Rating:  - Nice but not what I expected
I thought this book was for a developer wanting to 'accelerate' his existing c# skills into the 'senior' level. This book is intended for programmers that are coming from another OO language such as Java or C++
I think even by not reading this book, those programmers could easily learn c# because this book was very elementary IMO.
I would not recommend this book to anyone for any reason :(
Rating:  - OK, an "advanced" book, then why not read ECMA C# specifications directly?
First of all, this is NOT a book for C# beginners, period. It is not even a book for someone has zero knowledge of .NET.
This is an "advanced" book for expereienced programmers, prefereably, coming from C++ or Java, or Delphi world.
My major problem with this book is that, the book uses minimal code to aid the flow of description, while the author employed large chunk of paragraphs without ANY simple, easy-to-catch BULLETING and code snippets to illustrate what he is trying to say. As a result, the reader must be VERY patient to read throught all those lines to get the picture.
For example,on page 82, "Static Constructor", the book says "The static constructor is called before an instance of the given class is first created OR before some other static fields on the class are referenced."
Thank god I had a GRE score of 2380 when I applied graduate school. But I still got lost figuring out what he really wants to say, simply, because of the word "OR" the author employed. And he seems very fond of using such sentence structure with a lot of "OR" in it all throughout his book ----- sure your brain must be capable of logical computations while reading!
By constrast, here is the ECMA 334 C# specification in section 17.11:
"The static constructor for a class executes at most once in a given application domain. The execution of a static constructor is triggered by the FIRST of the following events to occur within an application domain:
1. An instance of the class is created.
2. Any of the static members of the class are referenced."
OK. Which one is more clear? There are even other worse cases in the book.
Seriously, if you could understand well the book and really thinks it accelerates your mastering of C#, I would rather recommend you to read directly ECMA C# specification 334.
I am curious how those 5 star evaluation come from (No kidding, are those from the author's buddies?). I give 3 star this book because there are still some gems scattering here and there (mostly about how to achieve good design). But again, you have to be very very patient to go through all those large chunck of paragraphs to get those gems!
Rating:  - Unbelievable Book
I have to say I am VERY careful about buying books these days now. Back in the day I was book crazy. But these days I make sure that I buy quality books. This is one of them.
What amazes me about this one (I initial looked at this one because I saw it recommended in MSDN Magazine) is that for such a small book, it pinpoints the most important relevant information and communicates it so well, that I feel people who do not know OOP at all would become at least very understanding of it by reading this front to back.
It's also a nice reference for existing C# developers who forget "the small stuff" once in a while and is definitely a great book to have handy. Searching the web isn't always that efficient so I feel having some good books along with great Internet is complimentary and more efficient to use a bit of both.
Rating: - Outstanding
It is not often that someone who can rightly be said to be a true master of his or her field is gifted as well with the ability to write clearly about it in an instructive manner. Trey Nash, however, is just such a person. His mastery of the subject is unquestionable, and the clarity with which he is able to convey solid instruction will, as it did for me, make crystal clear to you a large number of highly abstract and hitherto hard-to-understand concepts. Many developers who have worked with certain concepts, despite having acquired competency in them, do not truly, at the root level, understand what those concepts really are. Trey Nash will provide that understanding, and in a way that is at once useful and enlightening. He is to be congratulated for sharing his mastery in so effective and meaningful a way and, if you by this book, you will soon be congratulating yourself on a most worthy purchase.
Rating: - Accelerated My C# Skills!
Hands down my favorite C# book this year. This book is not an introduction to C#. It is not a "bible" nor is it a "cookbook of C# recopies. Accelerated C# 2005 by Trey Nash is a concise map that navigated this reader safely (and enjoyably) through C# territory. Nash is an excellent guide, providing relevant information in a clear, easy-to-understand style.
At 400 pages, this is very succinct for a "computer book". Of all the C# books I have read in the past year, this one has helped me most in improving my C# knowledge. This is one a small handful of .NET that I have read, and then not put back on my shelf. This one I keep at my desk.
This book is best for intermediate C# programmers (or enthusiastic beginners). It is also a great reference for more seasoned .NET veterans. In my opinion this book lies somewhere between A Programmer's Introduction to C# 2.0 and Professional C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform. The former is perfect for anyone without object oriented programming (OOP) experience. The latter is a hardcover tome geared toward advanced OOP developers. There is one other group that might enjoy this book -- Java developers. If you are moving from Java to the C# language, this book can help quickly bring you up to speed.
For me, Accelerated C# 2005 was like having my own "personal coding trainer". Just as one might go to personal fitness trainer to improve physical fitness, a serious programmer can turn to this book in order to crank up his C# skills. To illustrate my point, I have listed the approximate number of pages per chapter. Just take a look below to get a feel for where you will bulk up your knowledge.
The author gave this reader more bulk where I wanted it. Notice that subjects such as Overloading Operators, Strings and Canonical forms all get their own chapters. I found this unique structure very digestible.
There are several C# features that I have personally been looking to improve upon.
+ Generics
+ Delegates
+ Multi-threading (threading)
Again going back to the book's excellent structure, each of these subjects is presented in its own easy-to-digest chapter. Plus they are all custom sized to fit subject at hand. Notice how the threading chapter is twice as long as the delegate chapter.
At just under 400 pages, I knew there would be no room for fluff. Nash did not disappoint me. This book rocks! If you are interested in accelerating your C# knowledge, I highly recommend this book.
CHAPTERS
1. C# Preview (5 pages)
2. C# and the CLR (5 pages)
3. C# Syntax Overview (16 pages)
4. Classes Structs and Objects (70 pages)
5. Interfaces and Contracts (25 pages)
6. Overloading Operators (12 pages)
7. Exception Handling and Exception Safety (28 pages)
8. Working with Strings (22 pages)
9. Arrays, Collection Types and Iterators (26 pages)
10. Delegates, Anonymous Functions and Events (22 pages)
11. Generics (35 pages)
12. Threading in C# (42 pages)
13. In Search of C# Canonical Forms (50 pages)
APPENDIX
INDEX
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