Sebastopol, CA--Jesse Liberty, the author of Programming C# (O'Reilly, US $39.95), describes C# (pronounced C Sharp) as a language that draws on the lessons of the past three decades. He says, "In much the way that you can see in young children the features and personalities of their parents and grandparents, you can easily see in C# the influence of Java, C++, Visual Basic (VB), and other languages." Announced by Microsoft more than a year ago as part of the unveiling of the .NET platform, C# was designed to combine the high-performance of C, the object-oriented structure of C++, the security of Java, and the rapid development of Visual Basic in a new language especially for .NET development.
The focus of Liberty's book is the C# language and its use as a tool for programming on the .NET platform. As Liberty explains, Programming C# is a tutorial, both on C# and on writing .NET applications with C#. "You learn C# specifically to create .NET applications," says Liberty. "Pretending otherwise would miss the point of the language. Thus, this book does not consider C# in a vacuum but places the language firmly in the context of Microsoft's .NET platform and in the development of desktop and Internet applications."
With the recent release of Beta 2 of C#, developers who have waited to see how the language would take shape can now get down to the business of programming in it. Liberty calls it a critical moment in the adoption of C# and .NET, "Beta 2 is a stabile product, and Microsoft assures us that the changes to version 1 will be restricted to bug fixes. Developers are eager to learn this new technology now, and it is the time when judgments about it are being made."
"Frankly, I think C# is one of the most important developments in 10 years," Liberty adds. "I expect C# to become the development language of choice for Windows development, and one of the two most important languages (alongside Java) for Web development. Microsoft has 'bet the company' on .NET, and C# is the fulcrum of their .NET efforts."
Programming C# was written for programmers who want to develop applications for the .NET platform and assumes some previous programming experience, most likely C++, Java or VB. However, readers who have experience with other programming languages and readers who have no specific programming experience but who have worked with HTML and other web technologies will also find the book useful.
"This book does not attempt to duplicate the extensive documentation already available from Microsoft," says Liberty. "My goal with 'Programming C#' was to tell the story of programming in C#, to guide the reader through the most important aspects of the language and the frameworks and provide a solid grounding from which they can continue to learn and experiment."
Online Resources:An article by the author, "Top Ten Traps in C# for C++ Programmers."
Chapter 18, "Attributes and Reflection," is available free online.
More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples.
A cover graphic in jpeg format.
Programming
C#
By Jesse Liberty
ISBN 0-596-00117-7, 658 pages, $39.95 (US)
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