Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the arrival of Microsoft's

Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the arrival of Microsoft's .NET platform is the standardization of C# and the Common Language Runtime. Now, for the first time, programmers can develop and use open-source projects that are based on a language that is an international standard as well as compatible with both Microsoft and Linux platforms.

Open Source .NET Development is the definitive guide on .NET development in an open-source environment

Inside, readers will find in-depth information on using NAnt, NDoc, NUnit, Draco.NET, log4net, and Aspell.Net with both Visual Studio .NET and the Mono Project. Brian Nantz not only shares the best open-source and "free" tools, frameworks, components, and products for .NET, he also provides usable, practical examples and projects. The result is a highly accessible reference for finding the tools that best fit your needs.

Highlights include

• An introduction to open source and its implementations of the .NET standards

• .NET development with open-source tools, including build automation, XML documentation, unit testing, continuous integration, and application logging

• A simple example of Integrating .NET open-source projects that integrates an Open Source SVG component with a System.Drawing graphical editor

• An Aspell.Net case study that shows the use of Draco.NET Continuous Integration in conjunction with NAnt, NUnit, NDoc, and the SharpDevelop IDE

• An exclusive look at ADO.NET database and ASP.NET Web development using PostgreSQL that runs on both Windows and Linux

• Appendixes on NAnt and NAntContrib tasks, log4netAppender configurations, and open-source security observations

• Whether you are a .NET developer interested in learning more about open-source tools or an open-source developer curious about .NET, this book will bridge the divide between these formerly distinct camps.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 12 Ratings

Don't judge a book by it's cover - 2005-03-18
Reviewer Rating:
While I had expected to see a concise treatment to the use of NUnit, NAnt, NDoc; instead I was treated to a 74 page treatise on the glories of open-source, and how Microsoft is going to have to ponny up to the realization that Open Source is the wave of the future. The author then briefly discusses the various topics; making this 484 page book a 70 page booklet on using testing tools, and 414 pages of fluff and philosophy.

The first quarter of the book was a briefing of the author's philosophy, and his editorial views on various 'open source' products, as well as different liscense models and how to select one.

If you are looking for a book that treats NUnit, NAnt, NDoc, and the other testing suite tools, although this book has a fair discussion on them, it's not really adequate.

Instead of the 1 star that this book may truly deserve (for false advertising), I gave it a two star because it has become a reference book on other open-source tools that I might find useful. Even though this is why I am so critical of the book, it's also why I give it a higher ranking.

a valuable survey and resource book for Open Source .NET development tools - 2006-07-08
Reviewer Rating:

Excerpt from C# Online.NET Review (wiki.CSharp-Online.NET):
"This book is a general survey of Open Source tools for .NET development. While most of these tools are already familiar to active Open Source community members, the book concentrates the information into a single resource book....Although the scope of the book is quite broad, it does not attempt an exhaustive list of Open Source .NET projects. Instead, it focus on the most popular and productive tools available--most of which are free! NAnt, NDoc, and NUnit from the title are well covered."

An introduction suitable for those unfamiliar with the topic - 2006-03-01
Reviewer Rating:
This book is basically an incomplete listing of some popular open source tools available for .NET. These tools are often ports of well known Java tools, but if you have been living exclusively in the Microsoft world then a lot of this may be news to you. If so, you owe it to yourself to get acquanted with the valuable tools that are available for free, and this book is a good starting point.

I have been using some of the tools mentioned in this book for several years now, and having ordered it I looked forward to reading up on features and other tools I may have missed. Having received it, the first thing I noted was that although this book is 484 pages long, it effectively stops at page 307. After that it presents partial references for some of the tools covered in the book. I feel that there is something dishonest about books that do this since these references are often freely available on the Internet. Another revelation was that it omitted any coverage of ORM (object-relational mapping) tools such as nHibernate. How could anyone write a book like this and not cover ORM tools?!

Overall I think this will be a good book for any .NET professionals who are completely unfamiliar with the open source tools mentioned in it. However, overall coverage of the tools is cursory, so you should consider it as an introduction and no more.

A reference rather than tutorial - 2007-02-05
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this book in hope of learning NAnt as a newbie, since a good portion is for NAnt. However, after reading less than 10 pages in Chap. 4 Build Automation, I started looking for alternative. This book is for people who already have some experience on Nant, but certainly not for beginner.

A great starter, but not a final answer. - 2006-11-07
Reviewer Rating:
This book has a great overview of available open source utilities. It is a good reference for developers with little start up capital.

On the other hand, aside from nAnt, it lacked on the specifics of the how to use each of the tools.

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