Tom, Welcome to the journey that is C# and the .NET framework! I found the book "C# Primer Plus", by Klaus Michelsen, excellent for those new to C# and OOP: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0672321521/qid=1093265707/sr=ka-1/ref =pd_ka_1/104-4273990-8750300
It assumes no prior OOP language experience and it focuses on the C# language and syntax without the distraction of delving too deep into the extended .NET framework classes, which is a much bigger topic better left for other books. Also, no need for Visual Studio.NET, you should be able to use your favorite text editor or IDE and Mono with the program examples just fine. Sharpdevelop(monodevelop on *nix), for instance, is excellent. After this book, I dug into "Programming C#" by Jesse Liberty, then "Professional C#, Second Edition" by Simon Robinson, then "Applied .NET Framework Programming" by Jeffrey Richter and finally "Programming .NET Components" by Juval Lowey. You will find some overlap in these books, but that's to be expected. In my opinion, they are all top titles, and I still use them quite a bit. Some of them mention the use of VS.NET but do not require it. There are many, many other reference books for specific topics like ADO.NET, ASP.NET. Windows Forms, etc, but avoid the temptation to veer off into those areas until you are comfortable with C# and the standard .NET framework classes first. I made that mistake and started spinning my wheels until I went back and finished learning the basics first. ;-) Regards, Dan Maltes -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom McLaughlin Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 6:39 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Mono-list] Beginner C# Book Hi all, I'm looking for a good beginner C# book. Preferably one that does not assume a certain amount of familiarity with C++, Java, or OOP in general. I picked up "Mono: A Developers Notebook" from O'Reilly figuring that some of the C++ I saw in school would come back to me. What I saw in school was nearly five years ago and it's definitely not coming back. I really need a book that will not only go over the syntax and structure of the language but the underlying fundementals of the language. (Like not just how to create a vector but what each part of the declaraion means and how it all works.) Right now I maintain the FreeBSD port for Muine and I am looking at creating ports of other applications. I would like to have enough familiarity with the language to fix bugs, especially FreeBSD specific bugs in programs. If someone could recommend a book they found to give a good comprehensive understanding of the language to a beginner that would be great. Thanks. Tom _______________________________________________ Mono-list maillist - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/mono-list _______________________________________________ Mono-list maillist - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/mono-list