Given my natural distaste for Computer Books, and my penchant for lists, here are my picks for Computer Books That Don’t Suck (.NET Version):

• Essential .NET by Don Box. You’ll need a quiet room for this one.
• Windows Forms Programming in C# by Chris Sells. The reference for WinForms.
• Advanced .NET Remoting by Ingo Rammer. Good for those that use Remoting, willingly or not.
• Programming .NET Components(1st edition) by Juval Lowy. I hesitate to recommend this one given this juicy argument between Roy Osherove and Ian Griffiths. I’ve used code that uses this model: I agree with Ian.
• Test-Driven Developement in Microsoft.NET by James Newkirk & Alexei A. Vorontsov. Good for the first four chapters.
• Visual Studio Hacks by James Avery. Only good if you use VS every day. Who doesn’t?
• Coder To Developer by Mike Gunderloy. Read it right after I graduated: the perfect time to read it.
• Joel On Software by Joel Spolsky. Sure, he’s an ass. But, a smart one and an eloquent writer.

You may notice that almost all of these books are written by authors who blog. (Whether the blog or book came first is another, irrelevant discussion.)

The two books that get my absolute, trapped-on-a-desert-island recommendation are Joel On Software and Coder To Developer. I was unable to put down either of those books until they were finished. And then I wanted more of that. Interestingly, the last two books on the list are the least coupled with .NET.

This list will expand. Do you have any books you simply cannot do without?

Tags: .NET Books
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