Java/C#/.NET books/guides

Berserker · 11 Nov 2009 at 23:21

I'm a seasoned (10 years+) C++ programmer, but due to impending redundancy think it would be a very good idea to widen my skill set.

I've done a little Java before but not enough to make me comfortable putting it on a CV. Haven't done any C#/.NET, though know enough to know the concepts aren't that far removed from Java.

So, can anyone recommend any good crash courses/primers/books on either of these. I'd rather have the 'hands on' type because actually doing is far better than just reading about it.

All suggestions welcome.

Berserker · 12 Nov 2009 at 12:45

Any starting points in MSDN and/or tutorials will be gratefully received. I had a pet project in mind for C# but unfortunately I had a fairly tight deadline for that one so got as far as the C# equivalent of Hello, World and then gave up.

If I can do C++ to VB (admittedly only the basics, but enough to be productive) in four weeks, I'm sure I can do these once pointed in the right direction (getting started is always the hard part due to information overload).

Thanks for the suggestion about the Java book. Just occurred to me that I may have one already (possibly even that one). I think I've got a Java book somewhere. I did do a conversion course (for which I may even still have the notes), but it was at least five years ago (pre-Eclipse) and the project I did it for got canned, so I never got to use it and it's mostly been forgotten.

Berserker · 19 Nov 2009 at 18:39

OK, slight change of direction (maybe temporary, maybe not).

Can anyone please suggest one or several good ASP.NET tutorial(s) and tell me what tools I need to obtain to develop and test. I know absolutely nothing about ASP.NET and need to know something by next Wednesday (for a job interview). :eek:

Don't panic - they already know I don't know the technology but if I can demonstrate willingness to learn then so much the better.

Berserker · 19 Nov 2009 at 22:09

dangerstat said:
I'm sure you know this already, but you can enable IIS in Windows 7 with ASP. So you don't need to do much to get to a point where you can start learning.

No, I didn't know that. Like I said, I know nothing. I've got four Windows 7 licenses sat here doing nowt but not sure I'll get the time to install them.

No worries though - I've got Windows Server 2003 and 2008 VMs to hand - so IIS is right there waiting for me (just need to find enough disk space to unpack the VM as I'm running extremely low on the laptop).

Berserker · 19 Nov 2009 at 23:02

Don't know where you got that impression. You suggested I knew something that I didn't - and in this case it's best not to make such assumptions (I don't mind being told twice, but not being told at all isn't so good). Thanks for the information. Pray do continue.

If I can make IIS work on Vista, that would be nice. If not, I'll wheel out the VMWare Server install on this laptop and feed it one of the Windows Server images I use for testing (they're all configured for local network access so I'd just need to check the IIS server setting and let it do its thing). I have at least used IIS before (a very, very long time ago - Windows NT/2000 sort of time).

Berserker · 20 Nov 2009 at 22:01

Thanks. I have the proper VS2005 and VS2008 installed - at least for the next three weeks from the current job. Probably didn't install the ASP stuff though so I'll have to add that.

I may as well get IIS up and running though. Probably won't be on the laptop for obvious (security) reasons, but I guess I can always disable it when not in use.