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Head First C#: A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with Visual C# and .NET Second Edition

by Andrew Stellman (Author), Jennifer Greene (Author)

150 ratings

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You want to learn C# programming, but you're not sure you want to suffer through another tedious technical book. You're in luck: Head First C# introduces this language in a fun, visual way. You'll quickly learn everything from creating your first program to learning sophisticated coding skills with C# 4.0, Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4, while avoiding common errors that frustrate many students.

The second edition offers several hands-on labs along the way to help you build and test programs using skills you've learned up to that point. In the final lab, you'll put everything together. From objects to garbage collection and from exceptions to interactions, you'll learn C# in a way that engages and entertains your brain. Here are a few of the topics you'll learn:

Start by building a useful application with pre-built components in Visual Studio 2010
Discover how objects work, using real-world examples
Store numbers, text, and other basic data types using primitives
Save complex data in files and databases with great C# tools
Build intuitive and easy-to-use interfaces by following simple rules
Design your code to catch exceptions -- things you don't expect
Develop good programming habits, such as refactoring code and applying unit tests
Learn how web services put your programs in touch with the rest of the world
Make it easy for other people to install your software

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Head First C#: A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with C# and .NET
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Head First C#: A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with C# and .NET
Andrew Stellman

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Book Description

A Learner's Guide to Real-World Programming with Visual C# and .NET

About the Author

Andrew Stellman, despite being raised a New Yorker, has lived in Pittsburgh twice. The first time was when he graduated from Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science, and then again when he and Jenny were starting their consulting business and writing their first project management book for O'Reilly. When he moved back to his hometown, his first job after college was as a programmer at EMI-Capitol Records--which actually made sense, since he went to LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts to study cello and jazz bass guitar. He and Jenny first worked together at that same financial software company, where he was managing a team of programmers. He's since managed various teams of software engineers, requirements analysts, and led process improvement efforts. Andrew keeps himself busy eating an enormous amount of string cheese and Middle Eastern desserts, playing music (but video games even more), studying taiji and aikido, having a girlfriend named Lisa, and owning a pomeranian. For more information about Andrew, Jennifer Greene, and their books, visit http://www.stellman-greene.com.

Jennifer Greene has managed just about every aspect of software development during her career. She spent the past 15 years building software for many different kinds of companies, including small start-ups and huge companies. Jenny's built software test teams and has helped many companies diagnose and deal with habitual process problems so they could build better software. Since her start in software test and process definition, she's branched out into development management and project management. Jenny is currently managing a large development team for a global media company.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media; Second edition (May 31, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 840 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1449380344
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1449380342
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 1.8 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,660,005 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #538 in Microsoft .NET
- #664 in C# Programming (Books)
- #4,469 in Introductory & Beginning Programming

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Andrew Stellman

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Andrew Stellman is a developer, architect, speaker, agile coach, project manager, and expert in building better software. He has over two decades of professional experience building software, and has architected large-scale real-time back end systems, managed large international software teams, been a Vice President at a major investment bank, and consulted for companies, schools, and corporations, including Microsoft, the National Bureau of Economic Research, Bank of America, Notre Dame, and MIT. He's had the privilege of working with some pretty amazing programmers during that time, and likes to think that he's learned a few things from them.

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Customers find this C# book excellent for beginners, with one noting it's ideal for self-study and practice. Moreover, the book includes plenty of examples and exercises, and customers enjoy its entertainment value. However, the pacing receives mixed feedback, with some finding the concepts easy to understand while others find them difficult to follow. Additionally, the book's functionality is problematic, as it doesn't work on the Windows 8 Kindle App.

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Learning value Picture quality Entertainment value Programming exercises Encyclopedia content Ease of understanding Pacing Functionality

42 customers mention "Learning value"42 positive0 negative

Customers find this book excellent for learning C#, particularly as a beginner's guide, with one customer noting it's ideal for self-study and practice.

"...and repetition (repetition via text and program exercises) to help you remember things which studies have shown makes a big difference in the way..." Read more

"...Interesting learning tools at the end of the chapters like the traditional code creation as well as cross word puzzles...." Read more

"...At the very least, I think this is an excellent book to start with as a foundation...." Read more

"...But it has the right mix for someone who wants a good introduction to build on right up through the intermediate level...." Read more

9 customers mention "Picture quality"9 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the visual elements in the book, with one mentioning the use of graphics and comments throughout every page, while another notes the effective use of pictures to explain concepts.

"...It uses a lot of pictures and repetition (repetition via text and program exercises) to help you remember things which studies have shown makes a..." Read more

"...Sometimes an image is worth a thousand words and the images in the book provide an instant snap shot of the concept - instead of a thousand words..." Read more

"...I also like the layout of the book and the approach that they take...." Read more

"...I like how this book uses pictures and humor to present programming. I do not like the pace of learning in this book...." Read more

6 customers mention "Entertainment value"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the book entertaining and enjoyable to read, with one mentioning its humorous approach to presenting programming concepts.

"...I find this book more enjoyable to read. After a long technical day at work the Head First series of books are easier to read...." Read more

"...I like how this book uses pictures and humor to present programming. I do not like the pace of learning in this book...." Read more

"...gradual building of concepts learned in previous pages, makes reading the book entertaining and very educational...." Read more

"...The best alternative to boring lectures and very fun!..." Read more

6 customers mention "Programming exercises"6 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the programming exercises in the book, with one customer noting that it provides solutions to help with learning.

"...thing about this book is that it takes into consideration how our brain works and learns and it explains this to you a bit before getting into the..." Read more

"...The book also has exercises to do, but with what seems like little explanation for what to do and at the end when i just went to the solution, I was..." Read more

"...It gives you a great start into programming and makes a lot of concepts a lot easier to understand than a lot of the C# books out there...." Read more

"...I was able to start programming in a very small amount of time. I love it!" Read more

5 customers mention "Encyclopedia content"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the encyclopedia content of the book, with multiple examples throughout, and one customer notes it provides nice references to common place instances for comparisons.

"...looking for something that is easy to read and will guide you through with plenty of examples, this is probably the easiest to follow book I've ever..." Read more

"...way the authors speak to you and express ideas with pictures and multiple examples is a great way to learn...." Read more

"...But really like the format of the book. the examples were very good and entertaining." Read more

"...It has exercises and alot of examples. It also has projects to really challenge everything you learned in the previous chapter leading up to it." Read more

40 customers mention "Ease of understanding"27 positive13 negative

Customers have mixed experiences with the book's clarity, with some finding it easy to understand and good for first-time coders, while others find it difficult to follow and increasingly frustrating.

"...I feel this is a good approach for a first time coder because trying to remember everything a method can do in one chapter just isn't going to happen..." Read more

"...a long technical day at work the Head First series of books are easier to read...." Read more

"...If you're looking for something that is easy to read and will guide you through with plenty of examples, this is probably the easiest to follow book..." Read more

"...67-90 about three times over and I still have such a difficult time understanding it...." Read more

10 customers mention "Pacing"0 positive10 negative

Customers criticize the book's pacing, noting numerous errors and typos that make it inconvenient to read.

"...the gist I got was: it was good for beginners, well written, but full of errors...." Read more

"...Some pages are very well written and informative, while others are very jumbled and hard to understand...." Read more

"...The typos are not only extremely inconvenient and a waste of time to try to figure out, but they actually would make the program malfunction if you..." Read more

"...book, it teaches very bad programming technique and contains typos all over the place...." Read more

3 customers mention "Functionality"0 positive3 negative

Customers report issues with the book's functionality, with multiple customers noting that it doesn't work on the Windows 8 Kindle App, and one customer mentioning that two projects don't work with the provided code.

"...problem is that so far (out of only 200 pages in), two projects don't work using the code from the book...." Read more

"...In addition, it does not run well on the IPad version. I can't sync or adjust the font size on the IPad...." Read more

"...all my technical books, this is the ONLY ONE that will not work with Windows 8 Kindle reader app from the Windows 8 app store...." Read more

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Jacob R.
Review in progress, 2nd Ed. (read before reading older reviews)
Reviewed in the United States on June 19, 2010
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First, please understand this is my first review and I am still just a programming student and this is my first experience with C# but not the C language. I've taken two classes in C++ and one in Visual Basic, so I'm not a newbie but at the same time I still wouldn't consider myself intermediate.

I'm writing this review having only read the first 100 pages of the book because I wanted to state that, as of this writing, the current edition of this book that Amazon.com is selling (Pub: May 2010, 2nd ed) there have been NO errors. If you are considering purchasing this book, please be aware that (again as of this writing) there have only been 2 reviews of the newest edition (2nd ed, May 2010). All previous reviews are of the November 2007 edition which was apparently filled with errors. If only Amazon.com would list them separately we wouldn't have this problem.

Now, a brief review of the content. The first impressive thing about this book is that it takes into consideration how our brain works and learns and it explains this to you a bit before getting into the subject of the book. It uses a lot of pictures and repetition (repetition via text and program exercises) to help you remember things which studies have shown makes a big difference in the way our brain stores data. (I know this from reading 'Brain Rules' by John Medina).

Anyway, so far in the first 100 pages, we've lightly covered the basics; variables, if statements, loops and program structure (namespace, class, method, statements). When I say lightly, I mean it doesn't go into every type of variable or all the details of a method. I feel this is a good approach for a first time coder because trying to remember everything a method can do in one chapter just isn't going to happen. I should also mention that in the first chapter you go through a simple program to help you get the feel of the IDE (Visual Studio 2010).

That about summarizes my experience in the first 100 pages (mid chapter 3), I will add more to the review as I progress through the book.

Update 7/11/2010: Been busy, I've only got to the end of Chapter 4 since my last post. So far great except for a few steps left out of the program you build on p. 162. However these steps and a reason why they aren't there are posted on the front page of the Head First C# webpage.

For those interested, here is the Table of Contents (Summary):
Intro
1 Get productive with C#: Visual Applications, in 10 minutes or less
2 It's All Just Code: Under the hood
3 Objects: Get Oriented: Making code make sense
4 Types and References: It's 10:00. Do you know where your data is?
C# Lab 1: A Day at the races
5 Encapsulation: Keep your privates... private
6 Inheritance: Your object's family tree
7 Interfaces and abstract classes: Making classes keep their promises
8 Enums and collections: Storing lots of data
C# Lab 2: The Quest
9 Reading and Writing Files: Save the byte array, save the world
10 Exception Handling: Putting out fires gets old
11 Events and Delegates: What your code does when you're not looking
12 Review and Preview: Knowledge, power, and building cool stuff
13 Controls and Graphics: Make it pretty
14 Captain Amazing: The Death of the Object
15 LINQ: Get control of your data
C# Lab 3: Invaders
i Leftovers: The top 11 things we wanted to include in this book

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Tiki Fred
No Really, it is a book on C#
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2011
Verified Purchase
Some of my fellow developers have snickered when they see this book on my desk. It is not your typical text book filled with thousands of words. That does not mean it is not a serous book or topic. I find this book more enjoyable to read. After a long technical day at work the Head First series of books are easier to read. The books look like some of the more formal text books after I get done reading them. I write in my books a lot, adding flow charts and large notes to make it easy to remember something and review a topic.

I find I can review a topic by quickly by looking a large note or a unique picture associated with a topic in the book. This C# book is organized well, taking you through the various aspects of the language and OOP. Sometimes an image is worth a thousand words and the images in the book provide an instant snap shot of the concept - instead of a thousand words that put you to sleep. Interesting learning tools at the end of the chapters like the traditional code creation as well as cross word puzzles.

However: This is not the last book you will buy. It should be one of the first.
This really covers the basics and there are a lot more advanced topics out there. Like multi threading, services, LINQ, database connectivity, programming for web sites as opposed to desk tops. But you have to start some place, and this will make it more enjoyable.

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Haze
Definitely easy to follow, but seems best for those totally new to programming
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2013
Verified Purchase
FULL DISCLOSURE:
I am going through the book chapter by chapter, and so far I am basing this review based on my read of the first two chapters and a scan of the table of contents.

The book seems extremely easy to follow, particularly if you are new to programming. The authors will literally hold your hand through each step and provide ample explanations. However, this is one of the reasons that I gave it 4 stars instead of 5... So far, I do feel like there is a bit too much hand holding even for the simplest of tasks... which makes it a longer read. Still, this will be beneficiary for those brand new to any programming language. On the downside, the beginners format they've chosen makes it a bit tougher for someone that is used to simply opening a table of contents and jumping to a specific concept or skill (like a normal textbook).

Also unlike most programming textbooks... there does not seem to be any one chapter or area that simply focuses on syntax. Chapter two does break down classes and methods, but the author's introduce several lines of code in examples without explicitly explaining what each class or method does. You will know what it does from the example you are following, but so far I do not feel as though I will be confident reading/authoring code in C# WITHOUT the aid of Visual Studio... As such, a better title may have been 'Head First: Visual Studio'.

Which leads to my other gripe. I was hoping for an introduction to ASP.NET programming as well. I do not see it mentioned in the table of contents or index. But hopefully what I learn will make it easy to pick up... perhaps with the assistance of another book focused on the subject.

Please keep in mind that my only programming knowledge so far comes from an html and css background... so it's totally possible I simply need to be patient and keep reading.

As it is though, the book is very well written and the author's seem to provide plenty of detail and examples to walk the user through various examples of programs that can be built using C# and Visual Studio. At the very least, I think this is an excellent book to start with as a foundation. And I'm sure I will grab one or two more books to delve deeper into C# and ASP.NET when I am finished with it. However, if you want a book that is straight to the point on syntax and code... this is probably not for you. If you're looking for something that is easy to read and will guide you through with plenty of examples, this is probably the easiest to follow book I've ever read on programming.

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Raul Leite
Easy to learn, quick to code
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 23, 2012
Verified Purchase

Although there are more than a dozen books written about C# (in particular, the 2010 edition) from beginner to advanced level, very few can easily introduce a programmer to the C# language and the .Net 4.0 framework as easily as Head First C#.

From the first page, instead of inducing sleep with page after page, chapter after chapter, of object-oriented programming and Visual Studio IDE definitions (that may put off first-time coders),the writers quickly immerse the reader into the ins and outs of the language, coding (practical) applications, slowly introducing all the definitions and intricacies of the C# language, whilst facilitating the assimilation of the concepts with a "friendly" visual and textual style approach.

Throughout the book there are several challenging projects the reader can and should write, covering all the aspects of said language and framework: database querying, drawing graphics and animations, object-oriented programming, etc...

Experienced programmers won't find here any programming gems or answer to their problems; more advanced topics like refactoring, serialization, Windows Presentation Foundation, enumerations, etc., are glimpsed over only a few pages in the left-over chapters at the end of the book, books abound which treat this and other subjects as easily as Head First C#. For the beginner, this is already a book full of work! A must buy for anyone interested in the C# language.

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Isabel
Genial
Reviewed in Spain on June 19, 2016
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A pesar de ser de segunda mano está en muy buenas condiciones. No tiene nada escrito ni estropeado, solo los bordes un poco golpeados (algo perfectamente normal). Muy contenta con la compra :D

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JF
Amazing book
Reviewed in Canada on June 9, 2015
Verified Purchase
This book is very very good.
In fact, if you follow the material and do everything they tell you do, you will have a very good grasp of C#. You won't be C# genius right away, but this gave me a very good introduction to programming. And C# is just so great. Within an hour of starting the book, you will have designed a rolodex. This is great, I loved it. I still thank this book to this for getting me to where I'm at in my career.
Anyway, what I'm trying to tell you is, buy this book, it's great, not too expensive and above all, it's very fun to read and do the exercises.
That's it.

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Danilo
In line with the Head First series
Reviewed in Italy on July 8, 2013
Verified Purchase
The usual approach of the Head First series: humor for better understanding.
The first part of the book, maybe, talks a little bit much of the GUI aspects (instead of the language itself). However, the examples are very good to understand the features of C#.
I strongly suggest this book for get the basics of C#: more advanced topics are not covered in this book.

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andre
Très didactique
Reviewed in France on July 11, 2013
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Excellent pour tout qui démarre en C# même pour ceux qui, comme moi, ont déjà l'expérience de la programmation dans d'autres languages. Ceux qui ont déjà des notions de C# et connaissent déjà le système des classes .NET trouveront probablement que la courbe d'apprentissage est trop lente.
C'est la même structure d'apprentissage, assez agréable pour un débutant, que les autres ouvrages de la série "Head First".

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There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.

5.0 out of 5 stars Review in progress, 2nd Ed. (read before reading older reviews)

5.0 out of 5 stars No Really, it is a book on C#

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely easy to follow, but seems best for those totally new to programming

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to learn, quick to code

4.0 out of 5 stars Genial

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing book

5.0 out of 5 stars In line with the Head First series

5.0 out of 5 stars Très didactique

Review in progress, 2nd Ed. (read before reading older reviews)

No Really, it is a book on C#

Definitely easy to follow, but seems best for those totally new to programming

Easy to learn, quick to code

Genial

Amazing book

In line with the Head First series

Très didactique