Recommend a book

[Xav]

My suggested book (above) scratches the surface on databases, but you really need a dedicated book on databases.

[jackolantern]

I suggest first to read Teach Yourself C# 2008 in 24 Hours. Then, after you have read that you will have a good *beginner* foundation to pick up and tackle Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform" by Andrew Troelson. It is the most comprehensive C# and .NET book I have ever seen, which I am working through right now. It is a large book, though, clocking in at almost 1400 pages. If you read through that, however, you will not need another general programming book. I got it, and it is saving me lots of time and money off having to buy more books.

I really cannot recommend that one enough. Nothing is as comprehensive, and it goes in-depth into .NET, whereas TYC#24Hours does not go into .NET really at all. You do need a foundation in the basics before you begin it, though.

[Xav]

TYC#24Hours does not go into .NET really at all.

I disagree. The book dedicated a whole chapter at the end just to .NET in general.

[jackolantern]

I disagree. The book dedicated a whole chapter at the end just to .NET in general.

That chapter was really just a 10,000 foot view (as the name of the chapter states). It did not go into much actual usage of the various .NET 3.5 base classes available. That is why I highly suggest getting Pro C# 2008 and .NET 3.5. You will learn all about delegates, lamdas, boxing and unboxing (and the shortcomings of it) as well as web services and much more. The author also uses ildasm.exe as a means to study the underlying CIL code to better understand how and why the compiler is doing what it is doing. You really won't get all of that in either of the C# "Teach yourself in..." books.

Don't get me wrong. I love those two books, and usually recommend "Teach Yourself C# in 21 Days" for people with no programming experience who need to start from the ground up, or "...C# in 24 Hours" for people who have some programming exposure who just need to get up to speed on the C# way of doing things. Both of these books have what I consider to be the best introduction to visual Windows form development in any beginner book, which will probably be new to the reader if they have never used any language in Visual Studio. Either case, though, I highly suggest "Pro C# and .NET 3.5 Platform" as the follow-up to go much more in-depth.

The only shortcoming I can see in Pro C# is that it is not laid out with end-of-chapter exercises or questions, so it is really up to the reader to be proactive and use what they are learning while they are reading.