The C# Player's Guide (5th Edition)

The book is clear, logical, focused, and very easy to follow. This is the first time I've been able to write some script without having to follow a youtube tutorial that does nothing to explain any of the logic used to come to a solution. It presents some challenges, and I'm able to use everything I've learned within a chapter (plus some critical thinking) to achieve the goal without help or too much headache. Some of the challenges are a little cheeky and will ask you to incorporate elements that are related to what you just learned but wasn't explicitly mentioned. Some might not like that, but it seriously wasn't too hard to just take an extra step to look into some documentation and figure it out.

I've been making my way through this book for a month now, and I can confidently say that I've learning and retaining all of the information that I learn. The book is written in a very friendly manner. Every subject is clearly explained, and with a lot of different examples. Every "level" or chapter covers a specific topic, or subject in C#. Every level has challenges part way, and/or at the end of the level. These challenges are laid out to build upon what you've learned in the level, as well as reinforcing skills you learn in previous levels. The book's challenges take you through a very well crafted narrative adventure through a fictional land, where you use your 'powers of programming' to solve the troubles of its citizens, it's very engaging, and for those who are into fantasy games, or fantasy settings, it's a very fun additive to learning. The book encourages learning and engagement by suppling an 'XP tracker' which you can start checking off as you complete challenges, thus 'leveling up' your programming skills, it is a very fun way to keep motivated.

Over the years I have bought a lot of different programming books in an attempt to quickly pick up a language that I needed to know for work or for a personal project. Many times, I will get about 40-60% through these books and put them down, never to pick them back up. Sometimes I learned enough to get going from just that amount of reading; other times I have to seek out additional resources to supplement the book's lessons. The C# Player's Guide is the first programming book I completed cover to cover. The content is organized into a series of "Levels" in the form of something akin to a role playing game; each level has one or more challenges and knowledge checks for you to test what you learned in that level. Completing these awards you experience points (XP) that you can track on a page in the front of the book to gamify your progress. This feature by itself helps encourage you to stick with the content. However, even if that gamification was missing, the content here is so good that I felt compelled to keep going, even when the rest of life and work caused interruptions and disruptions to my schedule. The challenges will measure your comprehension as it continues to layer new concepts over previously introduced ones, but in a way that is never frustrating. Instead, for each challenge you'll feel like you have an idea of how to get started and will just need a bit of tinkering around to get the result you need. From this tinkering comes the real lessons and insights that make the language stick. The author also has an active presence in the Discord server that accompanies this book, offering reviews of your code as you work on the challenges and answering any questions you have with detailed, thoughtful responses. If you are looking to learn C# from scratch (or if you are looking to break into object-oriented programming and thinking about using this as your first resource), you would be hard pressed to find a better book than this.

I wanted to find my way into programming and C# so badly, but I just wasn't finding my way with the Microsoft Learn courses, or Codecademy, or any of the other methods I tried. Everything was either extremely dull, or felt incomplete. My copy of The C# Player's Guide arrived about 2 months ago, and I kid you not, I have spent between 30 minutes to 2+ hours every single day working through it (I think I spent a solid 6 hours on a lazy Sunday once). I wake up thinking about this book, and I go to bed thinking about it. The content and challenges are constantly running through my mind, and I can actually see the improvement happening day by day. The book has a ton of challenges that require you to use the knowledge you gained from each chapter, and each chapter builds upon previous ones. There is no hand-holding here, as seen with many of the courses you find online. These challenges require you to actually learn and understand the content, and by doing each challenge, you are doing what matters most: actually programming something. It will be hard, and you will struggle, but that's okay because that's where the real learning happens. If you have the ability to do so, I highly recommend you join the community. The author has gathered a wonderful community of people, primarily on Discord, who are constantly providing feedback and assistance to others. They don't just give you the answer and move on, however, they work with you to make sure you move forward with confidence, as long as you're willing to put in the work. I've seen these people spend hours of their time, for free by the way, helping people understand a concept they were stuck on. The author himself responds to many of the questions, and often goes WAY out of his way to help people get through things they're struggling with. This isn't just a book, either. The author has also created a website that has plenty of additional content, and he has a YouTube channel with detailed videos going through many of the book's challenges. And, if you join the Discord, you will find tons of additional context and reference material in there. All of that said, if you like TTRPGs or RPGs in general, you're going to love this book that much more. The story and the "leveling up" concept really add another layer to the learning process that helps keep things fun, and they have given me something to hold onto during the more difficult parts of the book.

Been a programmer for almost a decade, but this really walks through basic concepts to advanced levels as a nice and handy reference when I need it with very good examples (especially for game development).

Ottimo libro. Lo sto utilizzando per rispolverare il mio C#. Molto leggero e facile da seguire, forse non proprio indicato per chi ha delle solide basi o è a livello intermedio / avanzato ma per chi è agli inizi o vuole fare un riapasso l'ho trovato eccellente. Non tratta visual studio e quindi non aspettatevi interfaccia utente, parla solo di può C# .net e quindi applicazioni a consol. Consigliatissimo

Amazing for beginners. Community is great and helpful. Would recommend.

So far so good as a first book for a new programmer. Enjoyable and truly more interesting and motivating than following online guides or reading a typical programming book. I was worried it was going to cut corners in teaching but was glad to see that wasn't the case.

This book has been an amazing tool on my journey to learn C#. It's filled with an assortment of tests that quickly teach you the fundamentals of C# in a unique and memorable way. Alongside the main tests there are a series of side quests that will help you dig deeper into more advanced subjects and while optional, really help solidify what you have learned if you make the time for them. The author is very active in his Discord and makes a lot of time for anyone that needs help or has further questions. I really can't recommend this book enough if you have any interest in picking up C#!