The Mono Project is the much talked-about open source initiative to create a Unix implementation of Microsoft's .NET Development Framework. Its purpose is to allow Unix developers to build and deploy cross-platform .NET applications. The project has also sparked interest in developing components, libraries and frameworks with C#, the programming language of .NET. The controversy? Some say Mono will become the preferred platform for Linux development, empowering Linux/Unix developers. Others say it will allow Microsoft to embrace, extend, and extinguish Linux. The controversy rages on, but--like many developers--maybe you've had enough talk and want to see what Mono is really all about. There's one way to find out: roll up your sleeves, get to work, and see what you Mono can do. How do you start? You can research Mono at length. You can play around with it, hoping to figure things out for yourself. Or, you can get straight to work with Mono: A Developer's Notebook--a hands-on guide and your trusty lab partner as you explore Mono 1.0. Light on theory and long on practical application, Mono: A Developer's Notebook bypasses the talk and theory, and jumps right into Mono 1.0. Diving quickly into a rapid tour of Mono, you'll work through nearly fifty mini-projects that will introduce you to the most important and compelling aspects of the 1.0 release. Using the task-oriented format of this new series, you'll learn how to acquire, install, and run Mono on Linux, Windows, or Mac OS X. You'll work with the various Mono components: Gtk#, the Common Language Runtime, the class libraries (both .NET and Mono-provided class libraries), IKVM and the Mono C# compiler. No other resource will take you so deeply into Mono so quickly or show you as effectively what Mono is capable of. The new Developer's Notebooks series from O'Reilly covers important new tools for software developers. Emphasizing example over explanation and practice over theory, they focus on learning by doing--you'll get the goods straight from the masters, in an informal and code-intensive style that suits developers. If you've been curious about Mono, but haven't known where to start, this no-fluff, lab-style guide is the solution.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 10 Ratings

A good introduction to Mono development for experienced programmers. - 2006-03-23
Reviewer Rating:
Mono: A Developer's Notebook is an addition to O'Reilly's Developer's Notebook series, aimed at helping experienced programmers come quickly up speed on a new technologies and platforms. These books are heavy on code and examples, and light on theory. This book lives up to this mission well.

From the opening pages of the book, we learn that "Mono is an open source cross-platform, implementation of the .NET development framework." If you're an experienced programmer looking to take a dip into the .NET world, but not so eager to enter the Microsoft end of the pool, you're probably in for a treat with Mono: A Developer's Notebook.

This book gets going very quickly. The first chapter takes you through getting Mono up and running on your machine, with instructions provided for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Although as Mono is such a moving target, much of what's there is likely already outdated. Even shortly after the book was released, I found discrepancies and differences in the process of getting Mono up and running on my own machine while following the book. Your mileage may vary. If you're the sharp arrow this book targets, that probably wont stand in your way. This chapter is followed by a whirlwind introduction to C#, aimed squarely at folks who already have a language or two under their belt.

The rest of the book provides examples of using Mono to accomplish common tasks such as working with files, strings, and regular expressions, GUI programming with GTK#, processing XML, and network programming. Each chapter has a number of "labs", in which a given task is explored, and sample code is provided to illustrate common ways to handle each task. The book is rather fast paced, and assumes a lot of its reader. Each chapter provides pointers to further resources about the given topic if you find yourself wanting to know more.

All in all, if you're the type who can skim over the basics and take it from there, then this book is likely to please. It gives you just enough information to get you on your way, but doesn't belabor the point with endless details. If, on the other hand, you enjoy probing through obscure corners of language references and exploring the nuances of syntax and expression, then this book is likely to leave you somewhat hungry.

The book is well written and easy to follow for an experienced programmer. Example code is plentiful, and clearly written. The code certainly takes center stage in the book. I did, however, notice a lot of typos and 'bugs' in the text. Perhaps that enhances the feel of a "developer's notebook", but even still the book could stand to have a little better proof-reading. One final nit-pick. Each page in the book is made to look like the page of a lab notebook, complete with a grid as the page background. A nice design touch, but a little hard on the eyes to comfortably read.

Bottom line, if you're an experienced developer looking to quickly come up to speed on C# and .NET development in the Mono environment, then this book will likely be a valuable investment.

Great style, but content is severely out-of-date - 2009-04-13
Reviewer Rating:
It's been about five years since this book was published. You'd think it would have been updated since then.

The most obvious sign that this content is too out-of-date to be very useful is that it was written for Mono 1.0 and the Mono project is currently at version 2.4. By Chapter 2, I'd already come across several instances where the information written about Mono 1.0 no longer applies to Mono 2.x. While I liked the style and presentation, the content appears to be too unreliable at this point to be of any help to developers starting out with Mono.

I'm surprised O'Reilly is still publishing this book and selling it at full price.

Mono Instantly Enables C# on Linux - 2008-09-20
Reviewer Rating:
As a long time programmer I don't have time to investigate every new programming wrinkle( i.e Silverlight, Powershell, and PHP6 ). I need quick introductions that show the power and the utility of the specific programming feature.

"Mono A Developer's Notebook" is just the kind of introduction to C# in the Linux world that I've been looking for. It delivers a quick introduction to the world of C# in the first chapter and where to find background references to expand on this text. Then it gets right to the meat of developing a running application. Time isn't wasted on the nature of the C# language, that is covered well in other textbooks. The author immediately introduces the MonoDevelop and Eclipse program IDEs. This answers many of the developer's questions about how to effectively produce programs in this new environment.

Chapter 2 expands on this basic program to include user interaction, simple class design, error handling, file handling and delegates.

Chapter 3 covers multi-threading and testing conventings and system Diagnostics.

Chapter 4 and beyond introduce the reader to the world of graphic objects using GTK and the kind of visual interface design that we wanted to accomplish from the very geginning.

I was very satisfied with the author's presentation. I have wanted to be able to program C# on Linux for years and with this one book I am able to bring my wish to life. Now I will be able to design objects on Linux or Windows and be able to use them across both platforms.

If you want this same freedom to quickly develop C# programs and don't want to waste time or collect another shelffull of overly detailed texts, then this is your book. For its comprehensive attention to helping me be immediately productive, I'm rating this a five star rating.

Excellent Developer's Notebook - 2005-12-01
Reviewer Rating:


Mono, A Developers Notebook
By Edd Dumbill and Niel M. Bornstein
Published by O'Reilly
ISBN 0-596-00792-2
Reviewed by Steven Mullins-HuNTUG member

Another excellent developer's notebook is out and this is it.

I have found a lot of folks like myself that can't afford the subscription fees for the high end Microsoft products and for a cross platform environment. This works without the headaches of having to set a lot of rules and policies.
The book puts it all out there for you to get you ready to start real work, not having to learn where all the tools and the connections and repositories are. I have a small C# base and still get confused about certain things but this has really helped speed up with the basics. I have found that there are a lot of choices when we pick a language and the key to any good program is cross compatible and multiple language use.
This is extremely lightweight (you don't need a DVD worth of setup) I was happy to read this book and to get to the code samples that are always at the website.
This was another well thought out developer guide that O'Reilly is famous for.

I rate this 4 stars

Excelente servicio - 2006-03-01
Reviewer Rating:
Amazon respondi-ó muy r pido y completamente seguro y confiable. El libro lo recib-í incluso antes de lo notificado por Amazon.

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