Visual Studio.NET: The .NET Framework: Black Book [With CDROM]

by David Vitter and Julian Templeman

The VisualStudio.NET Black Book" covers the .NET architecture, libraries, and services, and how to use them from the programming languages supported by VS.NET. This unique book explores the .NET... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157610995X
• ISBN13: 9781576109953
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
• Length: 783 Pages
• Weight: 3.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent backgound and examples.

This is a 'must have' for any VB.Net or C# programmer. Extensive .net background and excellent examples.

Excellent book!

If you want to know how to use the .NET framework this is a great book for you - particularly if you are using VB.NET since the examples are all in VB.NET instead of C. The layout is great and make sure to look at the in-depth sections - that's where all the meat is. I had used 3 other books but threw them away after I got this one.

Good overview of .Net

This book is really good to get an overview of the .Net framework. It helps you to see the big picture of how it all fits together. This will not teach you how to interface with VS, but it will help you get a better understanding of all the features .Net offers and what kind of toolsets are available.

.NET Framework Object Hierarchy

If you're an experienced Microsoft developer and you're looking for a well organized reference on the new .NET framework classes, this is the book for you. If you want to see what is in the System.Text namespace, the XML namespaces and so on, it is true that you can get that information in the MSDN library. However, this book organizes it nicely and provides pertinent examples in what the book terms "Immediate Solutions".If you're looking for beginner's book on programming in C# or VB .NET, look elsewhere as this isn't a book on syntax, how to program, or how to use the IDE as some reviewers thought. I think the title is self-explanatory and the book doesn't purport to be a how-to for the IDE.This book targets advanced developers who need to understand the new tools and concepts made available in the .NET framework. Whole chapters are devoted to remoting and ADO .NET. If you've been forced to use VB as I have, you'll need a refresher on using streams - this book provides information on streams (System.IO namespace) and examples on using various stream readers and writers.

A superb source for the .NET Framework for VB and VC#

This is an exceptionally readable book. Early chapters introduce the .NET model of programming, providing clear (parallel) examples in VB, VC# and VC++. Experienced VB developers will discover that they already know a great deal of VC#. Subsequent chapters explore the most important aspects of the principal .NET namespaces, beginning with important (non-GUI) namespaces (System, System.Collections, System.XML, System.IO, System.Net, System.Security, System.Web). Examples consist of generally well constructed, lucid code, with comprehensive explanations. While the proportion of VB code increases at the expense of VC# (and to the eventual exclusion of C++), all of the method calls to .NET objects are nearly identical among the three languages. At about half way through the book, starting with the Windows.Forms namespace, the material and examples focus heavily on GUI objects and the new tools available within the Visual Studio development environment.Each chapter begins with an in-depth discussion of the covered subject. This is followed in the second half of the chapter (labeled "Immediate Solutions") by examples of each significant subject, providing step-by-step instructions and a comprehensive commentary. These "Immediate Solutions" are indexed at the start of each chapter by a description of the task it accomplishes.STRENGTHS: The writing style of the book's principal author, Julian Templeman, is crisp, well focused, and easy to follow. His examples are particularly well selected and carefully explained. The technical accuracy of his chapters is excellent. I also appreciated Templeman's presentation of only the most useful properties, methods and events of the objects he discusses. (While encyclopedic lists are occasionally helpful, the .NET Framework is enormous, and would require three volumes this size, since there are nearly 10,000 such members.)WEAKNESSES: Although most of the chapters are written by Templeman, there is a noticeable lurch when moving into each of the four chapters written by the second author, David Vitter. These are the chapters on System.Web, .NET Remoting, SOAP and XML, and ADO.NET. The writing style becomes casual and careless, a feature reflected in its corresponding examples. This is mostly annoying.... ...I suppose that if the bulk of this book were not as wonderful as it is, I would not be quite so hard on Mr. Vitter, but the contrast in the quality of the material provided by the two authors is conspicuous.CONCLUSION: If you need to learn the .NET framework for use in VB or VC#, definitely buy this book. If you need to understand the new Visual Studio tools that interact with the .NET framework, this is still a good bet. If you will be coding to the .Net Framework in VC++, I think this is still a helpful source, though not quite as painless as for VB and VC#.