I’ve had the need to learn more application programming other than just web-based scripts. So as one of my first adventures into Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, I chose C#(that’s pronounced ‘see sharp’) and picked up the Head First C#. I must admit that Head First uses a very unique method of teaching, but while they claim to be “A Brain-Friendly Guide”, I found I got a headache after reading it.
If you visit O’Reilly’s site and view the sample PDF available, it looks rather straight forward, but the book itself has a lot more cluttered imagery and scribbles that sometimes makes it hard to understand what the book is trying to convey. I’m a big Dummies fan, but many of the visual aids in this book feels more like a programmers sketchbook than a useful notation. This makes it hard to read.
On a positive note, Head First does what it’s named for. The book almost immediately throws you, head first, right into coding and gives you the motivation to figuring out the logic on your own. The book is VERY thick, so there’s a lot of information, and if you can get your head around the notations/illustrations, this book will be a good C# reference.
Despite the book’s abundance of information and knowledge on C#, I think it’s turned me away from Head First’s way of writing books. I’ve passed along the book to someone else who may be able to get more from it than I did. So I guess I’m still in the market for a good C# learning book .