There are a number of good ways to go about finding a good primer. Of
course, nothing substitutes for going to a large technical book store and
reading through a few candidate primers. Each of us write differently, with
a different emphasis and a different set of priorities. You'll want to ask
yourself a few questions while examining the various candidates:
Do you like the author's writing style? Is it clear, easy to understand?
Will the author leave you with questions or does the author anticipate your
areas of confusion? Are you the target audience?
Are there enough (too few? too many?) examples? Are the examples simple and
clear? Is the complete source code provided so that you can try the program
yourself? Is there a web site with source code you can download? Every book,
no matter how carefully edited has errors. Is there an errata sheet you can
access on the web?
Another question is whether the primer offers itself as a comprehensive
reference or as a tutorial? Some rare books are excellent at both, but most
books are better as one than as the other.
I hope you will consider my book, Programming .NET Windows Applications
(O'Reilly):
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...socia00A/104-9133491-1624725?v=glance&s=books
We did not set out to reproduce the Microsoft documentation; but rather to
tell the story of creating professional Windows applications on the .NET
platform, using C# or VB.NET.
I provide extensive support for my books on my web site
(
http://www.LibertyAssociates.com) where you will find a sample chapter,
Table of Contents and Index and where you can buy the book at a 30%
discount. You will also find that my site provides the complete source code,
a link to the errata, and a FAQ. Finally, I offer a private support
discussion center for questions that arise while reading my books.
Thanks and best of luck.
-j
