.NET Book Zero: What the C or C++ Programmer Needs to Know about C# and the .NET Framework

C# is a modern type-safe and object-oriented programming language based on the syntax of C and (to a certain extent) C++ and Java. Even if you‘re an experienced C++ programmer, you might be in for a few surprises. You may think you know the difference between a class and a struct, for example, but the difference between a class and a struct in C# is completely different from C++. (That difference is actually one of the lamest features of C++ and one of the most profound features of C#.) For that reason and others, I approach object-oriented programming concepts in this book almost as if you‘re learning about them for the very first time. 

However, I do expect you to have some programming experience with a C-family language. If you‘re learning C# as a first programming language, you might be better off with a slower, gentler introduction, such as my book Programming in the Key of C#: A Primer for Aspiring Programmers (Microsoft Press, 2003).