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Comment by VinzO | Hacker News Reader

I take the opportunity of this thread to ask for good ressources and books to learn C#, .NET, databases. I have a background in C, C++ for embedded systems but I would like to learn higher level stuff. Any recommendation on where to start? The final goal would be to be able to switch career from embedded to higher level development.

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C# the language is pretty simple, or at least it can be - you can produce some monstrosities if you really try, but some of the gnarliest bits of C++, like arbitrary operator overloading and template abuse, are pretty blunted. The difficulty lies in the extreme breadth of the ecosystem - just the libraries built into the .NET framework itself could take you years to acquire a healthy knowledge of, not to mention the couple dozen most-commonly-used libraries on NuGet.

Ultimately, I think the best thing to do is just jump in and start a project that you're interested in. Accept the fact that you'll be hitting StackOverflow all the time, and when you're there, pay attention if you see comments and answers from Jon Skeet, Eric Lippert, etc. There are some decent email link-dump newsletters that are good and have a .NET slant, like Morning Brew[1] and Morning Dew[2], which can help keep you up on what's new, and often link to articles explaining various nooks of the .NET world. Avoid CodeProject - most of that shit is old, poorly written, and as often as not incorrect. Once you have your bearings a bit, C# In Depth[3] is a great resource on the nittier, grittier details of C# and the .NET framework.

[1] http://themorningbrew.net/ [2] http://www.alvinashcraft.com/ [3] http://amzn.to/1fv0zNH

C# isn't hard to learn , it's one of the easiest language to pick up , and Visual Studio will make you productive in no time. The hardest is usually the APIs and diverse libraries and frameworks you'll have to know, what do you want to do ? Web dev? windows apps ? Plural sight has good education material that covers all these topics.

Check out https://github.com/quozd/awesome-dotnet :-)

If you know C++, the C# will be easy for you. Pick a program you have in C++ and convert it to C# (well maybe not an embedded one; just yet :-). You can download a free copy of visual studio community edition (https://www.visualstudio.com/products/free-developer-offers-...) and go.

Feel free to PM me if you get stuck. I'm no one special but have years on the stuff (and was in c++ for years prior).

.Net In a Nutshell, flip through it for the syntax reference and an overview of the APIs.

Download Visual Studio Community (if you don't already have it) then try out one of the project templates. The tooling is excellent and it's very easy to get started.

Then it depends on what kind of code you need to write. I work with web/information systems so the focus is on SOLID over pure performance. Using DI and TDD is more important than being an absolute language expert.

Drop me a line if you want more details tips; I've helped a number of people make the transition. Email is in my profile :)

You've gotten some good responses so far - I'd like to chime in as I'm still in the 'early-stage' of learning C# myself.

A book that should get you up to speed on 90% of C# relatively quickly is Professional C# 5.0 and .NET 4.5.1 by Jay Glynn. It's not got info on C#6 and .NET 4.6 yet, but the differences there are pretty quick/intuitive to pick up.

Afraid I can't help to much with the databases portion - it's something I'd like to find a book on myself! Good luck on the career switch! (:

C# is super simple compared to doing C or C++, especially at the embedded level.

If you are just getting started I always recommend the msdn tutorials.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa288436%28v=vs.71%...

Seconded, I want to escape the low-level ghetto as well; my mind desperately needs to think in higher level abstractions, too many years down near the metal is enough.

You may find Rob Miles's books helpful. He wrote on C# basics, C# with XNA, C# for windows phone. (Rob Miles is a professor of University of Hull, UK)

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