Pro C# 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform (Third Edition) Andrew Troelsen The first edition of this book was released at the 2001 Tech-Ed conference in Atlanta, Georgia. At that time, the .NET platform was still a beta product, and in many ways, so was my manuscript. This is not to say the first two editions of the text did not have merit - after all, the book was a 2002 Jolt Award finalist and it won the 2003 Referenceware Excellence Award in the programming book category. However, over the years I've spent working with the common language runtime (CLR), I've gained a much deeper understanding of the .NET platform and the subtleties of the C# programming language. To that end, I'm happy to say that this third edition of the book is so close to a "final release" as I've come. If you read the first two editions, you'll be pleased to find five new chapters of content. In addition to chapters devoted to the grammar of the common intermediate language (CIL), .NET generics, and the object serialization services, rest assured that the entire text has been updated to cover the numerous features brought about by .NET 2.0 (nullable types, delegate covariance, ASP.NET 2.0 master pages, and the new Windows Forms "Strip" controls, just to name a few). If you're checking out this book for the first time, do understand that it's targeted at experienced software professionals and/or graduate students of computer science (so don't expect three chapters on iteration or decision constructs!). The mission of this text is to provide you with a rock-solid foundation in the C# programming language and the core aspects of the .NET platform (assemblies, remoting, Windows Forms, Web Forms, ADO.NET, XML web services, and so forth). Once you digest the information presented in these 25 chapters, you'll be In a perfect position to apply this knowledge to your specific programming assignments, and you'll be well equipped to explore the .NET universe on your own terms. Andrew Troelsen, Microsoft MVP, Visual Developer--Visual C#