Quick advice

[flyinsolo11]

Hey guys

Is this a good book to learn C#? Is this the type I should be looking for?
Amazon.com: Sams Teach Yourself Visual C# 2008 in... (And please dont think that I am being bought by the whole "24 hours" thing in the title- this book had some of the best reviews)

Since XNA 3.0 book is not out yet, will this suffice? Could I learn the new stuff from 2.5 and 3.0 by using it? Also, if I do get this, I need to know C# before trying to learn this, right? Can I just jump in with this book?
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: XNA Game Studio...
Thanks for your time!

[Jorvette]

I would wait till 3.0 comes out fully just in case.

[flyinsolo11]

It isnt supposed to come out till march of 09. definitely dont feel like waiting that long.

Thanks

[Jorvette]

k

[SoFresh]

As far as I know and heard, you really only need knowledge of C#. When you open the Zune Game template it has everything you need for the zune in the scripts already. If you open one up you will see all of the code in the Game1.cs file. To make your game, you add to it, or make new scripts.

I dont have much to any knowledge of C# yet, but I am slowly working on it. I am not 100% sure if you need to do anything with XNA at all, unless you want to make it a .ccgame file.

I made the simple "Hello World" script in C# using the Zune Game template, deployed it to my zune, and I had the "Hello World" message displayed on my zune.

A small start, but a start indeed.




If someone with more knowledge could confirm or correct me, that would be great.

[Nurta]

I would just get the C# book for now. You need to learn how to use XNA, but depending on how you learn, using online resources and sample code should suffice. If you really want to get a XNA book before learning C#, it shouldn't matter too much if it isn't tailored specifically twoards 3.0 as it didn't change that much, but don't be suprised if what you read you can't do for the Zune, there is a much stricter set of features for teh Zune than PC or XBox. But the main things, like the program flow, SpriteBatch, SpriteFont, etc work in both.

But if you don't have experience programming, your experience could vary from mine. I was able to go from only knowing Java to working on the Zune with relatively mininmal discomfort. XNA is definitely one of the simpler "engines" you could use.

[flyinsolo11]

SoFresh- thank you for your thoughts. I will continue looking up C# and learning it.

Nurta- thanks for taking the time to answer me as well. I will get that C# book, and see what happens.

Thanks a lot- you were a big help!

[SoFresh]

Let me know how the books helps you out. If it turns out good for you, I may have to check it out myself.