Wowser!
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I just finished "reading" Charles Petzold's free book, .NET Book Zero [^]. Over the years I've spent many thou$ands on programming books, including several on C#, but this one takes the cake. Clear, readable, concepts all others assume the reader knows explained in detail... it just doesn't get any better for a C# newbie like me. Future authors - download it, read it, and take notes on presentation style. And by "reading" I don't mean detailed study, but semi-entranced skimming, skipping over bits I already know, focusing on parts that are new concepts or shaky in my understanding. The detailed bit will happen later when I need something I probably shouldn't have skimmed.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Roger Wright wrote:
a C# newbie like me
There's someone else here at CP who's a "C# newbie"? :omg: I'm not alone anymore ... sniff ...
Software Zen:
delete this; -
"Version 1.0 of the downloable code was..." I hope he didn't do the web page :) Thanks for the link, Roger...I'll check it out. I had one of his 'Undocumented Windows' books back in the Windows 3.1 days...he's pretty good.
I think you're referring to Matt Pietrek, but it's a compliment to Petzold nonetheless ... :)
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Roger Wright wrote:
a C# newbie like me
There's someone else here at CP who's a "C# newbie"? :omg: I'm not alone anymore ... sniff ...
Software Zen:
delete this;Yup! And worse, a Windows newbie. C# isn't hard, but getting anything to work in Windows is a nightmare for anyone who learned and used procedural programming all his career.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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I think you're referring to Matt Pietrek, but it's a compliment to Petzold nonetheless ... :)
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Probably because they're both excellent writers, rarities in the technical book genre.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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Probably because they're both excellent writers, rarities in the technical book genre.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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I just finished "reading" Charles Petzold's free book, .NET Book Zero [^]. Over the years I've spent many thou$ands on programming books, including several on C#, but this one takes the cake. Clear, readable, concepts all others assume the reader knows explained in detail... it just doesn't get any better for a C# newbie like me. Future authors - download it, read it, and take notes on presentation style. And by "reading" I don't mean detailed study, but semi-entranced skimming, skipping over bits I already know, focusing on parts that are new concepts or shaky in my understanding. The detailed bit will happen later when I need something I probably shouldn't have skimmed.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Petzold has always been an outstanding writer. That's why his book on Windows programming -- one of the first -- sold gadzillions. He earned it. And he is a REALLY nice guy.
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I just finished "reading" Charles Petzold's free book, .NET Book Zero [^]. Over the years I've spent many thou$ands on programming books, including several on C#, but this one takes the cake. Clear, readable, concepts all others assume the reader knows explained in detail... it just doesn't get any better for a C# newbie like me. Future authors - download it, read it, and take notes on presentation style. And by "reading" I don't mean detailed study, but semi-entranced skimming, skipping over bits I already know, focusing on parts that are new concepts or shaky in my understanding. The detailed bit will happen later when I need something I probably shouldn't have skimmed.
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
Just wanted to say thanks man. Never knew about this guy, however I took a look at the Net Book Zero and it looks like exactly what I needed. I have a friend who looks to get into programming, and this by far is the best beginners book for someone who knows nothing about programming. Someone else also mentioned "Code" book that he wrote, I'll be picking that one for myself as well. Makes me wonder why do colleges always pick some shitty book to use? This is what should be used for programming 101.
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Petzold has always produced well written books in my opinion. The best book he's written so far (in my opinion of course) is Code - a book I recommend to anyone who wants to learn about (or refresh your memory!) how computers work on a fundamental level.
I knew I recognized that name from somewhere. _Code_ FTW!
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Just wanted to say thanks man. Never knew about this guy, however I took a look at the Net Book Zero and it looks like exactly what I needed. I have a friend who looks to get into programming, and this by far is the best beginners book for someone who knows nothing about programming. Someone else also mentioned "Code" book that he wrote, I'll be picking that one for myself as well. Makes me wonder why do colleges always pick some shitty book to use? This is what should be used for programming 101.
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Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
Petzold has always produced well written books in my opinion.
I agree.
Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
The best book he's written so far (in my opinion of course) is Code - a book I recommend to anyone who wants to learn about (or refresh your memory!) how computers work on a fundamental level.
I'll have to look for that one. Sounds like a book I should suggest to my CSCI students as well.
"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham
id highly recommend this as well. Full Name : Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. ISBN: [^] It's 12$ !! I would double recommend the .net book just because it's by Petzold, the man is a genius when it comes to conveying complex ideas in simple to follow patterns.
DrewG, MCSD .Net
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Roger Wright wrote:
a C# newbie like me
There's someone else here at CP who's a "C# newbie"? :omg: I'm not alone anymore ... sniff ...
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Just wanted to say thanks man. Never knew about this guy, however I took a look at the Net Book Zero and it looks like exactly what I needed. I have a friend who looks to get into programming, and this by far is the best beginners book for someone who knows nothing about programming. Someone else also mentioned "Code" book that he wrote, I'll be picking that one for myself as well. Makes me wonder why do colleges always pick some shitty book to use? This is what should be used for programming 101.
JazzJackRabbit wrote:
This is what should be used for programming 101.
I agree, especially for a first course. As a C# text for continued study I think I'd pick one of his more advanced books, but this is an excellent introduction. Many school books are good introductions to the concepts, but rarely do you see one that uses a real language to illustrate the concepts. Most rely on pseudocode, or languages loved only by academics and never used in the real world. Besides, considering what publishers are charging school kids for textbooks these days, something free would be extremely helpful. Something so superior to anything else on the subject that is also free - Wow! :-D
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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I think you're referring to Matt Pietrek, but it's a compliment to Petzold nonetheless ... :)
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"Version 1.0 of the downloable code was..." I hope he didn't do the web page :) Thanks for the link, Roger...I'll check it out. I had one of his 'Undocumented Windows' books back in the Windows 3.1 days...he's pretty good.
Petzold did the standard books on basic Windows programming for each version as it came out during the 90s. One couldn't talk about Windows programming without mentioning his name. Yeah, he's pretty good :laugh:
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"Version 1.0 of the downloable code was..." I hope he didn't do the web page :) Thanks for the link, Roger...I'll check it out. I had one of his 'Undocumented Windows' books back in the Windows 3.1 days...he's pretty good.
At least it's free. :) Aside: The Indigo Girl's "Learning WCF" book (O'Reilly) has several grammatical errors in the first few pages ("principle" "principal" used instead of "principal" "principle"), but is nevertheless an excellent read. /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
modified on Sunday, November 16, 2008 3:00 PM
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At least it's free. :) Aside: The Indigo Girl's "Learning WCF" book (O'Reilly) has several grammatical errors in the first few pages ("principle" "principal" used instead of "principal" "principle"), but is nevertheless an excellent read. /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
modified on Sunday, November 16, 2008 3:00 PM
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Yeah, can't beat free :) I've only just started digging into WCF, though I'll probably stick with what I can find online. If I do break down and get a book, I'll look for that one.
If you're happy with what's online (there's a lot of good stuff on WCF), you may want to instead invest in Programming WCF Services[^] by Juval Lowy. It kicks it up a notch and is worthwhile reference. You don't need to read it cover-to-cover, just the parts that interest you. /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
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If you're happy with what's online (there's a lot of good stuff on WCF), you may want to instead invest in Programming WCF Services[^] by Juval Lowy. It kicks it up a notch and is worthwhile reference. You don't need to read it cover-to-cover, just the parts that interest you. /ravi
My new year resolution: 2048 x 1536 Home | Articles | My .NET bits | Freeware ravib(at)ravib(dot)com
I floundered around with it for a few days before I got my very first service to work under IIS, but I got there. It's kind've like the more you think about it, the worse you screw it up :) If I do get a book, I'd rather have an intermediate/advanced one that I can keep using for a long time rather than a beginner one that's only good for a couple of weeks. That one looks pretty good...thanks for the recommedation :beer: