Sebastopol, CA--C# (pronounced C sharp), the new programming language from Microsoft, is the primary language of Microsoft's recent .NET strategy, and according to Ben Albahari, coauthor of C# Essentials (O'Reilly, US $19.95), shows promise as a highly productive, highly powerful tool. In a succinct but thorough new overview of the language, C# Essentials introduces C#, and the Microsoft .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) and Base Class Libraries (BCL) that support it.

Albahari describes C# as an elegant and practical object-oriented programming language designed to give an optimal blend of simplicity, expressiveness, and performance. "C# improves on C++ and Java in many respects. It's similar to what Java would be if Java people were allowed to forget about backward compatibility and just work on making the language better," he says.

The efficient presentation of key concepts serves as a roadmap to the online documentation included with the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK, while the many examples included in this new book provide much needed context for would-be C# programmers.

"C# Essentials is a small, densely packed book," says Albahari. "If you want to get up to speed with C# and the most essential parts of .NET, then C# Essentials will get you there fast. From the outset, the decision was made to be foundational. We wanted to write a book that would give people a nucleus of knowledge from which they can explore more specific things, whether from other books or the Web. It's the core stuff that everyone should know."

C# Essentials will help experienced programmers quickly grasp the fundamentals of C# programming. In addition to overviews of C#, the CLR, and the BCL, C# Essentials includes coverage of:

• C# language elements and syntaxes, in reference format

• Major C# data types, with code examples

• Basic C# programming tasks

• Interoperations with legacy Win32 APIs and COM components, and the use of C/C++ style pointers within the managed context of the CLR

• Common development issues

C# Essentials is written for developers who are already familiar with an object-oriented language such as C++, Smalltalk, Java or Delphi. This book will help experienced programmers to get up to speed quickly on the language best suited for developing web applications and services on the Microsoft .NET platform.

Online Resources:

• Chapter One, Introduction, is available free online.

• An interview with the author.

• More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bio, and samples.

• A cover graphic in jpeg format.