Hi there! I'm new, and after having poked around the site a little bit, I signed up because I have a question. But first, a little intro.

The name's Michael, I have tried repeatedly to learn how to program on my own in C or C++ and tried Objective-C. I've failed at all of them, and that's probably because I have tried to do too much too fast, and get discouraged. So I stepped back for a year or so and have decided to tackle a small dream of mine to become proficient in a language.

After having read some other posts about languages, I've decided I want to learn C#. Can I program in C# on a Mac or should I be using a Windows machine? Initially, I want to learn the language for learning the language, and then apply that knowledge to game programming specifically. I want to bring back a 2D RPG similar in style to The Legend of Zelda: Link To The Past, but that's in the future.

My main question is two fold, number one is do you guys recommend a website with tutorials over any others? And is there a book out there that would help me better than others? I've been on the Chapters website and see all kinds of C# books, but a lot of them are 2008, 2010, 2005 years.

I feel like if I continue, I may start rambling so I will end this first post here!

Thanks for your time and I hope to be able to contribute as much as, if not more than, I ask of your expertise!

Michael

If you're looking to compile/run C# on a Mac: http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page

In terms of books, I can't say that I know anything current but I have an O'Reilly book on the subject (it's pretty dated at this point, version 3.0) and that was quite a good resource.

If you're looking to learn game development with C# specifically, you may want to play with Unity which will allow you to use it as a scripting language. Beyond that, there's always XNA. I assume you're working on OSX/Linux though, so Unity might be a better choice at this point.

Thanks Greenvertex! I don't have a real preference persay between Mac and Windows at this point. I just want to learn! I will look into Unity and XNA tonight. I've seen them discussed a bit on here and haven't had a chance to scope em out.

Thanks!

I am not sure if theres any new or decent books on .Net 4.5 but for 4.0 theres enough. The books that I would recommend are

O' Reilly - C# 4.0 in a Nutshell. This is very good book, it explains things very well and gets straight to the point, doesnt bombard you with theory unless it needs to and the examples are easily enough followed, however the book lacks major areas (which is states at the beginning anyway).

Apress - Pro C# 2010 and the .NET. This is a good book, it explains really nicely and the author actually makes sense, however like the book above it misses a few key areas out but it does generally go over major areas (things like Compression, Cryptography etc are missed out)

Wrox - Professional C# 4.0 and .NET. This isnt a nice book at all, the author decided it would be best to flood the book with theory, for a beginner this book will put you off .NET, it is structured weirdly and goes way into how things work, stuff you really dont want to know about if you are a beginner. It does explain the rest of the areas missing in the above books, like MEF, MAF, Globalisation, Windows Services etc but should only be read last and only when the above one are read.

Theres also MSDN but it isnt nicely structured, examples usually include things you likely havent learnt and it can actually confuse you a lot as a beginner, stick with the books and use MSDN as a reference

It may seem long to go through them but once you get into them you will fly through. I would read them in that order but when you are dealing with the Wrox book just stick to sections you are unsure about or want to learn.

As for ASP.NET / ASP.NET MVC / Windows Form / WF / WPF / WCF, I personally would miss those sections out and read books dedicated to them alone, and if you do decide you want to make an app, I would pick WPF over windows form, as for websites MVC over WebForms, I only say this as WPF / MVC are nicer to work with than their predecessors.

In truth, you will never stop learning, it will start with 3 books then before you know it you will be spending more on books than booze and parties, if you take your approach at a learning angle oppose to a "I want to create the next best thing" you will get a lot more done, as your targets will be based on learning.

For game development I would pick XNA, I havent lasted long enough on unity to know what its like but XNA is decent for making games

Lots of information to swallow! Thank you very much! I will look into those books!!

My ultimate goal is to make a game as I said, but for here and now, I have to learn the basics or I'm gonna end up giving up on yet another project and I really don't want that!

Thanks!