Re: help on getting started in c#

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From: David McClarnon (dmcclarnon_at_ntlworld.com)
Date: 10/19/04 

Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 00:56:47 GMT

J wrote:

> I'm interested in learning C#. I'm an old C programmer (started with MS C
> ver 3), but haven't used it in quite awhile, spending most of my time in VB,
> Powerbuilder, PHP, Perl, etc., but not C++.
>
> 1. Where do I get the compiler (only available in Visual Studio)?
> 2. Is there a cheap or free, trial or learning version available?
> 3. Any recommendations for books (considering my experience)?
>
> Many thanks.
>
>

Am I right in assuming you don't know C++ at all, no object orientation ?

First things first. Forget the freeware - go and spend the $90 or
whatever it is to buy C# Standard Edition.

This will give you a whole copy of MSDN.

Secondly, you need to know object orientation. Buy a book on object
oriented design.

Design is everything in C# unless you want to write horrendously slow code.

Why do I say slow code ?

Well, huge C files were pretty standard in your day. Even huge C++ files
were too. A huge C++ class didn't have any effect on performance.

With JITting, small nicely organised, reused classes will considerably
improve the efficiency of your code. And the only way of doing this is
to learn object oriented design techniques.

Darwen.