CLR via C# (Developer Reference) 4th Edition

If you want to read just one book about C#, then there is nothing better than this one. I consider CLR via C# as a canonical book for C# development. Why is that?First of all, Jeffrey Richter has an excellent writing style. He doesn't show you just a correct way how to solve a problem, but he also tries to explain why the solution he chooses is the best on. The book contains many advices how to write a code in the most efficient way, what pitfalls you can expect and how to cope with them. And what is best - even the hardest things are explained in that way that every intermediate developer can understand them.Second thing is a deepness of the book. The author doesn't show you just C# constructs, but he gives you an internal description how these constructs are implemented. So for instance in case of events or delegates you don't just learn C# syntax, but you will see how C# translates these constructs to MSIL (CLR assembly language). In case boxing and unboxing you will understand not just what is the difference between reference and value types, but on many samples you can see when CLR have to do these memory and performance consuming operations.Third thing is the last part of book - threading. Definitely the best way how to learn multithreading programming I have ever seen.Fourth thing is coverage. The book covers nearly all essential parts of C# and .NET platform. The book doesn't describe any particular API like ASP.NET or WPF, but it gives you solid basis for learning these specialized APIs.The only thing I miss is CAS security. I thing the next edition of the book could have some info about CAS which was greatly simplified in .NET 4.0.CLR via C# is an excellent book for every developer who wants to learn C#. The book is not aimed to absolute beginners (knowledge of OOP is must) but if you know some object oriented language (C++/Java) and wants to learn C#, there isn't any better material.8 years ago I started my C# study with the first edition of this text and it thought me everything I needed. Even now after 8 years of programming in C#, I still found tons of new knowledge.

I've been developing in C# since .Net V1.0; C and C++ on Wintel prior to that. Like most professional software engineers I'm far too busy to spend time reading any of the plentiful supply of regurgitated MSDN documentation out there. You know, the books in which the 'author' lobs you a useful insight about once every 50 pages of doc. Then there's Jeffrey Richter. I've never met the man, but his deep subject matter expertise and clear, easy-to-read writing style has served me personally and the shops I've worked in extremely well over the years. If you really want to understand what your C# code is doing in the CLR and you would appreciate regular, concise and specific wisdom on how best to avoid pitfalls or realize best performances and practices using the CLR, then this book is well worth your time. (P.S. Yes, it's a tome at 800+ pages. But no worries, as with most references, there's little harm in skipping around and reading whatever interests you most. Before you know it you will likely have covered the whole thing. It's that good. -pcw)

If you have read one of older editions- you know that the book is really worth reading. Its not for beginners, but if you want to know depth of .net platform internals - this is the right book to look at. I've taken kindle edition if this nice writing to be in sync across devices, because sometimes reread some topics. And i'm really pleased that its in new kindle format and code formatting/information blocks are nicely formatted and readable on kindle screen(tried on keyboard), so hope we're finally facing the era of technical books to be readable on small kindle!CLR via C#

This is one of those books where I feel like I learned something new on just about every page, and I'm a fairly experienced developer.Don't be fooled by the table of contents, it's easy to assume that this book is for beginners. This is certainly not the case, you may feel educated in certain topics like type fundamentals, but Mr. Richter will likely prove that you only have surface-knowledge; at least this was the case for me. This book provides amazing depth, giving developers a bottom-up education, rather than the top-down approach (like most books). Combining bottom-up and top-down learning is quite powerful!If you are an intermediate or even an advanced developer, then this book will likely level up your skill set.Mr. Richter writes in a very clean and easy to read style. Buy this book and get ready to start cranking those mental cogs! I plan on re-reading many chapters to help solidify the concepts presented.Also worth noting is how excellent the Kindle format is. Technical eBooks are very hit-and-miss (usually miss), but in this case publishers should take note because this is how a technical eBook should be done. I'm very pleased with my purchase.

The book content is excellent, as were former editions, but the book Index of Kindle edition is awful, to say the best. At least, it could have better formatting and terms list matching the printed edition. I have other tech books in Kindle, and none have issues like that. The book search is awfully slow also (on Android tablet, don't have actual Kindle), so it cannot replace the Index with the same success. Hope it will be improved soon.