In which order to read the C#/.NET books?

Question

C# / .NET Books (Descending Order):

1. O'Reilly C# 4.0 in a Nutshell?
2. Accelerated C# 2010
3. Introduction to .NET 4.0 and Visual Studio
4. Effective C#
5. Microsoft Press C# via CLR 3rd Edition
6. APress C# 2008 and .NET 3.5 Platform

List has been modified based on the answers and comments below.

Answer 1

I did the CLR Via C# or whatever it used to be called in its first edition first.

Answer 2

In same order, except the optional one

Start with .Net Framework(APress C# 2008) and then get into CLR (C# via CLR, more complex).

Third book (O'Reilly C# 4.0 in a Nutshell?) will then give you exposure to more features introduced in C# 4.0

Answer 3

This depends on your level. If you have some C# expirience then probably just "C# via CLR" is enough. If you don't, go ahead, get some expirience.

Answer 4

I would begin with APress C# 2008 and .NET 3.5 Platform and then continue with Microsoft Press C# via CLR 3rd Edition

Answer 5

I must have bought 100+ tech books over the years and I can offer some book buying tips:

• Only buy a book that you need for your current or next project - anything else is a waste of money as tech moves so fast.
• Concentrate on books with the best ratings on Amazon (or wherever).
• Buy recent editions (books more than a year old will have been gutted by tech sites and will be available somewhere on the web for nothing - two exceptions being the timeless Refactoring by Fowler and Design Patterns by GOF)
• Buy books that are less than 300 pages long.

There are very few books that are 1000+ pages long that do not contain hundreds of pages of filler code listings and unless you are certain about your purchase you will only actually read the books that are under 300 pages long from start to finish in any event.

C# book I would recommend is Effective C#.

As to your books ...

As you are starting out it might be tempting to read the Introduction one first; but I would go for the C# 4.0 in a nutshell first as it will be the shortest and all the O'Reilly books are well edited and pretty trustworthy.

Once you have the (pun alert) nutshell cracked then you will be able to skim 'Introduction to .NET 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010'.

After that you can move into the more heavyweight detail of 'APress C# 2008 and .NET 3.5 Platform' and 'Microsoft Press C# via CLR 3rd Edition' with a reasonable chance of understanding them.

HTH