Press Release
December 17, 2007
Head First C#--New from O'Reilly Media: There's never been a better time--or a better way--to learn C#
Sebastopol, CA--Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene believe there has
never been a better time to learn C#. One reason is the imminent release
of C# 3.0. "Microsoft is releasing some really awesome improvements in C#
3.0," says Greene. "A lot of the things that people can do in just a few
lines with 3.0 would have taken much more code just a year ago. Not to
mention the release of Visual Studio 2008 Express--a few years back, you
had to buy programming tools from Microsoft. Now you can download them for
free, and that gives people a great way to learn C# without spending a lot
of money."
"That's right," Stellman agrees. "There are all sorts of new features in
the Visual Studio 2008 and C# 3.0 that will be released this month."
But improvements to the language aren’t the only reasons why it's a good
time to learn C#. Stellman and Greene have joined forces as authors once
again to produce Head First C# (O'Reilly, US $49.99), a brain-friendly
guide to the popular language, making it easy for just about anyone to
tackle the subject.
"Currently, it's very hard for both beginning programmers and people who
have experience with other languages to learn how to work with all the
great new features. We're giving them an easy way to learn," says
Stellman.
Head First C# is a complete learning experience for object-oriented
programming, C#, and the Visual Studio IDE. Written for your brain, the
book covers C# 3.0 and Visual Studio 2008, and teaches everything from
garbage collection to extension methods to double-buffered animation.
Readers will also master C#'s hottest and newest syntax, LINQ, for
querying data in .NET collections, SQL databases, and more.
If you've never read a Head First book, you're in for a treat. Head First
authors know that your time is too valuable to spend struggling with new
concepts. Using the latest in cognitive science and learning theory to
craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First C# uses a visually
rich format designed for the way your brain works, rather than a
text-heavy approach that'll put you to sleep.
"The bottom line with any book is that you can't really learn to program
from reading," says Stellman. "You only learn to program by solving
problems. And that's what we set out to--give the reader lots of practice
solving increasingly complex and fun programming problems. If you enjoy
building things and working out how things work, Head First C# is for
you."
"If you've got some programming experience, this book will be especially
fun" adds Greene. "There are a lot of Visual Basic programmers who will
have a leg up when they start this book. We kept them in mind and tried to
give them an entertaining and fast-paced experience. But someone who has
no programming experience at all should still have no trouble learning C#.
It's a great language to start with, and we made sure to give beginning
programmers everything they need."
Andrew Stellman, despite being raised a New Yorker, has lived in
Pittsburgh twice. The first time was when he graduated from Carnegie
Mellon's School of Computer Science, and then again when he and Jenny were
starting their consulting business and writing their first project
management book for O'Reilly. When he moved back to his hometown, his
first job after college was as a programmer at EMI-Capitol Records--which
actually made sense, since he went to LaGuardia High School of Music and
Art and the Performing Arts to study cello and jazz bass guitar. He and
Jenny first worked together at that same financial software company, where
he was managing a team of programmers. He's since managed various teams of
software engineers, requirements analysts, and led process improvement
efforts. Andrew keeps himself busy eating an enormous amount of string
cheese and Middle Eastern desserts, playing music (but video games even
more), studying taiji and aikido, having a girlfriend named Lisa, and
owing a Pomeranian.
Jennifer Greene studied philosophy in college but, like everyone else in
the field, couldn't find a job doing it. Luckily, she's a great software
tester, so she started out doing it at an online service, and that's the
first time she got a good sense of what project management was. She moved
to New York in 1998 to test software at a financial software company. She
managed a team of testers at a really cool startup that did artificial
intelligence and natural language processing. Since then, she's managed
large teams of programmers, testers, designers, architects, and other
engineers on lots of projects, and she's done a whole bunch of procurement
management. She loves traveling, watching Bollywood movies, drinking
carloads of carbonated beverages, and owing a whippet.
More information about Head First C#, including table of contents, index,
author bio, and samples
Head First C#
Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene
ISBN: 0-596-51482-4, $49.99
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
1-707-827-7000
About O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.
Return to: O'Reilly Press Room
|
Recent Press Releases
Press Release Archive »
Resources
Press Contacts
Corporate
Sara Winge
800/998-9938 x7109
Media Relations - North America
Sara Peyton
800/998-9938 x7118
Media Relations - Germany
Corina Pahrmann
+49-221-973160-22
Media Relations - Japan
Kenji Watari
+81-3-3356-5227
Media Relations - United Kingdom
Josette Garcia
+44 (0)1252-721284
Media Relations - Conferences
Maureen Jennings
800/998-9938 x7083
|
