Recently MSPress gave me a copy of Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2008: The Language (Donis Marshall, ISBN 0735625409) to read and review. Having read the book cover to cover, I thoroughly enjoyed every page.

Background

First, a quick bit of background to let you know where I’m coming from. I’m a self-taught C# and .NET programmer – so this is the first book I’ve read on the subject. I wasn’t expecting to learn much about C# itself in the book, more the technologies that were added in .NET 3.5 (LINQ, extension functions, etc). Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.

Look and Feel

Overall, the book reads like a technical manual. Marshall writes in a very dry fashion, and it’s not the type of book you would read from end-to-end for the sake of reading a book. The use of code samples and real life examples help solidify lessons are fantastic to understand the technical jargon used. All of the paragraphs are kept short and concise are often intermingled with MSDN style documentation and examples.

Typically, the learning curve in each chapter is quite sharp, starting with basic knowledge about the subject and rapidly accelerating to the newer and complex features that .NET 3.5 introduces. The chapters are very content heavy, but this load is lightened by attempting to replicate the examples are trying out new knowledge in Visual Studio while reading. Mixing reading with coding is probably the best way to maximise the learning from this book.

Target Audience

Marshall requests a basic knowledge of programming and Object Orientated concepts. I would also add that a basic knowledge of C#, .NET and Visual Studio are highly recommended. This book is by no means a ‘C# for Dummies’ style guide. The book is more angled towards .NET 2.0 programmers looking to upgrade, Java (or other OO) programmers looking to switch languages or a Computer Science student who wishes to learn .NET.

Content

To say the least, this book is fantastic. Marshall demonstrates her mastery of .NET in the deep level of knowledge presented in this book. There were a great number of things that I learnt for the first time while reading this book, even basic concepts of C# (did you know that C# has a ?? operator?). The topics presented spread from basic Visual Studio usage to LINQ, delegates and the operations of the .NET Garbage Collector.

I’ve learnt a massive amount from this book, and am much more confident in using some of the new features in .NET 3.5 such as Lambda functions and LINQ. The book also contained quite a lot that I would have never learnt from my self-learning such as the internal workings of the Garbage Collector and using some advanced debugging and profiling tools.

Conclusion

Reading this book was beyond valuable for me. I have improved my coding techniques and now understand other coding examples much easier. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with some experience with Object Orientated languages and techniques who wishes to start coding in C# .NET 3.5.

More info and books at http://www.mspress.com.au/ 

- Daniel Paoliello
Curtin MSP

On Thursday and Friday last week, MSPs from all over Australia gathered at Microsoft’s Australian HQ for the Aussie MSP Summit 2009.

We were treated to two awesome days of presentations, workshops, gaming, food, prizes and plenty of free stuff.

Day 1 kicked off with some intros to awesome programs available to students such as DreamSpark, Imagine Cup, Students 2 Business, Microsoft Student Partners, MSDN-AA, Student Tech Clubs, Channel8 and more. Microsoft provided lunch with a chance to checkout some cool technologies in the cafeteria. The afternoon continued with presentations from Microsoft staff on Microsoft programs such as It’s Not Piracy, Microsoft Learning, MSPress, IT Academy, Imagine Cup and technologies such as Windows Live and Windows Mobile.

After a big first day, we all jumped into the bus and headed to the Great Northern Hotel for dinner and drinks.

Around 9pm we made it back to Microsoft Australia and went straight to the Xbox room. We were lucky to be able to play Halo Wars before its release along with other great games. Gears of War 2, Call of Duty and Forza seemed popular!

At the end of the night the MSPs were shocked to hear they would all be given Xbox 360s along with 4 games and an extra controller! Microsoft has gone out of their way to ensure when MSPs share their love of technology with the community, they can actually share it!

After a quick refresh on the previous days content, Day 2 started with a presentation from GP on where MSPs fit into the big picture at Microsoft. Michael Kordahi followed with an awesome presentation on the future of technology. Andrew Coates demonstrated Live Meeting and Nick Hodge presented on Microsoft’s Open Source program. Lunch was provided by the guys from Atomic Magazine who asked us to give away their magazines at our events… awesome for students all-round!

But one of the highlights for me, was each MSP getting up to present a 5 minute demo on stuff they are passionate about.

Of course there were prizes throughout the event, for the best questions and the most involvement from MSPs.

After  2 full days, MSPs headed back to their homes, Xbox under one arm, and various other loot under the other and heads full of ideas on how they can share their passion, excitement and love of technology with their fellow students.

In fact, some already have, such as Sean’s O-Week Presentation along with his post on new stuff added to DreamSpark.

All Aussie MSPs are fired up and equipped, so join us for an awesome 2009!

Luke
Aussie MSP Lead
The University of Western Australia

To celebrate its 25th Anniversary, Microsoft Press is offering  two free E-Books:

Windows Vista Resource Kit, Second Edition

By Mitch Tulloch, Tony Northrup, and Jerry Honeycutt with the Windows Vista Team
ISBN: 9780735625969

An in-depth resource kit with all the information you need to administer Windows Vista (now with info on SP1). Sign up to download the entire e-book from here (PDF, 44.8 MB).

Microsoft® Visual C#® 2008 Express Edition: Build a Program Now!

By Patrice Pelland
ISBN: 9780735625426

Not sure where to start on Visual Studio, .NET and C#? Then grab a copy of this book and Visual Studio Express and start learning! Sign up to download the entire e-book from here (PDF, 7.8 MB)