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Reddit mentions of C# in Depth, 3rd Edition
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Reddit mentions: 22
We found 22 Reddit mentions of C# in Depth, 3rd Edition. Here are the top ones.
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I don't know how open you are to using more than one text, but Jon Skeet's C# in Depth is about as canon as it gets. A second-term course where C# basics are already understood would be great for this text. I can't speak for a truly introductory book, however.
CLR via C# for a better understanding of the runtime you're working with.
C# in Depth for a deep dive into the language and it's features and their details of implementation.
I'd consider those two to be the primary intermediate texts.
I think you partially need to decide what area you want to focus on. Generally if you're going to delve into more advanced materials they should also be geared towards the in depth aspects of a specific technology, methodology, or problem.
I'll add a +1 for the design patterns suggestion. The Head First book is an option, but here is the book that I've got that is quite good. There's always the gang of 4 book, and although it is the "design patterns bible" its also a bit dry.
I'm also going to suggest Mark Seemann's Dependency Injection book. Although it is about DI and inversion of control containers, he also really focuses on SOLID design that makes DI more effective.
If you don't know what SOLID design principles are, then I'd brush up on that.
Turning specifically to C#, there's Jon Skeet's C# in Depth and also Jeremy Richter's CLR via C#. Both are great books are focused on roughly the same thing, understanding some of the inner workings of of the C# language, but they each approach it in a slightly different way. Although the CLR book came out before, C# in Depth seems to be a bit more highly regarded. I'd take a look at the TOC of each and see which one interests you more.
Outside of that, I'd say make sure that you really understand concepts like generics, reflection, and maybe even dive into understanding some MSIL.
That's an interesting point. I can't remember seeing books that target experienced devs that use exercises. They tend to say "here's how this works."
http://www.amazon.com/Depth-3rd-Edition-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X
^ I don't think there are exercises, but I like Jon's writing style and his technical knowledge is beyond reproach.
Unity is the bee's knees.
I've been messing with it casually for several years, and got serious in the last 2-ish years. I like it because I get to use C#, and that's the language I know best. Only problem in it's using some weird limbo version of .NET 2, that's not actually 2.0 but is also 3.0 is some places? I think it's because it's using Mono 2.0, which is some subset of .NET. It's weird. They're moving to 4.5 soon anyways so I'm hype for that. I'ts been a lot of fun regardless, I get to apply a different knowledge and tool set from my day job. Not to mention it feels great when you actually get something to build and actually work.
So anyways here's a list of resources I've found over the years to be super helpful:
Things on Reddit
Books
Videos
Other Things
That's all I can think of right now. I know it's a lot, but hopefully you can take away at least one of these resources.
Happy dev-ing!
I've also been learning C# for work, and I don't do well in classes: I learn better from books. So if books are your thing, here's a couple recommendations (all of these are on Safari Books Online, see if your work will shell out for a subscription)
As others have mentioned, writing code is the best way to get exposure. But if you're a book guy like me then there are a lot of option out there that'll accelerate the process. You'd be insane to read all the following--these are just starting points that can accommodate different interests/tastes.
Having said that, I'll start with the one book that I think every C# developer should own:
Framework Design Guidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries
... it's a good read, and it includes a lot of direct input from the designers of the C# and the .NET Framework. Microsoft has been really good about sticking to those guidelines, so you'll immediately get a leg up on the Framework libraries if you work through this book. (Also, you'll win a lot of arguments with your coworkers about how APIs should be designed.)
General knowledge books (tons to pick from, but here are some winners):
Deep dives into specific features that'll serve you well:
Note: I've never found a good LINQ book that supported how I actually use the feature. Coming from C++, you can probably just start off by thinking of the extension methods on Enumerable as a C# version of std
<algorithm>... a good way to avoid writing raw loops. But if you're a performance-obsessed game dev then you'll probably want to use LINQ sparingly--it does have some overhead.“Why is C# better than Python” is a tough question to answer, but the short answer is that all the features of C# were put there for a reason. And there are MANY features; C# has evolved over the years to support virtually all of the programming paradigms you can imagine, from procedural code to object-oriented to functional to low-level memory/hardware interaction to whatever. It’s dauntingly complex to dig into all of it, but you really only need a relatively shallow subset of those features to be productive, and you’ll only get better as you absorb more of the profile. What you find as you watch other languages like Python evolve is that they’re really playing catch-up, trying to patch in features that C# has had from its inception. Of course, trying to stick static type safety in after the fact is extremely difficult, but you’re seeing a lot of that in both Python and JavaScript. The lifecycle typically goes something like this: new developers get a whiff of the complexity of C# and are put off, then are pleasantly surprised by how easy and “flexible” JavaScript seems, spend years working with it, and then after hitting a wall with the limitations of those languages, they start down the rabbit hole of trying to monkey around with them to try to fix them up to be more like C#.
Just from the outset, static typing is a huge necessity for large software projects. You can’t afford to exist in an environment where every change of a property throws the stability of your codebase into question, with a host of problems that you can’t identify until runtime. Code clarity is, I would argue, the DEFINING feature of a stable, healthy project, and what you find with dynamically-typed languages is that people get to be afraid to refactor for clarity, because the code is brittle and can’t be changed with any reasonable
level of confidence.
Som people try to make assertions like “a good linter is just as powerful as a strongly-typed language”, but that just strikes me as nonsense. It’s only true if you can commit to using the language in a very basic, highly-conventional way, and once you’ve done that, what you’ve REALLY done is abandoned the flexibility that was the hallmark of the loosely-typed language in the first place, AND what you end up with is a very limited subset of the features a true statically-typed language gives you. It’s really tantamount to believing that most static-typing support is superfluous, which it is most definitely is not.
The thing about JavaScript in particular is that it received an enormous boost by being the only game in town. It’s still a pretty crappy language, but it used to be considerably worse; people tolerated it because it was the only game in town. Even then, it had its cadre of language evangelists who assured everybody that the overwhelmingly primitive nature of the language was really a great feature, and maybe in some abstract sense they were correct insofar as it was sufficient to become a building block for better transpiled iterations of it. But largely, as new features were introduced, developers embraced them wholeheartedly, which likely wouldn’t have been the case if there really was a ton of value in the extremely raw nature of early JavaScript.
These are a couple of really excellent resources for C#, which really dig into the design motivations of the language:
https://www.amazon.com/C-Depth-3rd-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X
https://www.amazon.com/C-7-0-Nutshell-Definitive-Reference/dp/1491987650
It’s worth noting that they’re both enormous books, and ironically the “Nutshell” book is over a thousand pages! That’s the kind of scope that you’re dealing with to really get into what C# has to offer. But once you do, it can feel awkward to switch between that and less-powerful languages. For that reason, I think every developer in any language could stand to learn about C#, since it’s just a great case study in language design.
All of that said, I always think it’s important to remember that programming in most dynamically-typed languages is pretty much like writing every C# program using Dictionary(string, object) as your only data type.
For a quick reference, I like this list of 101 LINQ samples. For something more extensive, Pro LINQ is a little old but still pretty good. Also, C# in Depth is a great all-around C# book and has a few chapters devoted to LINQ.
I haven't read any real thorough comparisons between LINQ methods and their corresponding SQL keywords, but, most of the important methods are named identically to their SQL counterparts (with a few exceptions like Take() instead of TOP). I tend to stick with the standard method syntax and lambda expressions over query syntax most of the time, although the query syntax is sometimes more readable for groupings.
I use LINQ to Objects all the time, and LINQ to XML has come in handy on more than one occasion. If your intention is to use LINQ as a replacement for ADO.NET (i.e. accessing a relational database), then you'll probably want to look into Entity Framework and LINQ to Entities (the LINQ to SQL approach has been deprecated for a few years). Whether or not you should actually do this is debatable, but that's a whole other conversation.
I can highly recommend C#in Depth. It does not start with programming basics, instead it walks you through the evolution of the language version by version, which means not only that the more advanced topics are further down the road, but also gives you a very broad understanding about why the language has developed the way it has.
Edit: also +1 for Unity. It really gives you the freedom to focus on the important parts of game development.
Given your understanding of the problem with Js/React, I'd dive right in to C#/.NetCore. You're aware of potential pitfalls and confusion of language vs framework, but there's probably not a lot of avoiding it anyway. C# is fairly straight forward for the most part. .NetCore is fairly dominant now so starting with it makes sense.
You could start with this book if you wanted:
https://www.amazon.com/Programming-Language-Covering-Microsoft-Development/dp/0321741765
Its starting to show some age, but it is where I started. It does do a good job covering stuff like value vs reference types, nulls, basic operators, special types like string, structured exception handling, etc. that could be valuable, but you can probably infer most of it if you have learned any sort of OO before. There's some stuff in there that's simply out of date, and glaringly no coverage of async/await. There are a bunch of newer language features such as string interpolation that may be better or more accepted ways to handle things these days.
edit: this is also popular, but still only up to date on C# 5.0:
https://www.amazon.com/C-Depth-3rd-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X
Read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/C-Depth-3rd-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410810230&sr=1-1&keywords=jon+skeet
Would you recommend C# In Depth?
Someone said it's a masterpiece. Another person said it's for someone who already knows a bit of C#.
I am ready to do what you said.
There isn't a 4th ed./C# 6 version out yet for this, but C# in Depth (http://www.amazon.com/Depth-3rd-Edition-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X) is basically all advanced C#/.NET topics, and extremely well written.
If you're looking to up your C# knowledge, definitely would recommend this book. (Also a lot of the C# 6 features are syntactic sugar, so you're not missing too much you can't get from an online source such as https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dn879355.aspx)
Grab a copy of Skeet's C# In Depth and consume it.
I suspect you'll find the transition pretty easy. Linq and lambdas may be a bit mind stretching at first, depending on your other experience.
As someone who spent 10+ years in Java and am doing C# currently for the last 3, I must say I strongly really prefer C#. OTOH, we use as little of the MS stack as possible otherwise: we rely on MySQL, Redis, and Servicestack
I've heard C# In Depth is pretty good. The author, Jon Skeet, works at Google and is apparently Chuck Norris as well.
Disclaimer: I never read the book.
The Pragmatic Programmer is about the discipline of Software Engineering. It focuses on treating Software Engineering like a craft, just like any other craft. Turning the focus of "just producing code" into an apprenticeship.
Clean Code is about how to write your code as cleanly as possible. Clean Code allows for better productivity, better maintenance, clearer understanding of your code, and makes communication with your peers easier.
Neither book is focused on .NET or any type of specific tech, they are more about how to approach the discipline of Software Engineering. Having that kind of mentality will help you conquer any Software Engineering hurdles you may be having.
If you feel you need to learn more about how .NET/C# works. These books might be best saved for later. But they will come in handy in the long run. It sounds to me like you have a grasp of being able to do your day-to-day job now. So maybe some general knowledge about Software Engineering would help.
If you are looking for something to read that is C# specific I cannot recommend C# in Depth enough. It is a rather dry read, but it completely covers all aspects of the language. It even does it in a chronological way so you can see the language grow and develop over time. If you have ever thought "Why does C# do it that way?" this book will answer that question. I found it fascinating to see the language grow over time and realize why the language is what it is today. Make sure to get the latest version of the book which I believe is currently the 3rd Edition.
For a quick overlook, this. And for a little bit more detail, this one.
C# in Depth by Jon Skeet
http://www.amazon.com/dp/161729134X/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_RW1Wtb0QDS63T
There's a good course by Google on Udacity at the moment - https://www.udacity.com/course/ud853 - which guides you through developing an app using their souped up version of Eclipse (Android Studio).
The nice thing about Android is you can run an emulator without XCode -- i.e. a Mac.
Depending on where your skills are at the moment, programming gis programming and the fundamentals are always important. You have to cut your teeth on something, but don't get caught in whatever framework/stack/paradigm you're working in. C# (Xamerin) is a great language, and it's what I started off with.
I'd say start off with something you want -- like the widget app. See if there's source code for some of the current Android reddit apps so you can get an idea of what's going on.
I cannot emphasize enough, however that you should eventually return to the meaty books/reading -- e.g. C# in Depth for C#. It's GOOD to try something and get frustrated; you'll see the value of good design and understanding in a way that being "told" cannot do.
c# in depth
http://www.amazon.com/Depth-3rd-Edition-Jon-Skeet/dp/161729134X