If you are looking for a single book that talks about numerous topics concerning C#, object oriented programming, the .NET 3.5 Framework, UI Development, etc., Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform by Andrew Troelsen may be the book for you. The book weighs in at about 1300+ pages with a hardback cover, and provides an introduction to a lot of topics that you normally don't find in one book. Here are some subjects to name a few:
- The anatomy of .NET Assemblies and fundamental concepts of Processes, AppDomains, Object Contexts, CIL, Type Reflection, Late Binding, Dynamic Assemblies, etc.
- C# Core and Advanced Concepts: Interfaces, Collections, Generics, Delegates, Events, Lambdas, Indexers, Operators, Pointers, and all the new C# 3.0 Language Features
- .NET Base Class Libraries: File I/O, Object Serialization, ADO.NET, LINQ, WCF, WF, etc.
- UI Development: Windows Forms, WPF, and ASP.NET Development.
As you can see, the book gets into a lot of low-level concepts, like doing attribute-based programming and building multithreaded applications, as well as hits the fundamentals of higher-level technologies like ADO.NET, LINQ, Winform, WPF, and ASP.NET development, etc. Although bulky and heavy, it is an ideal book to have when you find yourself at the pool, airport, hotel, etc. because you have a great variety of topics to choose from in one book. Of course, ideally you can always get yourself a Kindle
and read the ebook version, which avoids needing to carry a 1300+ page, hardcover book around :)
Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform doesn't cover all the aspects of each subject, however. The book focuses on those most widely used topics on each subject that will be more meaningful to your day-to-day development as well as get you up to speed on a subject quickly. This is perfect if you don't do a lot of WCF or WF development, for example, but want a solid introduction to the topics with good examples on getting started. From there if you find yourself needing more advanced information on a subject, you can always buy a separate book devoted to the topic.
If you have a vast library of books on the individual topics of C#, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, LINQ, UI Development, etc, the book probably doesn't make as much sense for you as your resource library probably covers the individual topics and possibly in much more depth. However, if you are just starting a library or don't want to spend a lot of money on books, Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform is probably a worthwhile investment because it offers such a breadth of knowledge on several subjects. Ideally, it could handle all your needs on many subjects and then you can look to the Internet for more specific coverage of certain topics and/or buy a few books on areas where you need more in-depth coverage.
I highly recommend checking out the reviews and table of contents on Amazon if you are interested.