Best book for C# learning

Question

I would like to know which is the best book to learn C# or I should say Visual C# because almost everybody uses Visual Studio for C# Development.

I have come across 3 books:

1. Head First C# 2nd Edition ( This books is based on C# 4.0 and it's latest edition for C# 5.0 is yet to come. What I like about this book is that focuses on C# working with the Visual Studio IDE. But this book has some topics missing in it.)

2. C# 5.0 in a nutshell ( This book has been praised by a lot of people and it has all the topics covered. But what I dislike about this book is that it doesn't talk C# with Visual Studio. It explains all the topics and takes into account that you are coding in Linqpad which most people won't prefer especially beginners. So it doesn't explain what the Visual Studio IDE does for you. So it is not very real world oriented according to me. As there is a lot of code that is generated automatically by the VS IDE one would not be able to get all that. ecause when we code in VS we use Winforms, WPF etc and these have there own auto generated code like public partial class etc.)

3. Visual C# 2012 Step by Step ( There are not many reviews about this book. But even in those few reviews it's all praise about this book. It has all topics covered and it also talks about C# with VS.)

So I would like to know which is the best book out of these or should I pick any other book over these.

I have worked with C, C++, Java and C# during my college. I have worked in WinForms also. Most of the time it was taking some code from the internet and changing it according to my needs for building a project. So basically I know basics of OOPS and also have some knowledge about C#. And I would like to use VS for my learning and later on for development as I plan to move to WP8 and W8 development later on.

Please help out people.

Thanks in advance.

Vulpes · Answer

There are surprisingly few decent books on Windows Programming using C# as the focus in recent years has been on WPF. The only one I can recommend is the following. Although it was published in 2006 it's still reasonably up to date though it does assume you already know how to program in C#: http://www.amazon.com/Windows-Programming-Microsoft-Development-Series/dp/0321267966 For data binding using Windows Forms I'd also check out this book from the same publisher: http://www.amazon.com/Data-Binding-Windows-Forms-2-0/dp/032126892X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Vulpes · Answer

The problem with C# programming is that it's such a huge subject that a single book can do no more than skim the surface. The language itself plus its major application frameworks: ASP.NET Windows Forms WPF Windows 8 store apps (to name but four!) all require substantial books of their own to do them justice. If I were you I'd concentrate on the language itself to start with and then move onto whichever types of applications interest you. As you already have a good knowledge of programming you may find the following book - which is very detailed and covers some advanced topics - less tedious than most C# books for beginners: http://www.amazon.com/Programming-5-0-Building-Applications-Framework/dp/1449320414/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Muhammad Ashikuzzaman Ashik · Answer

I loved C# The Complete Reference By by Herbert Schildt. This book used each example completely.

Jaipal Reddy · Answer

Head First C#

Suthish Nair · Answer

If your thread got resolved please Accept the thread as Answer that helped you.

Pavan R Bhupalam · Answer

http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/ebooks/

suman kumar · Answer

I was gonna start the same threadbut since its on first pageI would like to ask the same question.Let me tell u all about my background first. Up till nowI have only done c/c++and little bit of c#+sql.I am making windows application form. I have read one bookc# simple stepswhich wasnt helping to me at allthan I googled it and found step by stepits little helpfulbut I want a book which helps me understand all about connectionconfig....etc.I am having a lot of problem understanding it.I want to write program on my onbut sometimes I dont understand the syntax and codewhen and how to use which one. by the way I want to say it again that currently I am writing program using sql code in c#. plz refer me a book which start me from base lvlor refer me according to ur understanding. thanks Suman

Sunny Sharma · Answer

Hi Prateek There're so many available over the internet but I would like o suggest you start with this ebook: http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/ebooks/free/53/programming-C-Sharp-for-beginners.aspx Its a book available on C# Corner itself great for beginners in C# from Mahesh Chand Sir.