ben Albahari, Peter Drayton, Ted Neward and the current (3rd) edition are just: Joseph & Ben Albahari... what happened to Peter and Ted? Didn't they write anything the first time around? or did Joseph need a book on his resume? Lol, wonder which.

Toaster
09 July, 2009