# C# book recommendation and alternative language



## Thefumigator (Apr 1, 2011)

Hello, 

I'm studying C# in a course, console applications this year and next year will be using windows forms. The teacher recommended any book, and mentioned that he personally uses the O'reilly one with the frog in the cover.

Ok, I think I can get that book, but I'm always skeptical and I regularly think there's "something better out there".

Also, which other language do you think would be hot to learn, or at least get into, apart from C#? my knowledge goes deep in dynamic memory management in modula2 language, and I have lots of experience in Pascal, I also have the basics on C. But I'm completely inexperienced in object oriented programming, this is the first course I take.

Many thanks in advance


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## CrackerJack (Apr 1, 2011)

A lot of people do recommend O'reilly. I just bought "Pro C# with .NET 3.0" from a local book warehouse. So far I've learn a lot, But it of coarse is in the net framework. This is my second C# book, i'm not to big on C# to be honest i'm more VB. But I do need to learn it. But as for finding a book, IMO you just gotta look around.. try book stores or library. You know try before you buy


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## MLG The Canadian (Apr 8, 2011)

I picked up Brian Overland's: C++ Without Fear. It seems to be pretty good and it has been named one of the better beginner's books, hence why I bought it.


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## Thefumigator (Apr 8, 2011)

Thank you guys, I'll be checking those out.

Thanks again

Any other recommendation is welcome


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## Brandenburg (Apr 8, 2011)

MLG The Canadian said:


> I picked up Brian Overland's: C++ Without Fear. It seems to be pretty good and it has been named one of the better beginner's books, hence why I bought it.



C# not C++... even though they have some simularties.. totally different feel imo

i have used c++,c#, and vb...  to me c# was a cross between vb and c++.. not that it actually was.. just felt like it to me

im a VB whore and always will be

fuck a c++... shit gives me a headache.. lol...  direct X stuff was kool but frustrating

C#... hmm  only limited experience with..  tried to rewrite a game that was originally written in VB to c# bujt dropped that project.. just so much more productive with VB


In my limited experience.. Get a few books on the language you are learning..  Ive had great books that were well written but  had no decent examples /code snippets.. or ive had books that were a "dry read" but had great examples.. these books i use as source books..  look at the index.. get the chapter i need.. find an example...then if i dont understand it..i'll put it in break mode if possible and or use the help via the compiler


my main programming teacher drilled in our head to use the help(f1)..  1st test in my windows programming class(C++) was to write a window from memory..  no templates either.. ...  ~100 lines of code


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## CrackerJack (Apr 8, 2011)

Brandenburg said:


> C# not C++... even though they have some simularties.. totally different feel imo
> 
> i have used c++,c#, and vb...  to me c# was a cross between vb and c++.. not that it actually was.. just felt like it to me
> 
> ...



i'm sure he could find a version for c#

i'm also a vb whore also, and hell with c++.. c# is much more easier 

i recent starting messing around with 2d/3d, best options i've found is slimdx or xna


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## Kreij (Apr 8, 2011)

Charles Petzold writes pretty good programming books.


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## Zyon (Apr 9, 2011)

If you master the principles of programming you could in theory learn any programming language in under 20-minutes (though you may need to read references on what you can do once in a while) but yeah the thinking is more important than how to do something for a code.

To me, VB is around the same as C# with slightly more contents like input dialog (repeating in C# took me a good 15 minutes making a form and making it does what I want it to do).

If all else fails, you could make do with 'C# For Dummies' (sarcasm).


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## Nesters (Apr 9, 2011)

Zyon said:


> If you master the principles of programming you could in theory learn any programming language in under 20-minutes (though you may need to read references on what you can do once in a while) but yeah the thinking is more important than how to do something for a code.



Indeed, it doesn't matter whether you learn the language or not, anything that matter is the way you find solution for the given problem. Implementing the solution, in any language you would like, is the easiest part.

It might be hard to understand at first, if you used to "code" in VB. 
Most of the languages with use of available SDKs,APIs and libraries are pretty productive.


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## gpost3 (Apr 19, 2011)

To understand the concepts behind Object Orientation:

http://web.engr.oregonstate.edu/~budd/Books/oopintro3e/info/ReadMe.html

I have the hard copy of that book which I used for my Computer Science degree.

For C# itself, pickup any book that your prof recommends.

Source: Myself - graduate in Computer Sciences.


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## Thefumigator (Apr 19, 2011)

Guys, thank you very much!! All the input is really useful.

Thanks again

Fumi


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## gpost3 (Apr 19, 2011)

There is a thanks button  but you're welcome.


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## gpost3 (Apr 20, 2011)

Good alternative to C# would be Java. VB is a joke language so I would avoid that since you are learning basic principles of coding. Too much abstraction in VB hides a lot of interesting stuff that goes underneath. C++ is also good for learning object orientation. Just avoid the multiple inheritance in C++ until you understand the basics of OO.

If it were me, I would recommend you Java as alternative. C# is good too. No VB unless your aim is to write application and get over with as oppose to learning the fundamentals of computer science. No University level academic institution that offers a degree in Computer science will start you off ith VB.


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## Brandenburg (Apr 20, 2011)

i resent that..  

perhaps your thinking of vb6..  vb 2008 kicks ass..  as with all languages..  they are just a tool and some tools are better for some jobs than others....


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## MLG The Canadian (Apr 29, 2011)

Juuuuuust realized that you wanted C# and not C++, my bad.

I was sleepy when I read your topic line


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