Head First C#

Do you want to learn C#? Programmers around the world have learned that C# lets them design great-looking programs and build them fast. With C#, you ve got a powerful programming language and a valuable tool at your fingertips. And with the Visual Studio IDE, you ll never have to spend hours writing obscure code just to get a button working. C#, Visual Studio and .NET take care of the grunt-work, and let you focus on the interesting parts of getting your programs written. Sound appealing? Unlike other C# books, which just show you examples and expect you to just memorize them and move on, Head First C# gets you writing code from the beginning. You're given the tools you need, and then you're guided through fun and engaging programming projects. You'll build programs to play a card game, explore a house, and help lazy programmers manage their sick day excuses. But it's not all fun and games: you'll build business applications too, like a contact database and a program to help a party planner estimate her dinner parties. You'll build a dungeon role-playing game and a fully animated, colorful simulation of a beehive. And by the end of the book, you'll build a fast-paced, full-featured retro Invaders arcade game. Make no mistake: by the time you're done with Head First C#, you'll be able to build full-scale, complex, and highly visual programs. And you'll have all of the C# tools you need to tackle almost any programming problem that comes your way. Head First C# is built for your brain, using the revolutionary approach that was pioneered by the highly acclaimed and popular Head First series. You'll never get that bored, "eyes glazed over" feeling from Head First C#, because itguides you through one challenging project after another until, by the end of the book, you're a C# rock star! Here's what you'll learn: Core C# programming concepts How to use the Visual Studio 2008 IDE to build, debug and run your programs Important .NET 3.5 features, including generic collections, Windows forms, GDI+ graphics, streams, serialization and more Using object oriented programming concepts to help you build well-designed programs How to build robust applications with good error handling The latest C# 3.0 features, including LINQ, object and collection initializers, automatic properties, extension methods and more Throughout the book, you'll confront and conquer advanced C# concepts. Some of the most mysterious ideas are demystified and explained with clear examples: how Unicode works, events and delegates, references versus value types, the stack versus the heap, what's really going on with garbage collection, and more. Thousands of readers have learned C# using this innovative book, including: Beginning programmers who want to learn programming from the ground up More advanced programmers who are proficient in another language (like Visual Basic, Java, SQL, FoxPro) and want to add C# to their toolbox Programmers who understand basic C# syntax, but are still looking to get a handle on how objects work Anyone who's tried to learn C#, but had to deal with books full of dull examples and nothing but boring console applications Lots of people who just want to learn how to build cool games! Head First C# is built to work with any version of Visual Studio 2008, including the free express edition. (It can also can be used with any version of Visual Studio 2005.)

Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene are both veteran software engineers and project managers. They created Stellman & Greene Consulting in 2003, with a focus on project management, software development, management consulting, and software process improvement. Andrew and Jennifer have worked in a wide range of industries, including finance, telecommunications, media, non-profit, entertainment, natural language processing, science and academia. Their first book, Applied Software Project Management, was published by O'Reilly Media in 2005 and has been widely praised by project managers, software engineers and academics. Their second book, Head First PMP, was called "the very best basic education and training book that I have read" by Dennis Bolles, the project manager and lead author of the Project Management Institute's PMBOK(R) Guide. And their third book, Head First C#, is one of the most popular book for learning C#, Windows programming and object oriented programming and design. They regularly speak at schools, companies and professional organizations on project management, quality, software development and process improvement.

Jennifer Greene, has spent the past 15 years or so building software for many different kinds of companies. She's worked for small start-ups and some huge companies along the way. She's built software test teams and helped lots of companies diagnose and deal with habitual process problems so that they could build better software. Since her start in software test and process definition, she's branched out into development management and project management. She's currently managing a big development team for a global media company and she's managed just about every aspect of software development through her career. Jennifer founded Stellman & Greene Consulting with Andrew Stellman in 2003, initially to serve the scientific and academic community. They have worked in a wide range of industries including finance, telecommunications, media, non-profit, entertainment, natural language processing, science and academia. They do speaking engagements, provide training on development practices, manage teams, and build software. Together, they've written two highly acclaimed books on project management (Head First PMP and Applied Software Project Management), Head First C#, and most recently just finished up Beautiful Teams. For more information about Jennifer, Andrew Stellman, and their books, visit http: //www.stellman-greene.com.