i see a lot of good points to be made as to what book would be the best choice...
I would recommend using something like the C# Black Book, or anything by O'Reilly or WROX publishing companies. I have found these to be most helpful in learning new languages. All that I can say, though, is that once you get to a point where you know a few languages, any book will just be reference, and you will only get some shortcuts and decent references to what you want to do. if you really have a grasp of what you want to accomplish, then I would recommend spending some time searching google or krugle and looking at source from sourceforge.net or some other open-source site to see how "real" programmers do it. don't get me wrong, I learn a lot from books, and never stop reading about my trade, but there is a lot more to be said about reading about how to do something, and seeing it done.
I am more hands-on, and when I can see the methods applied real-world, it makes a huge difference.
I used to teach a 200 level programming class, and that is the one thing that I cannot emphasize enough. Read, learn, educate, that is all well and good, but you must also make sure that you do, practice, exercise everything that you learn so you can discover how to do it better, more efficient, or just differently from the guy before you.
You cannot go with just doing, and you cannot go with just reading... there is a reason that certifications are not as prominent in our profession, and that is simply because (and I cannot remember where this quote came from...) "those who cannot do get certified".
Again, I reiterate, O'Reilly or WROX, don't rely on books, get out there and have fun! C# is a powerful language (even with the Microsoft branding) and has much potential! I have loved it since it came out, but sadly I am here doing more with PHP, ASP, JavaScript, and that sort (I am the only.NET developer in my company...) but take hold of a.NET language on top of ANSII standard C++ or come C-style syntax language and you are unstoppable! you get the best and the worst, the sweet and the sour, and you get to decide what falls on which side of the fence:)
Sorry about the rambling... 3:00am here and just trying to take a quick break from work...
hope this offers some new insite!
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i see a lot of good points to be made as to what book would be the best choice... I would recommend using something like the C# Black Book, or anything by O'Reilly or WROX publishing companies. I have found these to be most helpful in learning new languages. All that I can say, though, is that once you get to a point where you know a few languages, any book will just be reference, and you will only get some shortcuts and decent references to what you want to do. if you really have a grasp of what you want to accomplish, then I would recommend spending some time searching google or krugle and looking at source from sourceforge.net or some other open-source site to see how "real" programmers do it. don't get me wrong, I learn a lot from books, and never stop reading about my trade, but there is a lot more to be said about reading about how to do something, and seeing it done. I am more hands-on, and when I can see the methods applied real-world, it makes a huge difference. I used to teach a 200 level programming class, and that is the one thing that I cannot emphasize enough. Read, learn, educate, that is all well and good, but you must also make sure that you do, practice, exercise everything that you learn so you can discover how to do it better, more efficient, or just differently from the guy before you. You cannot go with just doing, and you cannot go with just reading... there is a reason that certifications are not as prominent in our profession, and that is simply because (and I cannot remember where this quote came from...) "those who cannot do get certified". Again, I reiterate, O'Reilly or WROX, don't rely on books, get out there and have fun! C# is a powerful language (even with the Microsoft branding) and has much potential! I have loved it since it came out, but sadly I am here doing more with PHP, ASP, JavaScript, and that sort (I am the only .NET developer in my company...) but take hold of a .NET language on top of ANSII standard C++ or come C-style syntax language and you are unstoppable! you get the best and the worst, the sweet and the sour, and you get to decide what falls on which side of the fence :)
Sorry about the rambling... 3:00am here and just trying to take a quick break from work...
hope this offers some new insite!