Others say...

"Just right"
Many of us IT professionals by these thick books for use as reference, without intending to work our way from cover to cover. As I read this book, it became clear I needed to read the entire volume. It is well-written, and stays on track and focused. I have learned many useful things that I will be able to use in my daily tasks.

"Par Excellence"
A very thorough book, true to its title. The emphasis is on understanding better how .NET 3.0 brings some really cool paradigms to C#. It is important to distinguish such a book from one that may explain how .NET 3.0 is a major step forward, since as a C# developer, the advice contained in this book is far more relevant than a general discourse on .NET 3.0. If you are a honest-to-goodness C# developer and are interested in using significant new innovations in the language to be a better one, this is just the right book for you. The most impressive part is the ample use of IL snippets to explain core .NET concepts. Seeing through the veil of syntactic sugar is perhaps the best way to learn and understand a language. It is also worth mentioning that there is still a lot to be learned about .NET through the eyes of C#.

"Very good foundation for C# and .NET"
I must admit that I have not examined any other texts of this type. However, I can say that this has proven to be an excellent all-in-one introduction to C# and the .NET platform. In fact, I first bought the C++/CLI version, then the C# with .NET 2.0 version, then the .NET 3.0 version just so I could have 1 reference book to carry around. I've even preordered the 3.5 version.

I have a great deal of experience with C++, but only recently began working with .NET and C#. This book teaches you the language and quite a bit about the Foundation Class Libraries, most application types, and even a bit about the Visual Studio environment. Unfortunately, it does not include a chapter on Windows Service applications.

I have many other books that go into deeper detail on, e.g., WCF, C#, etc., but this has proven to be a great introduction to each technology and useful reference. I have not found a need to look for other beginner/all-in-one books.

I would absolutely recommend that all .NET developers read CLR via C#, Second Edition (Pro Developer) as soon as you know a bit about .NET.


"Best end-to-end coverage on .NET and C# I've seen"
This book covers the details at all levels and is good for people with programming experience that are new to .NET, experienced developers who use .NET regularly but want to round out their knowledge of the inner workings and lesser used features of the framework, and to people moving up from 1.0 / 1.1 to 2.0 or 3.0. It does have sections on 3.0, but this is a general overview only in those areas. The rest of the book comprehensively covers .NET up to 2.0.

It's a huge book, but it's well worth the read.

"The best c# book"
I am a c# beginner. In order to understand this language I have read 3 books! They are not helpful. They just make me confused even more (yeah, i used to judge a book by it's cover.) After i read this book, all the confusing is gone! It explains concepts in detail, not just tell you the theory and expect you to understand it. The best c# book ever!