C# 5.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference Book Review

This book is great. It's no nonsense approach to covering the C# 5.0 language is like a breath of fresh air. It is clean, to the point, and thorough. It makes finding a topic, and learning it, or getting a refresher, a very fast process. This new version includes new information on the new asynchronous functions async and await. The authors have a great writing style which makes the book a very enjoyable read. You can read this cover to cover, or use it as a very handy reference. You won't find any case studies, or made up scenarios, to help the authors describe the technology. They stick to writing about the technology, which is nice. I have listed the chapters below. Introducing C# and the .NET Framework C# Language Basics Creating Types in C# Advanced C# Framework Overview Framework Fundamentals Collections LINQ Queries LINQ Operators LINQ to XML Other XML Technologies Disposal and Garbage Collection Diagnostics and Code Contracts Concurrency & Asynchrony Streams and I/O Networking Serialization Assemblies Reflection and Metadata Dynamic Programming Security Advanced Threading Parallel Programming Application Domains Native and COM Interoperability Regular Expressions One of my favorite features of the book is the way the authors do their diagramming. They include a lot of diagrams that give a visual representation of the feature they are describing. The diagrams really help with getting a quick understanding of the overall picture of the topic. The authors also demonstrate with code that is always easy to understand and within the scope of the topic at hand. You don't have 2 pages of code with 3 lines highlighted. If you are looking for LINQ coverage, this is a great resource. The author's do a great job of explaining how it works and thoroughly covering all the features. Another part of this book I love is the way the authors deliver the code samples using LINQPad. I own the full auto completion version of LINQPad and it rocks. I have been using it since its first release and it has become my favorite tool when working with databases. All in all I highly recommend this book. It belongs on the shelf of any serious developer.

C# 5.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference