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Book:		Head First C#
Subject:		Waste Of Money
Date:		2008-11-05 00:23:16
From:		Anonymous Reader

Rating: I bought "Head First C#" because it was a "Brain-Friendly Guide", however it really is very CONFUSING. I am NOT new to programming, however the concepts are NOT explained very much and it is very confusing. The book moves TOO FAST and leaves out detail of concepts, not spending much time on any one thing, it just briefly mentions most things and then moves on. I have had to re-read the material, to find out that I missed something important was briefly mentioned (usually only a word or two) and embedded deep into the text. Besides the book NOT being detailed and being confusing, it seemed the book was written in a backwards format – meaning that it would have you to type some code – with little or no programming rules (of the code syntax). After typing in the code, it would mention some of the parts of the code syntax, however leaving other parts unmentioned. Several times, there was certain code that you typed in, but it would NOT mention that syntax until 50 –70 pages later (maybe). It seemed that the book really jumped into the middle of programming concepts without first starting with the BASICS of programming C# in the IDE (and it did not really even explain the IDE or the new revisions that it has since the older IDEs). Maybe the book needs a rewrite, where it does not move so fast and it clearly explains the concepts before actually writing a program. It is OK to reiterate the syntax after you have typed it in, however it should first introduce the concept and a VALID code example (NOT just pseudo code – but real code). I have other Head First books, however "Head First C#" is the most confusing of the "Head First" books that I have. I have been programming in Visual Basic, I wanted to get into C#, so I bought "Head First C#" because I thought that it would explain things more clearly; however I was very disappointed at how confusing, un-detailed, lack of organization & lack of detail of programming concepts in C# that it has. I am very disappointed in “Head First C#”. I should have spent my $50 of a different book.

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"Head First C# is absolutely the best introduction to the C# language for C# beginners."
--Will Wagers, C# Online

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Awesome book, April 24 2009

Rating:
Submitted by LiveOkinawa [Respond | View]

Unlike the individual who commented on the book being a "waste of money", i thought this book was very good for a person who wants to start learning C#. The person mentioned above (who's comment was titled "Waste of money") is either illiterate, needs glass, or has the IQ of a frog.

The book does what most other books don't.

It starts you off by telling you what to do to create a rolodex/phone book/contacts list type program. It explains a little bit of what's going on, but nothing in depth. The point of the exercise is to get the reader into the "meat" of programming, without having to read 300 or more pages on Variables, Loops, Conditionals, Objects, Methods, Functions, etc.

However, after that first chapter, you start down with the basics. What you learn there you can use to modify any of the projects that you've done in the entire book to make them better (i did, and i had never used C# in my life...i'm a Coldfusion developer for the web!).

The following chapters usually present you with a "we want you to create this..." problem, and it tells you what it wants each part of the program to do (this button should do this, this image should do this, etc). However, it tells you what it wants YOU to do...it doesn't tell you how to do all of it. That is taken from knowledge from previous chapters for the most part. However, if you flip to the next few pages, it starts to actually show you how to tackle the problem, all of it, and in depth at that.

An example is the second or third program you right. It's a small form with a button, a checkbox, and a label. You set the label's background color to red from the start (so it's defaulted to red when you run the program). You then make the program change the color of the label from red to blue, or blue to red, based on what it currently is...when you click the button. However if the checkbox isn't checked, you need to make a messagebox (messagebox.show) pop up to tell the user that the box wasn't checked, so the color changer isn't enabled. It's very simple, but shows you easily how to use conditionals.

A deeper example into that is with the color changing. You could do "if the background color is red, then change it to blue" and then another saying "if it's blue, change it to red". But the book (after showing you that), says "If the background color is blue, change it to red, otherwise, change it to blue". It's hard to realize this in words, but coding wise learning to combine conditional statements into smaller, compact form, makes for great "thinking" exercises, and helps keep your code uniform and lightweight. This is just one of the things that stood out to me that most people don't pick up on.

After you create that, it then starts getting into the basics (variables, loops, conditional statements, objects, functions, etc).

The applications you create are pretty fun to do as well, and even the little examples within the chapters are very good. It has many "pool puzzles" that are just downright migrain-inducing, but you aren't forced to do it. It's more a "logic test" for you, than anything else.

All in all, the book is VERY good for beginners. It challenges the way you think, and gives some very good examples of basic programs (you end up creating a horse-racing program, a "bank" style program, a small role-playing-game that is easily (and i mean EASILY) expandable into something larger, and a space-invaders game).

I highly recommend this book. This is what i use to "teach" to people that want to learn this language at my work place.

A Different Take, November 25 2008

Rating:
Submitted by Anonymous Reader [Respond | View]

I wouldn't say this book was a waste of money (particularly since I read it via Safari - but I have several other Head First books).

If anything, I find the Head First books too slow moving if you have some familiarity with the subject. However, I do know the teaching principles that are being used in the Head First series and admire them for that...