I really wished I would have researched this book further before purchasing it! The book description really caught my attention because I have read enough boring, overly technical books in my day. I was really hoping this `Brain-Friendly Guide' would be a welcomed alternative.

However, I have only finished 198 pages and have no intention of picking this book up ever again. (Kicking myself firmly for writing in the book, otherwise I could return it) There are several grammatical and technical mistakes for starters.

I spent hours thinking I did something incorrectly, several more hours re-reading chapters because things didn't work as expected. After talking with several experienced C# programmers I was assured that several of these examples were difficult for them to understand and that they didn't understand the logic either.

So with grammatical, technical and logical mistakes I do not view this as a good investment. (Please go to http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596514822/errata/ and see all the corrections made for the January and April revisions there is 25 printed pages worth of corrections.)

Sorry O'Reilly and authors. I cannot imagine how difficult it is to write a technical book that isn't boring but I view this as a complete strike out. Hopefully your next at bat will end better.

This book was beyond what I was looking for at the time when I was looking for a way to learn C#. After having read through most of the book already, I feel that this book is the way to learn C#. Everything is clearly presented in a logical and fun way that doesn't bore like a textbook normally would. However, as with any book, nothing is perfect and there are some good-found errors throughout the book that I have found. BUT! Do not worry about the errors. On the Head First website you can find an error page that shows all the bugs people have found for the book. Also, if you go on the Head First C# forums you can find someone who learned C# from this book and wrote a program that holds all the bugs for each of the editions.


Beyond what I was looking for is right! This book comes with a whole fan base behind it that is ready to help you--they've helped me as a matter of fact. If you go to the head first website, you will find the head first C# forums where the authors actually do come on to help as well as the people learning with you. I was just looking for a book on C# and found a whole wonder of help.

I bought this book based on the reviews already written. I have a library of computer books and they was my third C# book. Simply put, it is as good as everyone says. Follow the plan outlined by the authors and you will learn and quickly. I have already ordered two more head first books and started reading Design Patterns yesterday. From now on, I will always see if a heads first book is available before buying any others.

Shall it be called "C# for Dummies" or "C# for Managers"? A lot of sales pitch for the brain friendliness and almost zero essence. I work in IT for 30 years and can not imagine working with someone who learned C# by reading this book. This approach may work as introduction to Internet for housewives, but they do not code in C#.

Head First C# was my first experience with the Head First series, although I have since also purchased the excellent Head First Design Patterns (Head First).

This book is designed to teach you C# from the beginning. Technical books can generally be categorized as either tutorials or reference texts -- and this is absolutely in the tutorial category. It's intended to be read and worked through in order, from start to finish. If you already know C# and are looking for a reference text, look elsewhere. If you're an experienced C++ programmer looking to learn C# but are already very familiar with object oriented programming, consider checking out the excellent and concise Accelerated C# 2008 (Accelerated). If you're an experienced C# programmer and just want to learn the advanced features of C#2 and C#3, you'll again want to look elsewhere, and you couldn't do better than C# in Depth: What you need to master C# 2 and 3.

But if you want to *learn* C# and object-oriented programming, and especially if you have little or no prior programming experience, look no further than this fantastic book. If you're reading reviews of the book, then you probably know two things: it has an unusual style and some quirky humor, and it has a bit more than it's fair share of errors. These two things are true, but there's a lot more about the book that you should know, and that's mostly what I want to talk about in this review. Before I move on, though, let me say two things. First, the conversational style and the humor are sometimes overstated -- this is a book about programming, and it's not a joke a minute or anything. I know that you can't Search Inside here on Amazon to see what the book is like, which I assume is because of the visuals-heavy design and unusual layout of the text, but just do a quick search for the book's website and you can download a full sample chapter and some other excerpts. Judge for yourself before dismissing an excellent book based on its unusual (but effective!) design. Second, the errata *are* extensive, but they don't get in the way of your learning. This book shines for its well-chosen examples, its focus on your learning (you'll be talked to rather than at), and its great overall structure -- and none of the errata interfere with any of that at all. If the extensive errata lists do bother you, I wrote a small free program that can sort through them for you and filter out the types of errors or page ranges you're not interested in. (You can find the link stickied at the web forum for Head First C#.)

There are also some features of the book that I don't see mentioned often enough, and which I want to comment on briefly before getting to the heart of the review. First, I love that the introduction is actually useful, giving you valuable insights on why the authors made the design choices they did (why text is in the pictures, rather than beneath them as captions, for example), and offering advice on how best to approach the book if you want to maximize your learning experience. I highly recommend reading it. Second, it's worth mentioning the way that the book uses the (free) Visual Studio 2008 IDE to make graphical Windows applications throughout, rather than focusing on a text editor and console applications like many other introductory texts. Visual Studio is a powerful IDE, and it *helps* you learn with syntax highlighting and Intellisense -- I'm very glad that the Head First C# authors chose to incorporate its use into the book, because it often allowed me to focus on concepts at first rather than syntax, picking that up gradually through repeated use with the IDE's guidance. Third, you'll be making some genuinely impressive software over the course of the book -- between the use of Visual Studio and the authors' being unafraid to assign projects that take several pages just to *describe*, you'll get a much better feel for what it's like to make real software than you would from the small "toy" examples that are more common in many other introductory books. (But don't worry, there's plenty of guidance, including fully annotated solution code for most of them, and a helpful web forum if you get stuck.) Finally, the book has the advantage of going to print for the first time after C# 3.0 and .NET 3.5 were released, and it fluently combines the various iterations of the language, teaching C# *as it now exists* from the ground up in an order that makes sense for someone learning now from scratch, rather than taking the more common but less sensible route of introducing C#1.0 features before C#2 before C#3. This is great, because it allows the authors to introduce some of the powerful and convenient features of the newer editions of the language and framework -- the stuff that really makes C# appealing as a language -- quite early in the book.

The funny thing about Head First C# is that the conversational tone, the humor, the quirky layout, and the pictures make the book seem completely un-academic. At first glance, it's as far from an academic textbook as you could possibly get! But I've come to realize that reading through the book from the beginning, doing all the exercises, is as close to the structured learning experience of an academic course as you can get in book form. The brilliance of Head First C# isn't in the phrasing of any given sentence or the coding style in a particular snippet -- it's in the overall structure of the book and especially in the examples chosen for exercises, which allow you to build up your knowledge incrementally while still reviewing past material. (Which is why the errata really aren't a big deal.) I've seen some reviews point out the book's "redundancy" as a flaw, and I just shake my head. The book is often repetitious, but never redundant, and always deliberately -- seeing the same material repeatedly from different perspectives and at different times is absolutely key to learning anything, and the repetition is one of the best features of the Head First series in general and this book in particular.

So there are errors. So there's a bit of fuzziness in the phrasing sometimes. So it doesn't cover Advanced Language Topic A or B. So what? This book is a teaching tool. It's a full course -- instructor, fellow students, textbook, homework, projects, review sessions, and conversations with peers -- stuffed onto paper, rolled up, printed, and stuck between covers.

I've learned C#, and I've *retained* what I've learned. I've had fun doing it. And if you too want to learn C# and programming, I can't recommend Head First C# highly enough.

The concept behind the book is great... the editing and quality control is a joke.

If you are new to programming, this book will frustrate you. Despite the best efforts of your brain trying to struggle around the errors in the book, this book's often convoluted logic (due to the errata) will make learning C# a very tiresome experience.

The snappy "Leave-It-To-Beaver" photos are ok, but the quality control on this book just needs to be improved. Check out the errata on this book, it's just insane.

O livro é incrível, o melhor livro de computação que já comprei. Melhor que a série Deitel.

Amazing book!

There are over 43 pages of corrections (errata) to the first edition (11/07) of this text. It is inexcusable. You can go to O'Reilly's site and print the errata lists, three of them, to use as cliff notes to decode this book. I have purchased three other titles in the Head First series that are excellent. The quality of this one is horrible. Not only do some of the programming examples have minor syntax mistakes, but entire sections of code are incorrect. In one case the errata recommends downloading a pdf because the text has been substantially revised "to enhance clarity and quality of learning".

If you want to purchase this book, make sure you get the latest edition.

Kevin

This book also represents an innovative way to learn and not only C# knowledge itself. Have you ever tried to learn something and end up being frustrated with the way it is being taught? This book not only explains C# but it also explains how to learn quickly and how to obtain your edge on learning itself!

There's a reason why there is no "Search Inside" feature for this book...in my opinion. This thing is a train-wreck. This book is like the Robin Williams of technical books...It jumps around all over the place, it's not funny and you can't wait to slam it against something. There's pictures of dogs, cats, cups and couches. It's way too busy...If you grab one end of the book and you flip through the pages as fast as you, I think you can actually give yourself a seizure...in my opinion...

This book is great, if you're looking for a book to learn C# this is it. I wish all books had pictures. (sigh)

This is my second Head First Book (first was HTML), and I really enjoy the style of these books. You don't just sit down and read through these books (and fall asleep like most others I've read). You will be at your PC working through the exercises, doing more coding than reading. That's why I wanted to learn C#, to write programs, not just learn a language.

Experience is the best teacher. The exercises in this book are followed with solutions to help you over the rough spots in your learning. There are also 3 labs where no solutions are provided, so you are challenged to solve these on your own. But, you're not completely on your own. Head First has a forum dedicated to each of its books, and the C# forum is the place to ask questions and share ideas.

If you're looking for a place to start I highly recommend this book.

Head first C# is an interesting approach to learning, unfortunately its many errors and inaccuracies makes it virtually useless. I have always been a quick learner and became quite frustrated with the difficulties I was encountering with some of the problems and projects. Then I found the publishers web site and the 17 pages! of errata for my 2nd edition!!! This book has completely wrong statements, problems that required techniques from LATER in the book and even a 6 page section of the book that needed replaced by a printed PDF amongst its many, MANY errors, typos and inaccuracies. Fortunately the local bookseller I bought it from took it back, I hope you save yourself the trouble.

If you just have to buy this book make absolutely sure you are getting a 4th edition (has 4/08) in the bottom right corner of the copyright page)

Just browsed through this book, so I cannot tell anything about the C# content, but I definitely decided not to buy it. This is why:

I like it when programming books are theoretical, not too dry, and help me to gain a good perspective/knowledge of the language. My top favorite example of a good programming book is: The Ruby Programming Language. A extremely refreshing, well written, well designed, sound book.

Head First is conceptually a total difference.

You like it:
The method uses a extremely playful way of teaching. The layout is very playful, with lot's of funny fonts and funny pictures. There is really a lot to see and to experience. Learning has never been so much fun. Finally a book that really helps you to learn, instead of being so dull and dry, like all those other programming books.

You don't:
I would say: there are a lot of irrelevant nonsense pictures, the layout is extremely inconsistent, messy, distracting. All kind of texts with random font-sizes scream to you for attention, like a horde of hyperactive children. Only looking at the pages makes you tired. There is no way you can easily get information out of this book. Trying to read it makes you decide to throw it away immediately.

The other reviews show that there are a lot of people who like this approach, something I cannot fathom. But that's life I guess, everybody is different. everybody learns different.

Conclusion:
The head first approach fits you or not. You hate it, or you'll love it.
Personally, I hate it. It doesn't fit my learning-style. Maybe it does fit yours.

This is my second experience with the Head First series of books. I must say that when I was looking for a C# book to teach me the language and I saw that there was a Head First book that I stopped looking.

This book gets you up to speed very fast. The examples are entertaining and not the usual run of the mill computer book examples. To me the book seems to be oriented toward game creation, which I'm not that interested in, but they certainly held my interest, although, I have to admit that I didn't work through the examples completely, I was able to see how the elements of the C# worked together. I've been back to the book a couple of times to see how they did things a couple of times now.

A couple of other reviews on this book confirm what I have discovered in the few chapters I have had time to read, and that is this an excellent book. I have about seven languages under my belt, but this is my first dive into C#, and as a result of this book, I am coming up to speed on this language very quickly. I thank the authors for going out of their way to make the learning curve enjoyable.
Nuff said.

Head First C# is exactly what I was looking for in a programming book --- minimal technobabble and light on the concepts. I wanted to see what the language can do and that's what this book delivers. It's a hands-on book so it's geared toward readers who learn by doing. It's not for readers who want to sit down and read it cover to cover.

If you want to be a real C# programmer, this book is a great place to start!

bought this book with very little programming experience and must say, its a fantastic book for those looking to dive into the world of object oriented programming.

It's easy to read, the projects are well thought out and get you involved right from the get go.

The authors are very clear in the beginning of the book that if you are an experienced programmer, or looking for a reference guide, this is NOT the book for you.

A read a lot books about C# and .net stuff. But there are one big problem with all them they are all so boring... It's not about this book i never think that book about writing code can be so fun and interesting. Thanks amazon for open this book for me because i couldn't find this book in my country.

I'm going to agree with most of the other reviews here. I think this book is a spectacular learning device. I just finished the book off over two weeks, and feel like I've gotten more out of it than any other book by far. I still used some other books to get a little more in depth, but all in all I have no complaints.

I think a new user could take this book and write some good code when they were done. Make sure you do all of the interactive exercises, they will help to ingrain your knowledge.

I have over 20 Beginning/Professional C# books and this is by far my favorite.

As an experienced programmer, I've found this book to be very good at getting me "up and running" and writing my own C# code (I'm about 1/3 of the way through).

However, the book is clearly intended to be appropriate for less experienced programmers as well, and I think it would be very confusing for someone who didn't already have a fair amount of programming experience.

Specifically there are a lot of typos and errors in this book which would, I think, make it very difficult for a beginner to know whether they're doing the right thing or not. In a lot of cases, I find it difficult to tell what I'm supposed to be doing in a given case because, for example, I'll be told to create a particular field or method for an object, and then I won't be told (directly or indirectly) what I'm supposed to use it for. Then, in the exercise "solution", I will see what the field is used for, but that functional requirement was never stated as part of the exercise description.

Sometimes the reader will be told to create a particular field or method as "private" and then, two pages later, the solution will show it as a "public" field. As an experienced programmer, I can usually guess that the book has made an error in a case like this, but I could easily see a beginner wasting a lot of time due to errors like this in the book.

Here are the specific errors I've found just today:

Page 265:
The "Sharpen Your Pencil" exercise shows a line that states:
Bees[6] = Bees[2];
But the solution shows it as
Bees[6] = Bees[0];
Which makes it impossible for the reader to come up with the correct solution.

Page 271:
The user is instructed to create a method called "ScareLittleChildren()" but is not told what it is supposed to do or when to invoke it. The user is also told to have the "Honk()" method pop up a message box that says "Boo! Gotcha!"

On the following page, the solution has the "Boo! Gotcha" functionality moved to the "ScareLittleChildren()" method.

Page 292:
The user is told that the "diningRoom" object needs to implement the "IHasExteriorDoor" interface, when the previous page explicitly stated that the locations with exterior doors are the front yard, the back yard, the living room and the kitchen.

The user is also never told what to do differently with the Locations that have exterior doors (in terms of implementing the form that drives this exercise). Locations can have "exits" and "doors", but we are never explicitly told whether "doors" are considered "exits"; most people would consider those words synonyms in common usage, but it's only by close examination of the data diagram and sample code that the user can guess that it's probable that the two terms should be considered mutually exclusive.

Page 295:
The exercise solution shows an override method for OutsideWithDoor.Description but not for RoomWithDoor.Description.

These are just the errors that I've found today. I noticed a bunch the day before yesterday, too, when I was working through an earlier section of the book. As I said, I would think that such frequent errors would make the book very confusing for a beginner. It's too bad, since I remember a time (the mid-90s) when O'Reilly books were known for their extremely thorough attention to detail. Pity that no longer appears to be the case.

I would like to say that I am very impressed with this book. It is not often I find books that keep me interested. I have read books on C, C++ and Java but they all had programs that were of little value. With this book the first program your create shows what you can do with C# by creating a simple Contact program. I am very pleased with this book and recommend it to anyone wanting to learn c# for windows applications.

I've picked up several learn-on-your-own programming books over the years, this is the only one that has kept my interest. Its learning style is somewhat decentralized. What I mean by that is that not all the material is covered in the traditional form (from left to right, top to bottom). You have puzzles, fill in the blanks and other interesting systems. Excellent approach to learning. I do not see myself going back to the traditional, boring, paperweights!

The good reviews for this book suggest that people are bored out of their minds by programming and crave a silly distraction--which is, of course, all too understandable. But my objection is not that it is a poor book on programming (though it is), but rather that it is not amusing either, since the attempts to be hip are tiresome and would appeal primarily to those with certain learning disabilities. Perhaps that's a bit harsh, but you would be well advised to look at the sample chapter from the publisher's site before buying, since this is not a book in any traditional (i.e. functionally literate) sense of the term.

By the way, I'm not against simple basic introductions to a technical subject, even with a few bad jokes, but you're much, much better off with something like "C# 2008 for Dummies" if so (assuming you're not too mortified by the title). Higher up, "Illustrated C#" and Troelsen's C# book (by apress) are good. But almost any other C# book will be much better.

Outstanding book. Easy on the eyes and easy to read. The pictures and examples really get your attention and make you want to continue on. This book dives right into programming instead of a history lesson with a million boring words.

I recommend this for new AND experienced programmers alike!

Just received the book yesterday. I purchased this book because of the pos reviews. At the first sight I dislike the type and the size of fonts already. The text are far too small for those who already past the midage but want to upgrade their progr knowledge (I am certified in programming in C). Secondly there is no obvious structure on the pages. You may say that you can start to read from the middel of the pages then go to the top and end up at the bottom left. I have not yet read and try the exercise yet. The arrows, handwritten texts and marks, poor cartoonish drawings make me dizzy. I believe from the reviews, that this is not a bad book. The content of this book may be good and the newbies for programming can dig out the treasure which is covered by the mess in this book (and other Head First books). Now I just can give 3 stars, for the benefit of doubt.

This book gets 5 stars even though at times not all specifications for programs were explicitly laid out. Even though haphazard placement of sporadic notes permeated this book from beginning to end, I really enjoyed reading it and learning from it.

Seriously, this book from the first page gears you up not just to write good code, but to think about design. It builds up your skill slowly but surely and in such a logical way, once you get to the first project, you are ready to get things going. For those learning to program in C#, I must say this book beats all the rest. Enjoy

I have been programming for 20+ years - mostly c++ - and am learning C#. I bought this book based on reviews - mostly positive (one negative). I should have listened to the negative.
The book started out OK - I thought the few scribble notes were kind of cute. Then the typos and incorrect data slowed me down. I am well aware that there are always a few typos and bugs that slip through the cracks with any release, but this book has way more than "a few." I was spending too much time trying to figure out what the sentence was supposed to be saying. I was also spending too much time trying to figure out why my result did not match the book's result - most of the time the problem was that the book's result was wrong. As I progressed through the book, the scribble notes became more frequent and less cute and the arrows were driving me crazy. I could not keep track of what was required or what the author was trying to teach me at that particular moment. There were times when the requirements of an exercise were not fully given. I had to look at the solution to find the requirements.
I struggled through the first 150 pages, skimmed through the next 50 pages, then put the book back on my shelf and started looking for a better book.

OK, first of all, I'm not a tech book snob. I buy Dummies books and have been happy with them (if a little guilty) as introductory texts. I think we all have experienced the numbing quality of a certain kind of technical writing, and I'm always on the lookout for books that are written with the same enthusiasm I feel for a topic, and that are written to be understood by regular people. Like me.

So, I was quite interested in this book based on its description; it really sounded like they had worked hard to make this series accessible. (And I'm sure they did work really hard at it!) But I have to say I think the result is terrible. I tried a number of times to get into it, thinking perhaps I just needed to acclimate myself to the style and I'd start to appreciate it. But I've had to face the fact that I simply think it's a bad book.

Essentially, I think they've gone way overboard with the informal concept. The pages are so cluttered with doodles and pictures and snippets of text and faux-handwriting and arrows that it's just plain hard to follow the conceptual thread of the instruction. The information is so fragmented that there is no coherence, no flow, and and it's nearly impossible to get a complete grasp of the concepts they're trying to get across in the lessons. The reader has to work extra hard just trying to figure out what the heck they're trying to teach him, because they spend so much effort trying to disguise the information by burying it in "interesting" formatting like crossword puzzles and games and all sorts of other foofaraw. Foofaraw, I say!

The introduction says this is how our brains learn best, but I shudder to think what it says about us if that's true. Truly, when working through this book I felt like I was being treated like a child who is incapable of serious thought and who needed to be infotained into learning something. This really does seem like a book that's intended to maintain the attention of ADHD children by any means necessary.

I love O'Reilly and I appreciate what they're trying to do with this series, and I almost feel bad criticizing their efforts. It seems I'm in the vast minority here, too, since this book gets raves... but I feel like I'm pointing out that the emperor has no clothes. I'm continuing my search for a well-written C# book that is accessible and explains things to me like an intelligent adult, and actually helps me learn programming concepts.

A last note: although O'Reilly doesn't seem to support the "Search Inside This Book" feature at Amazon, you can go to their website and look at a sample chapter from this book. They have the entire Chapter 5 in PDF form, and it's a good example of what the book is like. I highly recommend you go look at it before purchasing this book. You can decide for yourself whether you like it or not!

What More can i say, if you want to learn C# buy this book.
im not a conventional learner when it comes to new matrial, this book is both visual and informative to help you understand C#

I've read several books on C#; I wish I would have read this one first. I was finally able to grasp some key object oriented concepts that were still fuzzy. I'm a visual learner, so the illustrations, etc. made it much easier to wrap my mind around these concepts. I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn C#.

I look forward to reading some of the other books in the Head First Series. I hope they update the Java book to v6.

I think this is a VERY good book. I've been out of programming for a few years and it's refreshing to see someone take an extremely technical topic and make it easily digestable...I'd HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU GET A COPY!!!!! I'd lend you mine but I can't put it down :-)

I would say to any one that wants to get into learning C#. BUY THIS BOOK. I have several books on C# from the major publishers and this is the best book with out a dought. I think these books should be in schools around the world.

If you truely want to learn how to program in C# in an object oriented way, then this book is for you. Just as in any other Head First book, you will be engaged in the process of learning, and not just a passive reader. The book is not only intellectually engaging, but entertaining and emotionally stimulating!

You don't read a Head First book, you experience it and program. You are expertly guided from basic designs with inherent limitations to the solutions the object oriented language provides to those problems. In other words, you are taught not by memorization, but by running into and solving problems.

The thing I enjoy most about this book is the authors clearly lay out the "design requirements" (at least as clearly as any client might) before each exercise so that I might attempt the exercise on my own and discover what it is that I don't know. Then, I can follow along as they explain their design and rational, and compare notes. If you really do the exercises in the book, it will be impossible NOT to learn how to program in C# by the end of the book. And, the book will prove it to you as you get to complete 3 increasingly difficult programs yourself from scratch after you have learned what you need to know to complete them!

I highly recommend this book for anyone wishing to learn not just C#, but windows programming in C#. The LINQ at the beginning will blow you away! Don't expect a "Hello World" program in this hip book.

Great job Jennifer & Andrew!

This is a really great book to learn C# and the Visual Studio 2008 IDE. It uses a format you probably have never seen before from a technical book. They use lots of drawings , diagrams, photos, and annotations to hammer home the information. Don't get this mixed up with a 'Dummies..." book. The Head First series is light years ahead of Dummies books.

One problem is that the book is literally filled with typos and printing errors. I have the revised copy from 01/08 and still there are so many errors. You will find yourself constantly jumping to the web site to read the errata section to figure out what the correction in the text should be. In fact, it gets so annoying that I made my review 4 stars instead of 5.

Other than that, the book is a definite thumbs up for absolute beginners as well as intermediate programmers who may need help filling in the gaps.

Computer books tend to be dull, dry and largely ineffective in their content. They either replicate the help contents mercilessly, or bore the reader to death with FOR...LOOPs and basically trivial control structures, while completely skirting any useful content.

Not so with the Head First guides. This is the third I've bought, and although they're targeted towards beginners, evened seasoned programmers can have fun with these books. Did I say fun? Yes I did. The learning style actually takes a relatively tedious subject and injects some life into the whole thing, modeling topics around real-life examples and challenges.

Most importantly, however, if you follow all the exercises and take their advice on doing the crosswords, Q&A, programming tests and everything else, after 700 pages you WILL be able to program C# quite effectively. How many other books are guaranteed to make you learn the topic if you're a willing student? In my case, I've been avoiding C# for years, and I've just finished writing a real-time game as a result of the final chapter.

I can't recommend these guides enough, and the C# edition is a particular good one.

The one thing that most (nearly all) technical books have in common is that they are B-O-R-I-N-G. While this works for many people looking to just get to the meat and potatoes content, if a newbie or beginner wants to be able to LEARN from a book they are at a loss.

That's where the 'Head First' line of books comes in to play.

If you have never read a Head First book you are in for a treat when you sit down and start reading. Nowhere in a HF book will you be bored as these books aren't looking to just teach, but teach in a FUN, interesting way. It's tough to explain a HF book other than it's an experience in itself. Filled with a design, content, and writing that jumps out at you, these books are looking to get you excited to turn to the next page and/or chapter and want to keep reading.

I think that the C# Head First book is one of the best I have had the pleasure to read. With over 700 pages of content spread over 15 chapters, this is a wonderful book for newbies that want to get coding right away. Filled with all the stuff that you would expect from such a book: basic programming constructs and declarations, object oriented discussion, file IO, exception handling, delegates, and even the newest M$ technology LINQ!!

If you are new to using C# and want to learn in my opinion possibly the best way possible, pick up this book FIRST and use all other guides as references. If you want boring books that are full of drab info and light on the enjoyment, this isn't for you (highly unlikely).

A pleasure to read and easy to learn from, this is one great book on C#.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Unlike most C# books out there this book always leave you wanting more, its very well laid out and fun to read.

Highly recommended !

Theis book presents all aspects of C# in an easy to understand way. While it is technical, the authors do not try and impress you with making it complicated.

I don't know how to program, I'm not a professional in the computer industry. I'm just a guy who wants to make a game, and is willing to put in some work toward making that happen. I have tried to read several books on C++, but I always get bored. I wish this book were about C++. It pulls me right through the pages with interesting text and easy to follow pacing. In most book, by chapter three, if your lucky, you've made a "Hello World" program. In Head First C#, you've made programs that could actually be useful, even if they aren't that great. It is much more engaging than other programing books that I've read, and I have no reservations recommending it to anyone interested in learning C#.

Overall, I can say that I love this book. It makes learning a programming language fun. This book focuses on C#, but you'll also learn about object-oriented programming, the .Net framework, the Visual Studio IDE, and the .Net GUI tool set. The presentation is great for retention. This book gets you involved from the first page. Some of the programming examples are somewhat nonsensical, but I think the humor helps keep you involved. There are a lot of places where the book asks you to stop and write things down and following the book's guidelines helps to solidify the concepts that were discussed. When I say discussed, I mean the book feels more like a conversation than a lecture. The conversational aspect is another tool to keep you involved in the book. The material builds upon itself nicely and takes breaks in 3 different spots for lab work, which are decent sized applications that reinforce the concepts taught up to that point. You also build interesting programs as you work through the book's examples, like a random excuse generator and a bee-hive simulation. These aren't the boring "build an order form with a button that calculates shipping and tax rate information" programs that you'll see in lifeless textbooks. At the end of this book, you will have to learn more about the advanced areas of C# and .Net, but you will have a very strong foundation to build upon.

There are a fair amount of typo's and minor errors in the book. It's definitely a candidate for a revision or a second edition. However, the minor errors won't get in the way of the actual learning experience. You just have to overlook the minor flaws.

I would not recommend this book for people who already have solid programming experience and are looking to learn C# to round out their repertoire. I imagine they would be better suited with a language reference style book. This book is not suited for serious reference material.

I plan on purchasing more Head First books. I have learned much in a short period of time and actually enjoyed doing it. I've dabbled in teaching myself programming before, but all the self-teaching books I've previously read have left quite a bit to be desired. This one feels like I have an instructor working with me through the book.

I have to say, I have read a lot of programming texts and references over the years. To be blunt, Head First C# is by far the best beginner introduction to a language I have ever read. It truly does take a new and refreshing approach on learning a programming language. It also makes learning the language fun. Thats what learning is all about, I work in the educational field, so I know hands down if you are able to make learning fun for a student, they will be more likely to retain the knowledge. I actually read this book cover to cover in the first weekend I received it and now I'm going back and doing all of the projects. The source code provided is very accurate and all compiles. Something that is very rare from most programming texts.

In the end, if you read this book and still can't get a grasp over C# or programming in general, you should honestly rethink your choice to be a programmer.

There are two type of books available in the market. Head First C#, is in "Learn and DO IT!" category. I remember Scott Hanselman (The author of ASP.NET 3.5) mentioned once in his blog that their book is around 2600 pages but I believe those books are act like a reference book(dictionary).
Got this book @ 8:10pm and finished the first chapter in an hour. The first chapter was about building a data driven Phone book application step by step. I personally like the book that has a case study in it and gives you the opportunity to deal with the real world challenges.

The book came as promised. It was in good condition. For a programming noob such as myself, the material was easy to understand. Overall a great intro to the subject.

Have you ever read a technical book that took two pages to explain how to write "Hello World"? Did you then say to yourself maybe a bit excessive but I know they are going to hold my hand and guide me through all the concepts in the book only to discover ideas popping in out of nowhere with no introduction or explanation? Have you ever picked up a book weighing a ton and then wonder where is the rhyme or reason and continuity to the book? Did they write the book to show off? If you answered yes to any of these questions or just looking for a book that actually teaches concepts rather than building a wall to make things difficult then this is your book.

Think of the best teacher you had in High School or College that finally believed in your abilities and took the time to guide your progress. This is what the Head First series is all about and this is what the C# book is all about. They hold your hand all the way through the book. There are many facets to the book. All the Head First books are very graphical in nature. They introduce and explain each concept in detail and in words you can understand. Each section has examples to work on. They mark up the book with circles and arrows around examples where they provide additional notes to help clear the air. There are notes everywhere you turn. There are photos of people in the book asking, "Why do it this way when you said X on the previous page", followed by an explanation. There is a "There are no Dumb questions" section where they really do ask the questions you would be afraid to ask in a class setting but are important to understand in order to remove any confusion. Every time I thought to myself, "why are we doing things a particular way or I'm missing something", I would turn the page and discover the question answered in detail. They really anticipate what you are thinking. I don't know how they do it. One last thing I have to mention. These books are fun to read and relaxing to read because you know they are not going to surprise you with any idea that does not include a detailed explanation. Having said that it still takes a commitment on the readers part. It is not easy to become proficient in a language like C#. You can go through the book saying to yourself that you understand everything because of the clarity of the explanations. Unless you do the examples and maybe even re-read chapters and make your own notes then you can still walk away with little to show for it.

Finally if all I said wasn't enough then I have to add to my review that all the people behind the Head First books are truly committed to helping people and providing support. Visit their web site at [...]. If you ask a question in the forums the author often responds. If not the author then the editor. I have never seen this type of support from any other publisher.

If I have any complaint it is where were these books ten years ago.

I've worked my way through the first 5 chapters of this book and have been throughly impressed with this book. The book makes learning C# extremely entertaining and most importantly for me, my retention of the subject matter has been better than with more traditional style text books. The labs are challenging yet very much doable with a little extra thinking on your own part. I'd recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn C#.

To Everyone:

I had never programmed in any language other than VBA until I bought this book last weekend. Since then, I haven't been able to set it down! The excercises are great, and everything just seems to stick with me. I especially enjoy the labs, as they are an excellent way to test the skills I have just learned. After I finished the first lab, I felt like I had really accomplished something!

To Andrew and Jennifer:

Your book is by far the best computer book I have ever read! Keep up the great work and write more books like this one!

I am a 'VBscripter' and have just decided to dabble in C#. I have to say that I am sooo please that I found the Head First series. The teaching method is way ahead of any other book I have found for this subject matter; you will find that as long as you follow EVERY STEP they present, your brain will suck in the info like a sponge. The secret in the training method is the constant practical exercises and re affirming and repeating of information, as well as the visual style which embeds important text into the images (of which there are many!). I've already noticed that stuff is sinking in and I'm only through 30 pages. I'd reccommend this book to beginners and intermediate. You wont get alot from it if you are advanced in C#, but for the former, it is essential that you add this to your collection.

First off this book is aimed at those new to programming in C# and definately not aimed at those who already know and have programmed in C# using a previous version of the .Net Framework and looking for a guide to what's new in C# and the .Net Framework 3.0.
That being said, if you're new to C#, this book takes a refreshing stance on learning the language compared with other texts. There are plenty of practical excercises scattered throughout the book to test what you have learned along with good explanations of the material covered.
The book is also aimed at Windows programming and not Asp.Net programming with C# so if you're new to C# and are looking to program your own website then this isn't the book for you.
It does cover a lot of the basics that you will need to know to get started programming and even has a chapter on LINQ which, although the book states it's for .Net 3.0 is actually part of the .Net 3.5 framework.
One point however is that the book does teach some fairly bad habits and I have therefore marked my review down slightly due to this (example. On page 11 of the book it states that you should not rename "Form1" to something more meaningful. This is an extremely bad habit to get into. You should always rename your forms with more meaningful names.
That being said, this is an excellent book for complete newcommers to the C# langauge.

Well, I was on the review team as well. Over the years I learned quite a few languages like IBM390 Assembler, Ada, COBOL85 and Object Pascal and wrote many applications using these languages. Being curious what C# was all about, I read a few C# books. But at the end of the day I usually got stuck working out the examples from the book. Although I could work out the exercises using Object Pascal, I strangely didn't quite succeed at it using C#. And so I mistakenly thought C# wasn't my cup of tea.

And that's where Head First C# makes the difference! Both the writers have done a great job at teaching all about OOP in such a unique way, that one absorbs this rather difficult topic without taking much trouble, though. There are lots of good and clear examples, and the fun part is in the build up of the hands-on exercises. You'll be amazed at what you've learned without taking much trouble from this outstanding book.

I can not do but recommend this book to everyone who really wants to learn C#, without actually having to ramp up the learning curve the hard way...