
Finally, the C# in Depth 4th Edition translation has been published by Gilbut Publishing.

This book is by legendary developer Jon Skeet, credited with making Stackoverflow what it is today. Anyone who has studied or used C# in practice could easily find Jon Skeet’s answers in Notable questions on Stack Overflow.


The 2nd edition was previously published by another publisher, and after skipping the 3rd, the 4th edition was published this year.

I had read the 2nd edition before, and I used to tell people “if you’re going to own just one C# book, buy this one.” It might be a bit uncomfortable for beginners, but as the book’s original title suggests, it digs deep into C# and explains how things work, making it a must-recommend.


As befits a book that came out after 10 years, it’s a revised edition that improves readability and ease of reading.

The layout has changed significantly for better readability, and the author’s writing style has become easier to read.


This book’s table of contents.

Starting with an overview of C#, it explains step by step what features were added and what changed in order of released versions. It describes how C# evolved from which version, narrating along C#’s history. This helps determine which version to target for new development (mostly latest, I suppose), and makes it easy to identify what features are available when maintaining legacy projects.


C# developer… must survive sob sob


Surprisingly, entire chapters were rewritten.

Unlike the old edition, entire chapters were rewritten. The first chapter highlights core C# features the author considers important, showing how to use them and how good they are with short examples, building interest in the book. Plus, the writing flows really smoothly - comparing it briefly with the old edition, the writing skills accumulated over 10 years of consistently maintaining #1 on Stack Overflow make the book even more attractive. It feels like learning the essence of development while having coffee talk with a close senior developer.


Code examples improving version by version

Through version-by-version improvements, I can see up to which version I know this feature, how far I’ve studied, and which versions after that I don’t know. I become aware of my current learning state and identify gaps.


Even most parts were rewritten

In this edition, the author reset the target audience to intermediate and above and completely overhauled the book. Removing trivial feature descriptions, it focuses on what’s important, how to use it, and why - creating a book with even higher understanding. Therefore, it’s especially recommended for those who already have the previous edition. I also thought about organizing my old edition after getting the new one, but decided to keep it for later.


Examples for understanding

With experience continuously answering questions while active on Stack Overflow, it well expresses how to effectively communicate understanding with very simple code. And it explains step by step what characteristics those codes represent.


Appropriate level of pseudocode for understanding

As the book’s original title suggests, there’s a lot of content explaining C#’s internal workings in an easy-to-understand way. But instead of showing all the potentially difficult actual internal code, it provides appropriately leveled pseudocode as examples. This makes it easy to understand how things work without looking at the actual code.


Various visualized examples

Sometimes, beyond pseudocode and actual code, it uses various visualized examples to make parts that are hard to understand with words alone as easy as possible. These are parts you rarely see on Stack Overflow, which is mostly text and code based.


Of course there’s lots of text too

Of course there’s lots of text. Because necessary parts are necessary. But even in these parts, with skilled experience, it expands the realm of understanding with sentences and expressions that can induce understanding and interest in readers.


Myth and Fact

It doesn’t miss stories about myths and truths seen in the community while living through the history of C# and Stack Overflow.

I really had a beneficial and fun reading experience after a long time. Most practical books are beneficial but not fun, and non-practical books are fun but not very beneficial - but with the author’s skill added, I really had a fun and beneficial reading. Throughout finishing the book, I had a smile on my face. It’s a book that captures both the satisfaction of intellectual curiosity and the fun of reading smoothly.

TL;DR

This book is by legendary Stack Overflow #1 Googler C# developer Jon Skeet.
It’s a revised edition but substantially rewritten, so refer to the old edition for basics.
Reviews each feature with examples, explaining the evolution of features (mostly getting fancier) and why they changed.
You can identify which version your learning level is stuck at and what more you can learn.