[.ca] .Net Framework Essentials (ISBN 0596005059)

From Amazon.co.uk:
.Net Framework Essentials is a concise introduction to Microsoft's next-generation development platform. This second edition is based on the full release code, unlike the earlier title which used a beta version. The aim is to get developers up to speed on what the .Net Framework is all about, especially those making or considering the transition from traditional Windows programming. The subject is the Framework itself, rather than development tools such as Visual Studio .NET. The book starts with the Common Language Runtime, examining its code execution and how it handles components, versions, types and security. Next there is a look at programming in C+, Visual Basic and C#. A chapter on components describes .Net deployment options, including coverage of COM+ services and distributed applications. A section on database development with ADO .Net follows, and then an overview of XML Web services. The last two chapters tackle ASP .NET, the platform for dynamic Web applications, and then Windows Forms, which are traditional Windows applications running on the .Net Framework. Each chapter describes the technology in question and includes short code examples that put it to work. Most of the code is in C#. This is a fast-paced title that is written with experienced developers in mind, which means solid technical content and no verbose explanations. It is a short book on a big subject, but with impressive depth in places, such as when the authors find space for example code in the low-level IL (Intermediate Language). That means it gives great insight into how the Framework fits together, but risks losing touch with more general readers. The material is of consistently high quality, making this an excellent book for .NET developers. --Tim Anderson

.Net Essentials:
The .NET Framework edition of publisher O'Reilly® Essentials series is an excellent introduction to Microsoft's new software development framework. This book is suitable for any developer who wants to understand what this new initiative is all about without having to manually strip away the marketing hype. At no point will you come across the phrase "That's the power of .NET" while reading this book. Though the authors are understandably enthusiastic about their chosen subject, their appraisal of the technology is honest, and insightful. However, this is not a how-to book. Most of the practical subjects that are discussed, such as how to create Web Services and Windows Applications using the new .NET SDK, are kept at an intentionally superficial level. This is actually a good thing, since a more in-depth look would detract from the true subject of the book: the .NET architecture, and how it works. For anyone who has ever developed with Java, .NET is going to seem awfully familiar. Both run on a virtual machines (though not exactly in the same way.) Both provide a garbage collector, thread management, exception handling, and a fully object-oriented programming paradigm. The class structures of their respective SDKs are eerily similar, and even the syntax of Microsoft's newly touted C derivative, C# (pronounced c-sharp), owes a lot to the Java programming language. There are some key differences that differentiate Microsoft's system from Sun's, but as a reader who has coded in Java, I appreciate the fact that the authors often make comparisons between the two. With this approach, Thai and Lam have helped me dismiss my initial suspicion that .NET is really just Java for Windows, and have properly explained why Microsoft's framework is in some ways even more ambitious than Java originally was. .NET Framework Essentials is nicely broken up into eight chapters, each of which addresses the interests of potential software developers. The first four chapters give an overview of the framework's design goals and discuss software development issues such as how to program for .NET, and how to work with .NET components. The second half of the book deals with the four main services provided by .NET: data processing (ADO.NET and XML), Web Services, Web Forms, and Windows Forms. A chapter is devoted to each, and enough code examples are given to illustrate the concepts that you'll finish each topic with at least a general idea of how to approach a problem in that domain. Again though, this book is an overview, and is not meant to be a reference manual by any means. One of the strongest points about this book is that it doesn't rely on the reader having access to a copy of Visual Studio.NET. Though it is mentioned several times, all code examples are given with instructions for building using the command-line compilers that come standard with the SDK. This allows readers to download the SDK from Microsoft and try the applications on his or her own computer for free. This book does a very good job of covering the comprehensive tools provided by Microsoft, and could actually be considered a good reference for the command-line arguments of these programs. An appendix is devoted to this very subject, in fact. There are only a couple of topics that would probably be of interest to experienced developers that I feel were not properly covered in this book. The first is a distinct lack of discussion regarding interoperability between .NET programs and tradition ANSI C++ programs and libraries (or even Windows applications coded using the Win32 API.) .NET is multi-language, but for a language to be part of the club, it needs to conform to .NET's Common Language Specification, which traditional C++ does not do. Microsoft has produced Managed C++ as a possible gateway between the two, but it's not clear at all how well .NET will deal with traditional libraries such as the STL, or even with more specific packages such as OpenGL. This is an issue that should have deserved a few paragraphs in this book, at least. The second issue I had was that given that .NET relies on a common SDK for all of it's languages, and given that this is a book that covers the essentials of the NET framework, it would be reasonable to assume that the SDK would be one of it's main topics. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Having read the book, I understand why that is so, but I could also see this as being slightly misrepresentative for anyone picking this book up off the shelf expecting a reference book on the .NET SDK. All in all, .NET Framework Essentials is an excellent overview of the subject for someone who doesn't know much about it and would like to know more. It targets developers who have experience, and doesn't treat them like fools. In general, it's a read-once book that you might refer to later for it's excellent coverage of Microsoft's command-line tools.

To Software Developers: Don't Bother:
IMHO, OReilly tends to have the best technology books (I own many) but this book isn't one of them. This book is lightweight even as an introduction. This book is certainly fine for managers, senior architects, and business types, but if you plan to design and write software I recommend Jeff Prosise's "Programming Microsoft .NET" and Jeffrey Richter's "Applied Microsoft .NET Framework Programming", though a bit dated, both cover the .NET framework essentials and then some.

OK but others are better:
It is a fairly shallow overview of the .NET framework. The author tries to cover a lot of ground but that means each topic worth a chapter in another topical book gets a few pages here at most. The book could come in handy if you just want a quick refresher before you go out for a .NET-related job interview .. ;) but not for serious learning.

Nice work.:
.NET Framework Essentials will clear away the hype.

Excellent:
Very well written primer on the .Net framework, internal workings of the CLR and language fundamentals. Great book.