Current reading

• C# in Depth

  In programming, there's no substitute for knowing your stuff. In versions 2 and 3, C# introduces new concepts such as lambda expressions and implicit typing that make the language more flexible and give you more power. Using Language INtegrated Query (LINQ)--also new in C# 3--you can interact with data of any type directly from C#. Simply put, mastering these features will make you a more valuable C# developer.

  C# in Depth is designed to bring you to a new level of programming skill. It dives deeply into key C# topics--in particular the new ones. You'll learn to reuse algorithms in a type-safe way with C# 2 generics and expand the functionality of existing classes and interfaces using C# 3 extension methods. Tricky issues become clear in author Jon Skeet's crisp, easy-to-follow explanations and snappy, pragmatic examples. With this book under your belt, you will easily learn--and then master--new frameworks and platforms.

• .NET for Financial Markets
• Pro .NET 2.0 Windows Forms and Custom Controls in C#
• Pro C# 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Platform
• Concurrent Programming on Windows

  Duffy aims to give application, system, and library developers the tools and techniques needed to write efficient, safe code for multicore processors. This is important not only for the kinds of problems where concurrency is inherent and easily exploitable–such as server applications, compute-intensive image manipulation, financial analysis, simulations, and AI algorithms–but also for problems that can be speeded up using parallelism but require more effort–such as math libraries, sort routines, report generation, XML manipulation, and stream processing algorithms.

  Concurrent Programming on Windows has four major sections: The first introduces concurrency at a high level, followed by a section that focuses on the fundamental platform features, inner workings, and API details. Next, there is a section that describes common patterns, best practices, algorithms, and data structures that emerge while writing concurrent software. The final section covers many of the common system-wide architectural and process concerns of concurrent programming.

• .NET Multithreading

  If you need high performance, or a rich user experience, you should consider multithreading. With .NET you can develop stable and robust multithreaded applications with minimal effort. .NET Multithreading teaches the basics in an understandable and practical way. It then focuses on .NET's mechanisms for multithreading and shows how easy it can be to develop applications with them. The book covers several design approaches such as one-thread-one-class, the asynchronous design pattern, and using queues as buffers between threads. It explains best practices and how to avoid common multithreading pitfalls such as deadlock and race conditions.

  This book is written for intermediate .NET developers who know C# or VB .NET, but are not assumed to have a background in multithreading. It is rich in examples that will help you understand the subject and produce multithreaded applications that have the power of C++ while keeping the ease and reliability of .NET.

• NHibernate in Action

  NHibernate in Action begins by describing how to implement persistence in a layered .NET application. The book then quickly springs into action by introducing NHibernate through a classic "Hello World" example. It explains how to configure NHibernate to specify the mapping information between business objects and database tables, and then explores the internal architecture of NHibernate. A complete example application is progressively built with Agile methodologies in mind, which shows readers all kinds of entity and relationship mappings and how to perform CRUD operations. The book also covers advanced techniques like caching, concurrency access, and isolation levels. The Hibernate Query Language (HQL) and criteria query APIs are thoroughly detailed with optimization tips.

  The last chapters of this book discuss various development scenarios, how to implement the layers of an NHibernate application (covering Windows and Web development), and which tools are available for these tasks. They also provide some solutions for data-binding objects to .NET GUI controls, integrating services, and interacting with components using DataSets. Finally, they explain how to build a complex application involving advanced session management and distributed transactions.

• IronPython in Action

  IronPython in Action offers a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to Microsoft's exciting new approach for programming the .NET framework. It approaches IronPython as a first class .NET language, fully integrated with the .NET environment, Visual Studio, and even the open-source Mono implementation. You'll learn how IronPython can be embedded as a ready-made scripting language into C# and VB.NET programs, used for writing full applications or for web development with ASP. Even better, you'll see how IronPython works in Silverlight for client-side web programming.

  IronPython opens up exciting new possibilities. Because it's a dynamic language, it permits programming paradigms not easily available in VB and C#. In this book, authors Michael Foord and Christian Muirhead explore the world of functional programming, live introspection, dynamic typing and 'duck typing', metaprogramming, and more.

  IronPython in Action explores these topics with examples, making use of the Python interactive console to explore the .NET framework with live objects. The expert authors provide a complete introduction for programmers to both the Python language and the power of the .NET framework. The book also shows how to extend IronPython with C#, extending C# and VB.NET applications with Python, using IronPython with .NET 3.0 and Powershell, IronPython as a Windows scripting tool, and much more.

• LINQ in Action

  LINQ, Language INtegrated Query, is a new extension to the Visual Basic and C# programming languages designed to simplify data queries and database interaction. It addreses O/R mapping issues by making query operations like SQL statements part of the programming language. Adding to its power, LINQ is extensible and can be used to query various data sources. It offers built-in support for querying in-memory collections like arrays or lists, XML, DataSets, and relational databases.

  LINQ in Action is a fast-paced, comprehensive tutorial for professional developers who want to use LINQ. This book explores what can be done with LINQ, shows you how it works in an application, and addresses the emerging best practices. It presents the general purpose query facilities offered by LINQ in the upcoming C# 3.0 and VB.NET 9.0 languages. A running example introduces basic LINQ concepts. You'll then learn to query unstructured data using LINQ to XML and relational data with LINQ to SQL. Finally, you'll see how to extend LINQ for custom applications.

  LINQ in Action will guide you along as you navigate this new world of lambda expressions, query operators, and expression trees. You'll also explore the new features of C# 3.0, VB.NET 9.0. The book is very practical, anchoring each new idea with running code.

• Effective REST Services via .NET: For .NET Framework 3.5

  Effective REST Services via .NET begins by discussing contemporary technologies and laying the groundwork for why REST services are so exciting and useful. It describes how they work and how both client and server-based code can access data using REST services. It details the URL, which is fundamental to accessing REST services. It then provides examples of the use of REST services in both desktop-based and Web-based applications.

  The second half of the book delves into how to create REST services using existing .NET technologies, including ASP.NET (coupled with IIS 7.0), services hosted by the new ASP.NET model-view-controller (MVC) architecture, services hosted by the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). The book finishes with coverage on exciting new technologies such as cloud computing (codename AZURE) and others.

• C# Query Expressions