Books on .Net

[Gabriele]

I would like to learn .Net framework in order to develop an hybryd
system.
I do have solid knowledge of general programming with some languages.
I may need information about:

Desktop GUI programming on .Net
Web Application development with Asp.Net
Handling Database with .Net

DBMS used is not yet decided, but i believe it will most probably be
PostGreSQL as MS SQL Server cost a lot and does not provide anything
new while MySQL miss important stuff.
Language will surely be C# as i have an inner antipathy against VB
style and i have a quite strong experience with C sintax (both in C++
and Java).

Could you suggest some good books to learn the above (possibly 2
books, with the database components explained inside the others).
About the style of the books I do prefere a content rich, professional
approach (review of many components, explaination of inner workings,
notes about security and performance) against a sample-code rich,
basic tutorial approach (a few samples are appreciated thought).

 

[Mark Rae]

I would like to learn .Net framework

I suggest you start here: http://www.asp.net/Tutorials/quickstart.aspx for
the ASP.NET stuff...

DBMS used is not yet decided, but i believe it will most probably be
PostGreSQL as MS SQL Server cost a lot and does not provide anything
new while MySQL miss important stuff.

SQL Server Express is free: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/
and the .NET Framework already comes with a free native .NET data provider
for it (SqlClient).

There is a free .NET provider for PostGreSQL:
http://gborg.postgresql.org/project/npgsql/projdisplay.php but I've heard
that it's not particuarly good...

There are also commercial offerings: http://www.sqlsummit.com/DataProv.htm

Do not even consider using OleDb or, even worse, ODBC...

Language will surely be C# as i have an inner antipathy against VB
style and i have a quite strong experience with C sintax (both in C++
and Java).

If you have experience with C++ you will not find the C# syntax particularly
difficult.

However, the main learning curve will be the .NET Framework itself...

 

[Gabriele]

DBMS used is not yet decided, but i believe it will most probably be

SQL Server Express is free:http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/
and the .NET Framework already comes with a free native .NET data provider
for it (SqlClient).

I may consider it but SQL Server Express is probably not suitable for
medium to high load so it is going to be nice for testing and
development but probably won't be enough for deployment (maybe just at
the beginning).
I should take a look at the impact on the hosting costs for a SQL
Server service.

Anyway, the native .Net data provider for SQL Server should be quite
good, i wonder.

There is a free .NET provider for PostGreSQL:http://gborg.postgresql.org/project/npgsql/projdisplay.phpbut I've heard
that it's not particuarly good...

Good to know.

Do not even consider using OleDb or, even worse, ODBC...

Is it so bad? I didn't know.

 

[Mark Rae]

I may consider it but SQL Server Express is probably not suitable

There's no doubt at all that you (don't) get what you (don't) pay for:
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/features/compare-features.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/express/features.mspx
http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid87_gci1082707,00.html
http://www.teratrax.com/articles/sql_server_2005_express.html

nice for testing and development

I use this: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/editions/developer/default.mspx

Anyway, the native .Net data provider for SQL Server should be quite
good

Well, it's made by the same people who make the operating system, the .NET
Framework and the RDBMS itself...

Is it so bad? I didn't know.

Performance is the main drawback - a native .NET data provider (especially
SqlClient) talks directly to TDS, thereby bypassing all the layers that
OleDb and especially ODBC have to use...