C# and the NET Framework: The C++ Perspective

PRObooks

C# and theNET Framework: The C++ Perspective

I amexcited about C#. It is as object-oriented as Java and, and with the help ofthe .NET Framework, it may be even more productive than Java. In my view, C#(and .NET) represents everything Microsoft has learned through its competitionwith Java. This new technology takes a considerable amount of these learninglessons and wraps them up in a great package.

One ofthe unique aspects of the .NET Framework is the ability to support multiplelanguages in an almost completely agnostic manner. The details of this featureare covered elsewhere in plenty of reference materials. With this plethora oftools available, why would someone continue using C++? I don t know. However,ask yourself this: As a C++ programmer, how comfortable do you feel with theidea that your existing code base is made compatible with .NET via a processcalled managed extensions ? In other words, all the wonderful power andcontrol that C++ affords to the programmer is being grafted onto .NET via aprocess that reminds me of the COM Interop layer. Using C++ in the .NET worldalmost seems like driving a Porsche in Los Angeles you can never get out of secondgear.

Keepingthe almost dichotomous nature of .NET and C++ in mind, what can a book like C#and the NET Framework: The C++ Perspective tell you about using C++ in thisnew environment? Not very much, it seems. On the whole, there is only oneC++-specific chapter, along with occasional anecdotal references to C++sprinkled throughout the book. It almost seems as though Powell and Weeks wereinterested in writing a C# book but had to find an angle that nobody else hadused.

In itsessence, apart from the creative title and some per functionary C++ coverage,this is another book about C# and the .NET Framework. With that in mind, Isuggest that it s very much outdone by two other books on this specificsubject: A Programmer sIntroduction to C# by Eric Gunnerson, and C#and the .NET Platform by Andrew Troelson.

ThomasWagner

C#and the NET Framework: The C++ Perspective by Robert Powell and RichardWeeks, SAMS Publishing, http://www.samspublishing.com.

Rating:

ISBN:0-672-32153-X

CoverPrice: US$39.99

(620pages)