C# Book or Resource for VB.Net developers?

Question

Bascially, i'm looking for a book or resource to learn C#, given that i already know VB.NET and have known for years.

What I'm Not looking for:

Now, just to be clear, i'm not looking for VB6 to C#.Net content, as i know there are a few of those out there.

Also, I know about that "syntax\conversion table" website, where it compares VB.Net to C# language features in a side by side table. I am not interested in this either, already know about it.

I'm also not looking for a converter, which converts C# code to VB.Net and visa versa, i know there are a few websites which do this and already have the addresses.

Finally, I'm not looking for a C# book or resource that caters to current programmers, but specifically to VB.Net programmers!

What I Am looking for:

To learn C# (VS2008 or preferably VS2010 version) given that i already know VB.Net 10.0 (VS2010)... as there are many things related to .NET that i won't have to learn again if i can find something that will leap me from vb.net to c#, many bits of the CLR, how .NET works etc... since the languages are the same in what they do, and what they use to do them, i don't want to have to re-learn all this again. The only difference is really the syntax, but also how the C# language differs in dealing with certain things, what default expectations/behaviours are in various scenarios etc...

The set of differences and similarities between C# and VB.Net are so unique that neither of these languages likely could share this unique set/combination of differences and similarities with any other language. So my point is, it really needs to be C# for VB Developers oriented, otherwise it'll almost cetainly be inappropriate or a re-hashing!

I did google this some time ago, there really was nothing. I'm thinking maybe someone here knows? Any leads would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I'd recommended C# 4.0 in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition While it is not targeted at changing from VB.NET to C#, it is one of the clearest books on C# out there.

(Disclaimer: I know one of the authors, but I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't think it was good).

Answer 2

EDIT: Sorry I see you do know VB.NET then you know the Framework and just need to learn the C# language. In that case I would go with "C# 3.0 in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference" by Joseph Albahari and Ben Albahari Or the 4.0 version of the same book.

Answer 3

http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/8/8/388e7205-bc10-4226-b2a8-75351c669b09/csharp%20language%20specification.doc

C Sharp Language Specification. It'll tell you all about the language features and syntax, and won't bother talking about the .NET libraries.

Answer 4

You already know VB.NET and therefore know a large chunk of the .NET framework which is, of course, shared among all .NET languages.

Now it's just a new syntax because you already have the "API" under your belt.

My suggestion is to forget about mapping to VB.NET syntax and just jump into C# syntax - it's really not a big task considering where you already are. You will implicitly recognize the language mechanisms and syntactical sugar as you go along.

As for a good resource, well, everybody else got to answering that one first ...

Answer 5

There were some useful articles in Visual Studio magazine back in Jan 2008.

• What VB developers should know about C#
• What C# developers should know about VB

It's also worth looking at the question what's allowed in VB that's prohibited in C# or vice versa.