Author: Patrice Pelland
Publisher: Microsoft Press, 2008
Pages: 256
ISBN: 978-0735625426
Rating: 1
Aimed at:  Complete beginners
Pros: C#  Express supplied
Cons: An utter disaster – avoid this book
Reviewed by: Mike James

This is a lavish book printed in colour with a copy of C# Express in the back. As such it should be a huge hit and perfect for any beginner. Unfortunately the reality is far from perfect. How this disaster of a book managed to make it to another edition is a real mystery -   presumably people bought it, more shame on them. The problem is that the author doesn't have a clue how to present programming to a beginner and we have to assume that the target audience is the beginner because of the format and overall approach. For example, we start off with a completely unnecessary and incomprehensible account of objects and lots of code which presumably means little to a beginner. It is difficult to imagine any beginner surviving this onslaught. If they do then they are rewarded with yet more over-complex topics presented in the wrong order. The author seems to be under the misapprehension that the purpose of an example is to show what can be done rather than how things work. Overall it is simply in too much of a hurry to get somewhere and as a result it doesn’t take the time to explain the fundamental principles. In short this is a disaster of a book and a huge waste of resources. Let's hope it doesn't make it to another edition.

<Reviewed in VSJ>