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Show HN: Wrote a Book – C# 5 First Look

52 points by CodeCube 14y ago

ScottWhigham 14y ago
Awesome - congrats :) Packt is a really good company too IMO.
jinushaun 14y ago
Thanks for covering Mono. Does it also cover other alt.NET technology?
- CodeCube 14y ago
  No, the book doesn't really focus on individual libraries (EF, MVC, etc.) as much as it just tries to focus on the language itself. I wanted to drive home the point that if you use C#, you can target all the major platforms :)
  - felideon 14y ago
    That's great. Focusing on specific MSFT technologies or frameworks is a waste of time. For one, they're not very good. And two, you never know how soon it'll be deprecated. On the other hand, C# the language is not terrible.
    - recursive 14y ago
      MVC seems pretty good.
      - CodeCube 14y ago
        Indeed ... and it is also open source and works on Mono, should you choose to host it on linux/apache - http://aspnetwebstack.codeplex.com/ http://aspnetwebstack.codeplex.com/
    - jinushaun 14y ago
      The C# community is trying. It's hard to separate C# the language from C# the Microsoft product. People just have it in their minds that you're stuck with the MS tools and libraries. Things like Nancy and Albacore is where C# should be headed.
      - felideon 14y ago
        How does Nancy (which I had never heard) compare to something like ServiceStack?
profexorgeek 14y ago
The projects in the book look like actually-useful case studies. Yay!
jeremyflores 14y ago
Really cool--congratulations!
nanijoe 14y ago
Would this be the book to get if I want to develop desktop apps for Windows?. Does C# 5 support Win 7 , XP ?
- CodeCube 14y ago
  Language-wise, C# 5 comes with .NET 4.5, which is supported on Windows 7, but not XP. You can probably use Mono 3.0 on XP to write C# 5 though.
- WayneDB 14y ago
  You could start with C# 4.0 / .NET 4.0 which is supported on XP. .NET 3.5 has a much higher install-penetration than .NET 4.0 though, so if you're really concerned with making installations hassle-free, you might want to consider starting with C# 3.0 / .NET 3.5 (using Visual Studio 2010). Also, I would suggest starting with Windows Forms (WinForms) instead of WPF because it's super simple and easy to wrap your head around. You can get something built very quickly with WinForms. In WPF you'll be spending at least a month studying before you start to feel confident.
  - CodeCube 14y ago
    Actually, I temporarily forgot (it was in the book :P ) ... you can actually target .NET 4 and still use C# 5 if you use the Async Targeting Pack for Visual Studio 2012 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29576 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=2957...
throwaway1979 14y ago
I've been thinking about writing a book in my spare time. Can you provide some details on your experiences?
- CodeCube 14y ago
  Sure, this will be my 3rd published title (http://amazon.com/author/joelmartinez http://amazon.com/author/joelmartinez), though first as the sole author. From first contact with the publisher to today was about six months, actual writing time was approximately 3-4 months, and the rest of the time was the editing process (still have to review/approve the final laid-out PDF tonight, actually). Process-wise, the first step is to have a solid outline and target audience in mind. That will inform the book's style and keep you on track as you put the proverbial pen to paper. When working on an individual chapter, I like to write most of it longhand. That forces me to rewrite it as I transcribe it to the computer and I find the end-result requires many fewer iterations to complete when I do that. Aside from all that, it's all the same things any author will deal with, things like writer's block, etc. Just make sure you are prepared to really focus on getting it done once you decide to write it ... because there's nothing worse than starting a project like this, and then letting it languish. It will always be on the back of your mind and you won't be able to enjoy relaxation time until you get back to it. Anyways, hope that helped, happy to answer any other questions you might have :)
  - JonD 14y ago
    Congrats on the release. I just preordered a copy of your ebook. After writing articles on some networks, I've decided to start working on a monotouch ebook. Your tips of your process will come in handy.
    - CodeCube 14y ago
      Thanks so much! Great news on the book, we definitely need to start seeing more books out there on Mono/Xamarin tech. Hopefully we can help people understand what a great opportunity C# can be when you embrace it :)
  - 14y ago
danabramov 14y ago
On a sidenote, C# blog entry URLs always confuse me for a second because default rewriting rules strip out the “#”.
bratsche 14y ago
Congrats on the book release! Sounds really cool. And don't worry about the Xamarin.Mac release, it's based on MonoMac so the work you put into this section of your book wasn't wasted. :)
- CodeCube 14y ago
  Glad to hear it ... definitely planning on digging into Xamarin.Mac soon :)
felideon 14y ago
Congrats! Looks interesting, and at a pretty decent price. I've been meaning to update my C# knowledge (as a non-.NET developer) and your book has piqued my interest even more. What exactly is 'PacktLib access to the book' included in the print version as opposed to just the eBook?
- CodeCube 14y ago
  Thanks! PacktLib is their online repository of titles, similar to Safari Books Online - http://packtlib.packtpub.com/ http://packtlib.packtpub.com/

52 points by CodeCube 14y ago

ScottWhigham 14y ago

Awesome - congrats :) Packt is a really good company too IMO.

jinushaun 14y ago

Thanks for covering Mono. Does it also cover other alt.NET technology?

CodeCube 14y ago
No, the book doesn't really focus on individual libraries (EF, MVC, etc.) as much as it just tries to focus on the language itself. I wanted to drive home the point that if you use C#, you can target all the major platforms :)
- felideon 14y ago
  That's great. Focusing on specific MSFT technologies or frameworks is a waste of time. For one, they're not very good. And two, you never know how soon it'll be deprecated. On the other hand, C# the language is not terrible.
  - recursive 14y ago
    MVC seems pretty good.
    - CodeCube 14y ago
      Indeed ... and it is also open source and works on Mono, should you choose to host it on linux/apache - http://aspnetwebstack.codeplex.com/ http://aspnetwebstack.codeplex.com/
  - jinushaun 14y ago
    The C# community is trying. It's hard to separate C# the language from C# the Microsoft product. People just have it in their minds that you're stuck with the MS tools and libraries. Things like Nancy and Albacore is where C# should be headed.
    - felideon 14y ago
      How does Nancy (which I had never heard) compare to something like ServiceStack?

profexorgeek 14y ago

The projects in the book look like actually-useful case studies. Yay!

jeremyflores 14y ago

Really cool--congratulations!

nanijoe 14y ago

Would this be the book to get if I want to develop desktop apps for Windows?. Does C# 5 support Win 7 , XP ?

CodeCube 14y ago
Language-wise, C# 5 comes with .NET 4.5, which is supported on Windows 7, but not XP. You can probably use Mono 3.0 on XP to write C# 5 though.
WayneDB 14y ago
You could start with C# 4.0 / .NET 4.0 which is supported on XP. .NET 3.5 has a much higher install-penetration than .NET 4.0 though, so if you're really concerned with making installations hassle-free, you might want to consider starting with C# 3.0 / .NET 3.5 (using Visual Studio 2010). Also, I would suggest starting with Windows Forms (WinForms) instead of WPF because it's super simple and easy to wrap your head around. You can get something built very quickly with WinForms. In WPF you'll be spending at least a month studying before you start to feel confident.
- CodeCube 14y ago
  Actually, I temporarily forgot (it was in the book :P ) ... you can actually target .NET 4 and still use C# 5 if you use the Async Targeting Pack for Visual Studio 2012 - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29576 http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=2957...

throwaway1979 14y ago

I've been thinking about writing a book in my spare time. Can you provide some details on your experiences?

CodeCube 14y ago
Sure, this will be my 3rd published title (http://amazon.com/author/joelmartinez http://amazon.com/author/joelmartinez), though first as the sole author. From first contact with the publisher to today was about six months, actual writing time was approximately 3-4 months, and the rest of the time was the editing process (still have to review/approve the final laid-out PDF tonight, actually). Process-wise, the first step is to have a solid outline and target audience in mind. That will inform the book's style and keep you on track as you put the proverbial pen to paper. When working on an individual chapter, I like to write most of it longhand. That forces me to rewrite it as I transcribe it to the computer and I find the end-result requires many fewer iterations to complete when I do that. Aside from all that, it's all the same things any author will deal with, things like writer's block, etc. Just make sure you are prepared to really focus on getting it done once you decide to write it ... because there's nothing worse than starting a project like this, and then letting it languish. It will always be on the back of your mind and you won't be able to enjoy relaxation time until you get back to it. Anyways, hope that helped, happy to answer any other questions you might have :)
- JonD 14y ago
  Congrats on the release. I just preordered a copy of your ebook. After writing articles on some networks, I've decided to start working on a monotouch ebook. Your tips of your process will come in handy.
  - CodeCube 14y ago
    Thanks so much! Great news on the book, we definitely need to start seeing more books out there on Mono/Xamarin tech. Hopefully we can help people understand what a great opportunity C# can be when you embrace it :)
- 14y ago

danabramov 14y ago

On a sidenote, C# blog entry URLs always confuse me for a second because default rewriting rules strip out the “#”.

bratsche 14y ago

Congrats on the book release! Sounds really cool. And don't worry about the Xamarin.Mac release, it's based on MonoMac so the work you put into this section of your book wasn't wasted. :)

CodeCube 14y ago
Glad to hear it ... definitely planning on digging into Xamarin.Mac soon :)

felideon 14y ago

Congrats! Looks interesting, and at a pretty decent price. I've been meaning to update my C# knowledge (as a non-.NET developer) and your book has piqued my interest even more. What exactly is 'PacktLib access to the book' included in the print version as opposed to just the eBook?

CodeCube 14y ago
Thanks! PacktLib is their online repository of titles, similar to Safari Books Online - http://packtlib.packtpub.com/ http://packtlib.packtpub.com/