What Is this Book About?

My goal in this book is to teach you the C# language. But as a writer, I had a choice to make in presenting the code examples to illustrate the language. One: I could show the examples in the context of console applications. C# enables you to write "DOS-looking" applications that run in the Command Prompt Window ”boring! Two: I could show the examples in the context of Windows Forms applications. Or three: I could show the examples in the context of Web programming. I chose the third option, because I believe that the majority of people using C# will be building Web applications.

This book makes no attempt to teach Web programming. It assumes that you're interested in learning the language, but it also assumes that you're learning the language with a project in mind, and that that project would most likely be a Web application. There is very little Web programming used in the examples and the concepts can be used just as well in other types of applications. The information is presented in reference style. The idea is that you can say, "Here is what I'm trying to do, show me the steps to do it." The book then shows you the steps to do a particular task. The book is also built so that you don't have to read the chapters sequentially.

I present core concepts of the C# language in Chapter 1, "Getting Started," Chapter 2, "C# Building Blocks," and Chapter 3, "Conditionals and Loops." If you're new to C++ or to objectoriented concepts, you may want to read these chapters first, before jumping to the later sections. From then on, you can read chapters in any order you wish. Although the book is about the C# language, Chapter 13 will give you more information about building Web applications, and Web Services.