Murach’s ADO.NET 4 Database Programming with C# 2010

This book assumes that you have basic Visual Studio and C# skills, the kind you should get from any core C# book. If you don’t have all the core skills for developing real-world applications, we recommend Murach’s C# 2012 (the C# language hasn’t changed from VS 2010 to VS 2012).

To present the database programming skills in a manageable progression, this book is divided into five sections.

Section 1: Introduction to ADO.NET programming

This section explains the background concepts and skills that you need for database programming with ADO.NET. If you’re new to database programming, this section is essential to getting started right. But if you already have database experience, you can skim this section.

Section 2: How to use data sources and datasets for RAD

This section shows you how to use data sources and datasets for prototyping and Rapid Application Development (RAD). These are the skills that will help you quickly develop working versions of database applications so they can be reviewed and enhanced.

Section 3: Three-layer Windows applications

This section shows you how to develop 3-layer applications that use presentation, business, and database classes. This is the approach that many professionals use because it applies a logical structure to database applications. You’ll also learn how to use object data sources in this section, because they can make this approach to application development even more effective.

Section 4: ADO.NET for web applications

Here, you’ll learn how to use ASP.NET data controls to develop web applications. That includes controls for both SQL and object data sources as well as controls that present data, like the GridView and DetailsView controls. These controls help you develop database-driven web applications faster and better than ever. And object data sources give you complete control over how the database processing is done.

Section 5: Advanced database programming skills

Last, you’ll learn advanced skills that every ADO.NET programmer should be aware of. These include how to work with XML, how to use the Report Designer to create reports, how to use the ReportViewer control to display reports in both Windows and web applications, how and why to use LINQ instead of SQL to query a database, and how to use the Entity Framework in combination with LINQ so you can work with objects and let the framework handle the database operations.

Like all our books, this one has features that you won’t find in competing books. Here are just a few of those features.

• This book explains everything you need to know to develop ADO.NET database applications at a professional level. That sounds simple. But to get all of this information from other sources would take you three or four other books – and you’d still have to figure out how it all worked together!
• To show you how all of the pieces of a database application interact, this book presents 23 complete applications that range from the simple to the complex. As we see it, the only way to master database programming is to study the code in applications like these. And yet, you won’t find anything like this in other books.
• With most competing books, you can waste a lot of time trying to find a snippet of information that you know is in there…somewhere. But with its “paired pages” presentation method and a comprehensive index, this book becomes the ideal on-the-job reference, long after you’ve used it to master its skills.

Murach’s C# 2012

As you read this book, you may discover that your C# skills aren’t as strong as they ought to be. In that case, we recommend that you get a copy of Murach’s C# 2012. It will get you up-to-speed with the language. It will show you how to work with the most useful .NET classes. And it will show you how to use business classes, which is essential when you develop 3-layer database applications.

Murach’s SQL Server 2012 for Developers

Another book that we recommend for database programmers is Murach’s SQL Server 2012 for Developers. To start, this book shows you how to write SQL statements in all their variations so you can code the right SQL statements for your ADO.NET command objects. This often gives you the option of having SQL Server do more of the data handling so your ADO.NET applications can do less. Beyond that, this book shows you how to design and implement databases and how to use advanced features like stored procedures, triggers, and functions.

Murach’s ASP.NET 4.5 Web Programming with C# 2012

If you need to learn how to develop web applications with C#, Murach’s ASP.NET 4.5 with C# 2012 is the third companion. By the time you finish the first four chapters, you’ll know how to develop and test multi-form web applications. By the time you finish the book, you’ll be able to develop commercial web applications at a professional level. 

This book assumes that you have Visual Studio 2010 installed on your computer or that you have access to Visual Studio 2010 so you can install it. That can be any of the full editions of Visual Studio 2010:

• Professional Edition
• Premium Edition
• Ultimate Edition

Or, it can be the combination of these Express Editions:

• C# 2010 Express Edition to develop Windows applications
• Visual Web Developer 2010 Express Edition to develop ASP.NET 4 applications
• SQL Server 2008 Express Edition to develop database applications with these editions

If you use the C# 2010 Express Edition with this book, you should be aware that this edition doesn’t let you create reports as shown in chapter 16. But apart from that, the Express Edition has only a few minor differences from the retail editions.

"This book is a valuable reference for C# programmers doing ADO.NET development. I lent the .NET 3.5 version of this book to a colleague (and db-weenie) over a year ago, and I have yet to get the book back. This copy is not leaving my office."

 - Robert Schaffer, Houston C# User Group

"You can’t do better than this! If you want an introduction to database programming text and reference book, this is the book for you.... I have been using Murach’s textbook series on C#.NET and VB.NET in my classroom instruction since 2004. I have found them to be the most well thought-out textbooks to introduce programming to new students. This new ADO.NET 4 is the latest in the series and is equal to all of their other textbooks. You will not find a better text in the market place."

 - Eric M. Notheisen, IT Instructor, North Carolina

"I was transitioning from Access forms with VB to the .NET environment and Windows forms with C#. The transition was made easy with this book plus others in the Murach C# series."

 - Posted at an online bookseller

"From someone who has thousands of dollars worth of programming books: I needed to learn ADO.NET for my job, and this book was the best on the topic. I love how the examples are laid out on the right with explanations on the left."

 - Posted at an online bookseller