New Book Proposal
Tentative Title:
Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming Using C#:
Tentative Subtitle1:
An Information Systems Approach
Definition of Topic and/or Product with Technology Details and Statistics (Installed User Base, etc.):
Today’s market has many programming language/tool alternatives for desktop and web application
development. In the recent past, Java drew considerable interest while Visual Basic held on to a strong
constituency. However, C# has quickly become the fastest growing programming language, and that trend is
expected to continue in the coming years based on reports published by Gartner and DeveloperIQ. While
Visual Basic is widely-accepted as an easy language for beginners to learn, many opponents question its
potential for complex systems. On the other hand, C++ and Java are favorites for complex application
development, but tend to be more challenging for a beginner to learn.
Microsoft has either been extremely good at predicting the market or extremely good at driving the market.
Either way, its operating systems and languages have driven the PC market since the advent of MS-DOS
and Basic-80 in the early 1980’s. That dominance has not diminished much over the years, despite efforts
by competitors and the US Justice Department. The Introduction of Visual Studio .NET (VSN) is an effort
to continue that aggressive lead by providing a complete suite of programming languages and tools in one
package.
While there is no definitive statistic for the installed base for VSN, the authors’ educated guess is that it is
approximately 3 to 5 million copies. Microsoft has aggressively marketed VSN and has signed numerous
student licensing agreements with many major institutions. These agreements allow VSN to be purchased
for as little as $10. It is difficult to know how many student copies exist.
The low-cost availability of the VSN tool coupled with the abundance of Visual Basic.Net programming
textbooks may explain why many academic institutions teach Visual Basic (.NET) in their introductory
programming courses. Visual Basic, however, suffers from a reputation of being limited to simple
programming tasks, despite the proven ability of proficient VB programmers to develop complex,
enterprise-based applications. Nonetheless, there are many computing curricula that opt to use C++ or Java
in their programming courses. C# has been touted by Microsoft as a language that combines the elegance of
C++ with the productivity enhancements offered by Visual Basic, resulting in significant productivity
enhancements for the developer building complex software applications. Further, the similarities of C# to
Java make it easier for a student to move from C# to Java.
The entire .NET paradigm of a single integrated development environment (IDE) for all of its languages
and tools makes it very difficult for any would-be competitor to duplicate the same toolset. The changes in
the IDE also are designed to make web-based development that much easier. Indeed, the fact that a single
IDE supports not only C#, but also Visual Basic, C++, and ASP provides a “cradle-to-grave, one-stopshopping” set of tools for the programmer. All of these facts suggest academe has motivation to move from
Visual Basic and Java to C# in programming curricula.
Vision of the Book:
The book is designed to be an introductory computer programming text for Information Systems,
Information Technology and other application-oriented curricula. While thousands of introductory
programming texts exist, we have found none that combine the three elements that account for the
uniqueness of our book:
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


Teach computer programming from an application developer perspective, rather than the computer
science approach of how programming languages and compilers work,
teach Object Oriented Programming (OOP) by integrating it throughout the text, rather than “grafting”
a chapter on to the end as we’ve found in many other texts,
and finally, use C# as the programming language to teach concepts and techniques.
The authors believe in the “learning by doing” approach, so realistic, business-oriented examples will be
used throughout the text to illustrate concepts and how to apply them. Related explanations will help
students understand why things work as they do.
Where applicable, chapters will be divided into two sections. The first section will cover the fundamentals
of that chapter’s subject. The second section will delve deep into the subject area for students and
instructors who wish to learn more detailed information. For example, the first section in the chapter on
persistence using files will cover simple, tab-delimited text files, and the second section will cover binary,
random-access files. Similarly, the first section in the chapter on iterations (i.e. looping) will contain the
familiar while and for next constructs, and the second section will cover nested loops.
We believe this two-part chapter approach has several benefits. It shortens the length of the topics into
more easily digestible portions. It allows the reader a chance to understand the general concepts before
delving into the gritty details. More importantly, it gives course instructors flexibility in how to use the text
to best fit the course audience. For example, one instructor may choose to use only the first section of each
chapter, while another instructor may choose to use the first section of some chapters and both sections of
others.
The proposed book will apply OOP techniques in a consistent fashion throughout the text. This approach
begins with a simple, yet (we believe) effective, introduction to the fundamental concepts of OOP. The
initial introduction stresses the concept of objects while the topics of encapsulation, polymorphism, and
inheritance are discussed later in the text. Because we envision this as serving a one semester introductory
course, we think the emphasis should be on the encapsulation aspects of OOP (i.e., “data hiding” as it
applies to object properties and methods). This emphasis enables us: 1) to provide the novice programmer
with the appropriate mindset necessary to successfully use OOP techniques and 2) to “convert” the student
with structured programming experience to the OOP paradigm.
Students will have the opportunity to apply learned concepts by completing end-of-chapter programming
exercises. Sidebars will also be used where appropriate to discuss 1) tips, 2) techniques, and 3) common
programming mistakes. Different icons will be used to signal which type of sidebar is being presented. This
is a common (and useful) teaching technique used in many programming texts. After completing the book,
the student should be able to both explain OOP concepts as well as develop practical/useful programs
written in C#. Further, the student should feel confident if moving to an advanced course.
We leave it to the publisher to determine whether, for marketing purposes, a code examples CD or a
supplemental website are needed. At least one of the authors is willing to negotiate with the publisher to
provide data for the website. The authors do agree that the website may be a more cost-effective way to
update the code or communicate errata if that is deemed necessary. Development of additional teaching
materials may also be negotiated separately with any of the authors, if desired.
Book Contents in Brief:
See vision above and table of contents below.
Proposed Table Of Contents:
1.
Introduction
a. Terminology
i. source code
2
b.
c.
d.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
ii. compiler
iii. executable
iv. IDE
Visual Studio Primer
Elements of a simple program – the idea is to show a complete program and provide a brief
discussion of the following topics.
i. operators
ii. operands
iii. expressions
iv. statements
v. comments
vi. decisions/if
vii. input
viii. data validation
ix. type conversions
x. objects
xi. textboxes
xii. button
xiii. labels
xiv. forms
xv. events
xvi. initialization
xvii. variables
While this may seem ambitious, we’ve used this technique in the classroom and it
works. Further, it gives us a base from which to expand the detail and complexity while
still providing a framework for writing a “real” program.
Debugging – This will be at a very basic level at this point…enough to set a breakpoint,
single-step the program, and inspect the value of a variable.
Data
a.
Types – which type to use
i. Introduce the object.property and object.method notation.
ii. String concatenation
b. Variable names
c. Type conversions – why it is important
d. Formatting numbers
e. More on debugging.
Arithmetic Operators
a. Introduce import keyword used in a math example.
b. Operator, hierarchy, precedence, parentheses
Logical Operators and Decisions
a. Truth tables
b. if-else, switch, ternary operator
c. Data validation and error handling
d. MessageBox
Exceptions and Debugging
Modularity/Methods
a. Design methodologies – the Five Program Steps, UML notation
b. Micro versus macro design, Sideways refinement, pseudo code
c. Algorithms?
ListBoxes and Loops
a. The three conditions for a well-behaved loop. (ill-behaved loops)
b. while
c. for
d. break
e. nested loops
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8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Arrays/Lists/Collections
a. Arrays as lists, arrays as tables, arrays as cubes, arrays as headaches
b. for each
c. collections versus arrays
Encapsulation
a. State – private, public, protected access specifiers—why each exists
b. Behavior
c. Constructor
d. Garbage Collection
Multiple Forms
a. Instantiating and showing other forms
b. Modal vs. non-modal forms (dialog)
c. Sharing data between forms
Persistence Using Data Files
a. Tabbed-delimited text files
b. OpenFileDialog & SaveFileDialog
c. Binary files
d. Using the printer object and redirecting output
Database Connectivity
a. Datagrid
b. Database Connectivity with ADO.NET and SQL
Inheritance & Polymorphism
a. Inheritance
b. Classes versus subclasses
c. Messages
d. Method overriding
e. Virtual classes
f. Interfaces
Appendix A – Frequently Used User Interface Objects
Appendix B – Speed Coding Tips and Tricks
Appendix C – C# Coding Styles and Guidelines
Appendix D – Deployment
Page Count:
There are so many factors that can impact the page count (e.g., usage of white space, font, tables and
figures, etc.) that it is difficult to estimate this. However, from the point of view of student reading
assignments, we prefer to keep each chapter page count between 23-39 pages and expect the appendices to
be between 20-30 pages. This implies approximately 320-540 pages for the entire text.
Audience Profile:
This will be used by instructors who teach introductory computer programming courses in Information
Systems, Information Technology and other application-oriented curricula who are looking for an easy-touse alternative to Visual Basic, C++, or Java.
Primary audience: College students in an introductory computer-programming course
Secondary audience: High school students or anyone wishing to learn C# as a first or subsequent objectoriented programming language
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Ideal Reader:
The ideal reader for this book would be an undergraduate student with no prior computer programming
experience in an Information Systems, Information Technology and other application-oriented curricula.
What Makes This Book Unique:
There are many C# books on the market but none are college textbooks that combine the three elements that
account for the uniqueness of our book. First, most of the existing books are targeted toward experienced,
professional programmers who simple wish to learn the syntax of C#. These titles will tend to confuse the
novice programmer. Second, a few are designed for beginners, but are targeted toward computer science
curricula and focus on language syntax and how the language and compiler works, rather than how to use it
to solve business-related problems. And third, we feel our approach of integrating OOP throughout the
book and abundant, illustrative examples will give the novice learner a more complete understanding of
OOP than what is possible with most of the competing titles.
Additionally we hope to develop our text using the “Whidbey” release of Visual Studio .NET. Whidbey is
the code name for the current alpha release of Visual Studio that is scheduled to be released late 2004.
Although information about Whidbey is sketchy due to its newness, there are numerous enhancements to
most elements of Visual Studio. Our text will concentrate on the enhancements that pertain to C#.
6 Key Points as to Why Someone Would Want to Purchase This Book:
Someone would purchase the proposed text for one, some or all of the reasons below:
1. It will help the novice learn C# and object-oriented programming.
2. It can be used as an alternative to using Visual Basic to teach introductory computer programming
in an engaging manner.
3. It will teach the reader how to develop non-trivial Windows applications.
4. It will make use of realistic, recognizable examples to help the reader better understand how to
apply concepts to business-oriented problems.
5. It will use sample code to illustrate concepts.
6. It will provide the essential skills for the reader to advance to secondary programming course in
any object-oriented programming language.
Competition and Books Available:
Which books currently available are your closest competitor’s? How will your book be different/better?
Please list the title, ISBN, price, page count, media, and overall impression for each book.
Below we are listing many of the C# books we have found. Note that our research indicates none of the book
titles listed below appear to be college textbooks with relevant teaching materials.
TITLE
Archer, T. & Whitechapel, A. (2002).
Inside C# (2nd edition). Microsoft Press.
Deitel, H. M., Deitel, P. J., et.al. (2001).
C# How to Program. Prentice-Hall.
Drayton, P, Albahari, B & Neward, T.
(2003). C# In a Nutshell. O’Reilly &
Associates
Goode, C., Kauffman, J., et.al. (2002).
Beginning ASP.NET 1.0 with C#.
Wrox.
Amazon
ranking
16940
Strengths
Weaknesses
good reviews.
Designed for professional developers.
33045
many examples
64670
good language reference for
intermediate programmers.
designed for beginners and
developers, but fails to meet either’s
needs.
not enough examples to teach
yourself C#.
30218
Designed for beginners wanting to
develop dynamic web sites
Book contains errors
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TITLE
Hejlsberg, A., Wiltamuth, & S. Golde, P.
(2003). The C# Programming Language.
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Liberty, J. (2002). Learning C#.
O’Reilly & Associates.
Amazon
ranking
2151
Strengths
Weaknesses
authored by C#’s architect
& design team.
Designed for experienced developers.
47414
Good intro for beginning
OO programmer. Web site
support includes personal
responses from author.
very well written with an
organization that works for
the experienced developer.
Not for the seasoned programmer and
some topics are missing (I/O).
Liberty, J. (2003). Programming C#,
third edition. O’Reilly & Associates.
1928
Lippman, S.B. (2001). C# Primer: A
Practical Approach. Addison-Wesley
Publishing Company
100781
Mayo, J. (2002). C# Unleashed. Sams.
76991
Onion, F. (2003). Essential ASP.NET
with Examples in C#. Addison-Wesley
Publishing Company.
9905
Price, J., Gunderloy, M. (2002).
Mastering Visual C#.NET. Sybex.
17839
Robinson, S., Harvey, B., et.al. (2002).
Professional C# (2nd edition). Wrox.
Sharp, J. & Jagger, J. (2003). Microsoft
Visual C#.NET Step by Step-Version
2003. Microsoft Press.
16453
26767
Good pace for self-study.
Seasoned developers should
look elsewhere.
Troelsen, A. (2003). C# and the .NET
Platform, second edition. A-Press.
3999
Advanced topics covered in
a readable manner
Contains insights of C# not
found in other texts, so
useful for the experienced
programmer.
not enough coverage for
experienced developers.
well-written style &
organization. Very
readable.
Examples, while simplistic,
do help a beginner
understand some difficult
OO concepts
Manuscript Specifications:
1. Estimated Final Pages:
540 pages (see end of table of contents listing)
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Designed for developers. Need some
background in OO language like
C++/Java to get full value from this
book. Numerous references to C,
C++, and Java make it necessary for
the reader to have prior background
in another language.
Assumes you know C++ or Java.
Designed for beginners.
Designed for experienced developers.
Need basic understanding of
ASP.NET before using this book. Not
enough screen shots of running code
examples.
Not enough examples to hold interest
of experienced programmer
Designed for developers.
Book contains errors
Designed for beginners, so some
topics are missing. Step-by-step
teaches how to put a program
together without really understanding
what you’ve done. Insufficient
explanations lead to confusion.
Designed for developers.
2. Estimated Number of Illustrations:
We are firm believers in the picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words paradigm and the importance of
white space in selling a book. We estimate at least 5 to 15 illustrations per chapter/appendix, or between 65
and 200 illustrations (i.e., figures and screen shots) plus tables.
3. Art Program Prep
Graphic tools embedded within Word (WordArt, Org Chart, tables, …)
Paint Shop Pro
Visio
Photo Editor
4. Manuscript to be prepared in:
Microsoft Word
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