New edition in near future?

klchin · May 9th, 2011, 12:10 AM

I'd like to know if a new edition of this book using VS2010 is to be published in the near future.

DrPurdum · May 9th, 2011, 09:06 AM

I've talked with the publisher and we're talking about a version for Release 5.0 of C#. In my mind, it's kinda tough because ot the abuse that e-books has created. For example, Wrox has a staff of six people who do nothing but ferret out web sites that are selling illegal copies of their books. To date, they've closed down over 20,000 sites, but they just pop up again. Indeed, I downloaded a complete PDF of my book from a site for free just a few weeks ago. The free downloads are a real kick in the teeth for writers like me.

Even though my book has received fairly good reviews, I still haven't even earned back my $10K advance. Given the amount of time it takes to prepare the book, create good examples, develop a narrative that's both easy to read yet informative, and the post-writing development, it's really almost a waste of time. Given the time I put into the book and its development, I doubt that I've made $5/hour. Would you work for less than minimum wage? Indeed, if I didn't enjoy writing, I probably wouldn't have written this version because the rewards from writing have steadily declined over the years. Then, when you do finish, some people write reviews who obviously haven't even read the book, which hurts sales even more. (Read my reviews on Amazon, especially the guy who gave me a "2". What was he thinking?)

Long story short: Nothing new will be coming out from me until the 5.0 Beta hits the street. Right now, that looks like the late 3rd quarter. Keep in mind, the current version of my book covers almost everything that C# 4.0 has to offer, especially for someone who is just getting started in programming. True, there are a lot of intro C# books out there written by programmers who probably have a greater skill set than I do. However, even though there are readers who likely disagree, I think my teaching experience makes my book one of the best self-instruction programming books you can buy. If you don't have to wait for C# 5.0, I hope you'll consider my book as your learning tool. Indeed, if you're serious about learning OOP and good programming practices, I'd rather see you spend you time with an illegal copy of my book than buy one that doesn't firmly ground you in good programming practices. Learning those disciplines is very important, and is useful whether you're using C#, Java, C++ or any other language.

klchin · May 9th, 2011, 12:26 PM

I totally understand your frustration with illegal copies and inconsiderate review. I take my hat off to writers like yourself who put in so much hard work (yet with so little return) so that knowledge can be shared. I am actually considering using your book for teaching, am waiting for the publisher to send me an evaluation copy. The course I'm teaching is at introductory level so like you said it really doesn't matter if it's not based on the latest version of C#.

DrPurdum · May 9th, 2011, 04:35 PM

Hopefully they'll get you a copy quickly. I used the book myself and I think you'll find it works pretty well. The tough part is finding homework assignments that are challenging, but fun. I had some other posts here about exercises that simulated a TV, an oven, and a garage door opener. Let your mind run and thanks!

klchin · May 9th, 2011, 10:19 PM

Yes, finding good lab exercises is always a challenge, the course I'm teaching is in the Information Systems program so I need business oriented problems.

DrPurdum · May 10th, 2011, 12:58 AM

Actually, the first programming course I taught was in the College of Business at Butler University back in the early 1980's. (My Ph.D. is in economics and, hence, I was in the econ department.) There was no computer science dept at the time, so I taught the programming course. In fact, I wrote my first programming book in 1982 because I couldn't find a decent textbook for the course. I remember using a lot of programming exercises that were actually chapter exercises from my econ texts (e.g. input cost and revenue data, then calculate the profit maximizing point, or give a demand curve function and calculate the point elasticities, etc.) I also grabbed some from finance and marketing courses. Take some time to root around in those textbooks and I'll bet you'll find plenty of material.