Basically disappointed

I have significant experience in the embedded world (programming in C and assembler) and now I need to learn the .NET architecture. Hence my interest in Platt's book.

I suppose different people learn and convey information in different ways, and some will find Platt's approach helpful. I did not. Through most of the book I found myself scratching my head trying to figure out what he was getting at, and then disappointed at the end of the chapter that he hadn't really told me much useful information. I found myself reminded of sitting in University listening to brilliant Professors who are enamored with the funky little quirks and details of some new concept, but are unable (or unwilling) to convey the basics of how it actually works.

Be warned that this book does not deal with .NET v2.0, and most of the code examples on his website will not convert to the new release. That can be very frustrating. If you are running the VS2005 beta, you may want to get a different book or hold off until the next version of this one.

On a minor note, I found myself rolling my eyes at the author's constant attempts at humor by referring to other groups of techies as "geeks". I don't think he was trying to be insulting as much as funny, but still--it comes across as a little lame. Once or twice is humorous. Dozens gets simply annoying.

Other Reviews

• A Good Introduction To .NET Which Needs An Update
• An introduction to .NET programming
• Very basic
• Typical MS. More gloss than substance.
• Basically disappointed