Programming Books - Are These Still Usefull

[Ben Dyson]

Hi All,

 

After a bit of unusual advice, I got given a load of proggraming books as they knew I studied IT, I've saved most of the ones I can tell are usefull but theres a few which I'm unsure of, I'm wondering if you could tell me if they're still usefull or if too much has changed? I'm due to be going to the University of Leicester in September to study Computer Science and I have a interest in all aspects of IT.

1. Programming Microsoft ADO.NET 2.0 Core Reference 2005 ? Microsoft Press
2. Programming Microsoft ADO.NET 2.0 Advanced Topics 2005 ? Microsoft Press
3. Programming Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Applications Advanced Topics 2005 ? Microsoft Press
4. Customizing the Microsoft .NET framework Common Language Runtime ? Microsoft Press
5. Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005: The Base Class Library ? Microsoft Press -
6. Essential .NET Volume 1 ? The Common Language Runtime
7. Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Distributed Application Development Self-Paced Training Kit for MCTS Exam 70.529 ? Microsoft Press
8. Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Windows Based Client Development Self-Paced Training Kit for MCTS Exam 70.526 ? Microsoft Press
9. Visual Studio Team System Better Software Development for Agile Teams - Apress
10.  

 

Thanks,

Ben :)

[Andre S. Veteran]

Well, all of these are obviously .NET-oriented so unless you're going to be doing C# or working with one of these technologies, none are particularly great introductions to programming. Also they're all quite outdated; in programming the date of publication matters a heck of a lot more than in many other disciplines.

 

That said, if you plan on doing any C#, "Programming Microsoft Visual C# 2005: The Base Class Library" is still a fantastic read; nothing quite like it has been written since, so while it's missing some of the new stuff in the BCL, it's very useful to understand all the basic types in .NET. It's not exactly beginner-level though.

 

If you're looking for a good introduction to C#, I suggest the Yellow Book by Rob Miles.