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I was asked to recommend a good book for a mid-level experienced developer who wants to improve their coding skills (c# developer).
I was thinking about:

or

What do you think about those? Any other suggestions?

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Effective C# has a sequel - get that! – Job Dec 1 '10 at 18:52
@Job - Agreed, just use the 'Preview' on amazon to look at the sample chapters, brilliant book! – Dal Dec 2 '10 at 17:09
Thanks to all for the great suggestions. In my case, I think I was looking for something along the same vein as Code Complete, so I think that will remain my number 1 choice, however, I will add C# In Depth and CLR via C#/3rd to my book list. Thanks again for all the respononses. – JMarsch Dec 7 '10 at 18:00

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7 Answers

up vote 16 down vote accepted

C# in Depth by Jon Skeet

CLR via C#, Third Edition

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+1 CLR via C# is "the" C# Bible IMHO -- easy read and very in-depth – Watson Dec 1 '10 at 16:56
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If Jon Skeet wrote it - it's worth buying – PSU_Kardi Dec 1 '10 at 17:18
Personally, I wasn't a huge fan of C# in Depth. CLR via C# however; that gets my +1 because it's just an awesome read. – Steve Evers Dec 1 '10 at 19:12
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@SnOrfus: Anything I could improve in another edition (if there ever is one) or was it the basic premise of the book (language focus, ignoring version 1 etc) that you weren't keen on? Feel free to email me (skeet@pobox.com) - I'm always interested in improving. – Jon Skeet Dec 1 '10 at 19:42
@Jon Skeet: I actually appreciated ignoring version 1, but found that too many chapters referenced forthcoming chapters and although the topics represented were enabling technologies for things like LINQ, they didn't sufficiently stand on their own as learning objectives. As a result, reading cover-to-cover was a bit too much of a 'tease' and made it difficult to use as a reference. – Steve Evers Dec 1 '10 at 22:57
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up vote 2 down vote

There Are lots of good answers here. I would include The Art Of Unit Testing as a book that could improve your C# skills.

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up vote 2 down vote

I found C# In A Nutshell to be an excellent reference.

EDIT: Turns out I've answered this question already.

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up vote 1 down vote

The first two are eternal and technology-neutral. A great recommendation of all times.

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up vote 1 down vote

C# book from Head first series. It is a good book to begin with and can try other books mentioned above for further reference

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It's a good beginner's C# book, but there's not much there for a moderately experienced C# developer. – Anna Lear♦ Dec 1 '10 at 18:57
up vote 1 down vote

I have those ; I'd also suggest from my library

  1. Clean Code

  2. Design Patterns

  3. C# Design Patterns

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Design patterns is a must for anyone that hasn't read it. – BlackICE Dec 6 '10 at 14:35
Could you give more precise titles for the second and third ones ? There are many books about c# design patterns and even more about design patterns in general. – Matthieu Nov 22 '11 at 16:18
Sure - O'Reilly has a C# Design patterns book (I have the .NET 3.0) Version but you can find whatever you need. There is a Design Patterns book by the Gang of Four - Addison Wesley is the publisher – PSU_Kardi Nov 22 '11 at 19:24
up vote 0 down vote

Books aside, and I'd agree with most of the suggestions above, I think BlackWasp is an excellent online resource - really well-written and clear. Perfect for all levels of developer. MSDN technical authors take note!

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