should wait for 4.0?

ew6014 · February 6th, 2010, 10:45 PM

hi guys

im learning c# for the first time. i believe this could be the book that i need.

im learning c# because of i want to be a silverlight programmer. so with visual studio 2010 and c# 4.0 just around the corner .. will this be a good book to read and practice?

or should i wait for 4.0 to be released?

thanks

Will · February 7th, 2010, 08:17 AM

Don't know much about what's different between C# 4.0 and the current version but this book will still be relevant.

A lot of the important concepts detailed in this book will remain the same with the latest version of C# and most other languages. The book focuses on how to solve problems using C# but I feel the real value in this book is it's ability to teach you how to program and the understanding of OOP that it gives you.

I would (did) get the book.

DrPurdum · February 7th, 2010, 09:08 AM

Hi Guys:

Again, thanks for the kind words about the book...

Personally, I don't think there's any reason to wait. I've seen a Beta copy of VS 2010 and it is almost identical to earlier versions. The enhancements that are in C# 4.0 are some advanced features that you probably don't need at the outset. Once you've mastered the basics of programming and OOP, you can probably use the online Help files to learn about the new features in C#.

So far, I've found nothing in my book that doesn't work in the latest version. I do know that later versions of VS do not have the Access database (JET) engine built in, but with a little work, you can make the code work with MySQL (Open Source) or almost any other DB.

If you're just getting started in programming and OOP, I think my book is a good choice. It does use C# as the vehicle for learning both programming and OOP, but I made that choice because VS is so easy to use. The OOA and OOD (Object Oriented Analysis and Object Oriented Design) concepts in the book apply to any OOP language, not just C#. (This paragraph is totally biased!)

ew6014 · February 7th, 2010, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPurdum

Hi Guys:

Again, thanks for the kind words about the book...

Personally, I don't think there's any reason to wait. I've seen a Beta copy of VS 2010 and it is almost identical to earlier versions. The enhancements that are in C# 4.0 are some advanced features that you probably don't need at the outset. Once you've mastered the basics of programming and OOP, you can probably use the online Help files to learn about the new features in C#.

hi dr purdum ... thank you for the reply....... ok looks like im gonna dive in to your book and read and practice practice practice!!!

thank you ...... looking forwards to learning C# easily and hopefully painlessly with your book ... :)

DrPurdum · February 7th, 2010, 12:19 PM

Let me know how things went when you're finished...

chroniclemaster1 · February 8th, 2010, 12:31 PM

I whole heartedly agree. 4.0 will extend the framework, it doesn't look like it will cause anything to become obsolete that I've heard. I'm sure at some point, .NET will have to trim things to keep the inheritance tree manageable or the set of classes will become an tangled mass of complexity that sends new programmers screaming in the opposite direction. However, that's not what's happening in 4.0. Certainly for a beginning book, this is a good choice.

When you're finished with it, I'd recommend Christian Darie's Search Engine Optimization with ASP.NET, also by Wrox. There are a number of more advanced OOP concepts that are actually implemented, a several live multi-file DALs, link factories, storing and retrieving application variables in the web.config (so your application will work perfectly in development, staging and production simply by keeping the right web.config with the right website... something you have to do anyway), etc. That's a .NET 2.0 book, but it's still the single most useful text I've ever bought.

ew6014 · February 10th, 2010, 01:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPurdum

Let me know how things went when you're finished...

hi dr purdum... im just starting chapter 3... looking forward to completing the book hopefully by end feb. got stuck with chapter 2 with the code. had to refer to your source code zip as it did not inlcude the full code for me to type. things like click event were missing. :)

DrPurdum · February 10th, 2010, 09:45 AM

Not sure I understand the "missing click event" comment. Table 2.2 tells you how to lay out the visual components of the program. The click event code to display everything is shown on page 44. The only other click event we need to consider is for the Exit button, which is a simple call to Close(). However, that click event isn't necessary since the close option appears on the upper-right corner of the Windows form. Did you miss the code on page 44?

ew6014 · February 10th, 2010, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPurdum

Not sure I understand the "missing click event" comment. Table 2.2 tells you how to lay out the visual components of the program. The click event code to display everything is shown on page 44. The only other click event we need to consider is for the Exit button, which is a simple call to Close(). However, that click event isn't necessary since the close option appears on the upper-right corner of the Windows form. Did you miss the code on page 44?

hi dr purdum .... well i didnt miss the one on page 44. but i could not find the code to activate the click event
this.btnDisplayOutput.Click += new System.EventHandler(this.btnDisplayOutput_Click);

i tried clicking but nothing happened, up until i looked at the finish code in the zip file. how to activate the click event was not mentioned.

DrPurdum · February 10th, 2010, 12:03 PM

I'm still not sure of the problem. Windows automatically generates the click event code (e.g., listener objects) for you. All you have to do is run the program and click the display button. Give that thousands of other readers didn't have a problem, my guess is that you might have "over-thought" the code, trying to add your own event processing code, which (other than that shown on p. 44) is not necessary.