Product Description

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

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.

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.

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.

2 out of 2 found the following review helpful.

Own both this book and C# 3.0 Pocket Reference by the same authors. Pocket Reference is a great little book, it is short on detail and in depth information on the subject. In the Pocket Reference that is fine, but for more detail and in depth information C# 3.0 in a Nutshell is a good quality book. It is not one of the books that I have read cover to cover, but C# in a Nutshell is one of the first books I pull off the book shelf when I need to look up a concept. As stated in the title, it is a reference book and does that job very well. If the reader has a background in programming and just needs a reference book on C# concepts this is a solid book.

As one reviewer stated the book does have excess material which is not directly related to C#. That doesn't mean the information isn't important or valuable to anyone writing C# code.

If you want a quick overview of a concept and a peak at a code example, the Pocket Reference will do. If on the other hand you want a better understanding of the concept, choose C# In a Nutshell.