This is a decent step-by-step book for programming using Windows forms in C#. The entire book is well written in a tutorial format. Plenty of examples present key how-to-use features of the Windows forms. It's an excellent entry level book for GUI programming with C#. However, as some reviews mentioned, the details on some specific topics, such as progress status bar and the multi-threading, are missing.

Buyers/Readers be aware: this book is a bit out of date. The examples in the contents are different from you will find in Visual Studio 2005 or later.

This book might be useful to a beginner with no experience who needs step-by-step guidance for even the simplest things, but for anyone else it is tedious at best.

The text is needlessly wordy, and the presentation of certain information is regrettable. For example, the properties, methods, and events of each control are listed in a table; but the items are presented in alphabetical order rather than by order of importance or frequency of use. No context is provided about the C# language or the use of Windows in an a production environment.

Even a beginner could learn more easily by experimenting and reading the documentation that comes with Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. And there are much better books on the market.

I'm sending my copy to the recycle bin.

I love this book and when I upgraded to Visual Studio 2005 I picked it up again to re-do all of the examples. I knew there would be some changes but Microsoft changed Menus considerably more than I expected in VS 2005 and I was left slogging through the mud in Chapter 3. I finally gave up because I don't have the time to spare. I understand a new version of this book has gone into production and may be on the shelves in April 2006. I plan on buying the new book.

Most programming books takes two routes: a.)they shorthand the explanations of the code in keep things moving at lively pace or b.) they give such a lengthy, terse description of every line in the code that you could die of old age just thinking about it.

"Windows Forms Programming with C#" brings just the right balance that is oh-so-rare in programming books. It explains everything that happens, but is also brisk enough to keep you from being bored.

The book builds, almost exclusively, a single image viewer application where you get to apply nearly every one of the dozens of Windows Form components. An explanation or every form component, it's attributes, and it's uses are explored in this book, but without being overly academic.

Another great feature are the conventions used in this book. A lot of programming books add little notes and factoids that really contribute nothing. In this book, there are class explanations and action-results tables that are surprisingly well used.

There really isn't anything bad to say, except for that the code does use some Hungarian notation at times (an area of irritation for some). Windows Forms are going to be an important topic for as long as the eye can see, and if you want to learn everything there is to know about them, this is easily the book of choice to read.

I don't care if you've been coding for years, if your moving to .Net and are learning the basics of c# and the framework, you won't find a better starting place.

I've had a few attempt at .Net, but this book lays out in a clear and precise way what you need to know to get you started. I would suggest its a cover to cover type of book, building on previous examples that are easy to follow, developing an application that touches all concepts of "Windows Forms (desktop)" development. If you want to write n-Tier, ADO.Net ASP.Net or Web Services apps then there are other books out there, but you need a base to build from and this is the book to provide you with that knowledge.

Thank you Erik for providing the best computing book I've read in 10 years, and I've read a few.

This is by far the clearest and best way to get up to speed writing Windows Form applications. I especially like the format of the "Action/Result" tables. It clearly shows the sequence of steps required to accomplish the current task described in the book. I also like the eBook format so I can have it on the screen as I experiment with my own development.

Both beginner programmers and former C++ Win32 developers will welcome this approach to entering the world of .NET and C#.

I last wrote code for a living about 6 years ago (Visual Basic 4). The opportunity came up to do some coding in C# and I was recommended this book after buying a few duds. I have to say, as an introduction to C# and .Net, this is the best book I've read yet. The format is excellent and the project is easy to follow. I originally got the book for programming controls but was surprised to find that most of the object-oriented programming concepts were summarised well without being explicitly discussed.

If you need an introduction to object-oriented programming without all the hocus-pocus then this is for you.

From my experience, get a general C# introduction first. When you get to the OOP section, start reading this book and complete the project. Then go back and finish the first book. As other reviewers have mentioned, DB programming is not covered, but as I'm using Microsoft's data access application block it didn't matter to me.

No detailed coverage of the Progress Bar control. Reason: so that multithreading and concurrency could be avoided. It is a common GUI programming task to allow a user to cancel a long running operation while keeping the GUI updated and responsive. However, this requires spawning off a separate thread to handle the long-running operation. That thread must also be able to communicate with the main GUI thread. This must be performed carefully but it is easily done by experienced GUI programmers. You won't get coverage of that with this book. Good luck....

BT

If you are just getting started with Windows Forms, and want to learn the basics, fine.

If you want to develop data-driven real world, esp. enterprise applications, this book is of very little help.

The author seems to be a novice in large-scale application design. He can certainly build a simplistic sample program, using as many features in Windows Forms as possible, but I doubt his ability to create even the most basic data-entry app for your client.

It's really strange almost all reviewers gave it a 5-star rating.

On a side note, I've read quite a few titles published Manning, and am under the impression that "lack of depth" is their hallmark. (Have you read the ".NET multi-threading" one? the author obviously didn't have much insight into threading, much less .NET threading)

Ok, I'll admit it. Lately, I've been the type of person who will absolutely swear by reading customer reviews before buying a book. Then after purchasing and reading the book, I wouldn't invest the time to write a review in order to help others.

Until now.

This book has captivated me, and I can't seem to put it down. Mr. Brown speaks well, presents his material in a logical, orderly fashion, and with child-like ease. I haven't read a book that compares with this quality since Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think!"

I especially like the way the Mr. Brown lays out the framework for the book, and encourages you to follow along with the "project". After completing the book, you'll have in your possession one complete, functional Windows Application. You could, of course, simply download the code from the publisher's web site (which, btw is organized chapter by chapter, section by section), but I've enjoyed walking the path with Mr. Brown as he explains concepts, the .NET framework, and what his thought process is as he builds a working photo album application.

What's more, I haven't seen *that* many typos in this work. There are some, don't get me wrong, but I was easily able to spot them even before writing the code. If you follow along with the process he lays out, you're bound to spot the mispelled variable names when they do appear. Even if they slip by you, you'll recognize that something is amiss when Intellisense doesn't kick in. Believe me though, these minor setbacks don't even compare to the major headaches one receives when trying to use code from say...Wrox.

Believe me when I tell you that you will enjoy this book from the moment you begin chapter one. This book isn't meant to be a reference, but rather, a valuable learning tool that is a joy to read, easy to follow, and rewarding when complete. I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning to build functional, intelligent interfaces and having fun doing it.

I have to agree with the rest of the reviewers - this is an excellent book. I've programmed for over 15 years now and have read over 100 programming books during that span. This book stands out as one of, if not the best, programming books I've ever read. The book is about 600 pages long, and focuses on building a photo album application. It's clearly written, easy to follow, and provides step by step instructions on how to create the application within Visual Studio.Net. As the rear of the book says, this is a book for beginner to intermediate level programmers. If you're looking to learn windows forms, this is a fantastic place to start. Great job Erik Brown!!!

I must admit that I agree with the other reviewers, because I was VERY impressed with this book, considering some of the junk that's being published these days. It's organization was well thought out; the explanations and layout of the code examples was very easy to follow, though the content was not for the C# or programming novice (thankfully); and even the print type was easy on the eyes. It's refreshing to find a book that's truly well worth the money. It's a great book that I consider one of the best in my library.