13 BEST C# Books (2025 Update)

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C-SHARP (C#) is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language developed by Microsoft that runs on the .NET framework. C# is widely used for building mobile applications, games, and windows applications.

Are you interested in learning the C# Language and looking for some excellent book that will help you skyrocket your C# expertise? Then you have come to the right place.

Here is a curated list of the best books to learn C# for beginners. These books are highly recommended by C# experts and are helpful for students to grasp the C# Programming. These resources will guide you to build your career in this promising field and make you a better C# developer. Read more…

Best C# Books: Top Picks

Book Title	Author Name	Latest Edition	Publisher	Ratings	Link
C# 8.0 and .NET Core 3.0	Mark J. Price	4th edition	Packt Publishing		Learn More
C#	LCF Publishing	1st edition	Learn Coding Fast		Learn More
Head First C#	Andrew Stellman	4th edition	O′Reilly		Learn More
C# 8.0 Pocket Reference	Jospeh Albahari	1st edition	O′Reilly		Learn More
Murach’s C# 2015	Anne & Murach Joel Boehm	6th edition	Mike Murach & Associates Inc.		Learn More

1) C# 8.0 and .NET Core 3.0

In C# 8.0 and .NET, Core 3.0 is a book written by Mark J. Price. The book offers everything you need to start programming C# applications. The book is fully updated and expanded with new chapters on Content Management Systems (CMS) and machine learning with ML.NET.

Part 1 of the book teaches the fundamentals of C#, including object-oriented programming, part 2 covers the .NET Standard APIs. Part 3 provides many examples of cross-platform applications you can build and deploy. These web apps using ASP.NET Core or mobile apps using Xamarin.Forms.

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2) C#: Learn C# in One Day and Learn It Well. C# for Beginners with Hands-on Project

C#: Learn C# in One Day and Learn It Well is a book written by Harrison Ferrone. This reference book includes a unique project that requires the application of all the concepts taught previously.

Examples in this book illustrate all concepts. Moreover, the output for all examples are provided immediately. Therefore, you do not need to wait to run this example in your system. The book is also available in the Kindle version.

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3) Head First C#: A Learner’s Guide to Real-World Programming with C#, XAML, and .NET

Head First C# is a book written by Andrew Stellman (Author), Jennifer Greene. This handy reference book provides beginning programmers with a fun and highly visual introduction to C#, XAML, .NET Core, and Visual Studio. In this book, you will learn topics like C# fundamental. It also helps you to create user interfaces, databases, etc.

With this book, you will also learn about building a fully functional game, use of classes, object-oriented programming concepts, draw graphics, and query data with LINQ.

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4) C# 8.0 Pocket Reference: Instant Help for C# 8.0 Programmers

C# 8.0 Pocket Reference is a book written by Joseph Albahari. It is an ideal book and quick source of information that helps or as a guide to rapidly speed up if you know Java, C++, or some earlier C# versions.

All C# programs and code snippets are available as interactive samples in LINQPad. You create these samples and have results without the need to set up projects in Visual Studio.

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5) Murach’s C# 2015

Murach’s C# 2015 is a book written by Anne Boehm. It’s a self-paced book that shows how to use Visual Studio 2015, C# 6.0, and the .NET 4.6 classes to build Windows Forms applications. This reference book shows how to use business classes, inheritance, and interfaces the way they’re used in the real world.

At the end of this reference book, you will be able to develop 3-tiered, object-oriented Windows Forms.

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6) C# in Depth

C# in Depth is a book written by Jon Skeet. This engaging guide is your key to unlocking this powerful language. All the complex concepts are broken down into simple steps, which helps you to understand this language.

The book includes real-world examples that help you to understand this subject better. By the end of this book, you’ll be writing C# code with skill, style, and complete confidence.

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7) The C# Player’s Guide

The C# Player’s Guide is a book written by RB Whitaker. The book is the ultimate guide for people starting with C#, to any beginner or an experienced programmer.

This book includes topics like variables, math operations, looping, methods, and an in-depth look at the C# type system. In this reference book, you can explore some of the most useful advanced features of C# language.

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8) Learning C# by Developing Games with Unity 2019

Learning C# by Developing Games with Unity 2019 is a book written by Harrison Ferrone. In this book, you will learn important blocks of programming like variables, methods, conditional statements, classes, and object-oriented systems.

The book also covers topics like creating C# scripts and translating your knowledge to build professional apps.

At the end of this book, you’ll get hands-on experience with programming best practices and macro-level topics like manager classes and flexible application architecture.

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9) Pro C# 7: With .NET and .NET Core

Pro C# 7: With .NET and .NET Core is a book written by Andrew Troelsen and Philip Japikse. The book provides a comprehensive foundation in the C# programming language and the frameworks it lives in.

The book covers C# 7.1 and .NET 4.7 features along with dedicated chapters on Microsoft’s lightweight, cross-platform framework. The book also includes NET Core 2.0. Coverage and ASP.NET Core, Entity Framework (EF) Core. Communication Foundation (WCF), and ASP.NET MVC.

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10) Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C#

Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices in C# is a book written by Robert C. Martin and Micah Martin.

This reference book presents a series of case studies that help to illustrate the fundamentals of C# language. Agile development and Agile design, and moves also quickly allow from UML models to real C# code.

The beginning chapters teach you the basics of the agile movement, while the later chapters show many proven techniques. The reference includes many source code examples that are also available for download from the authors’ Website.

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11) Microsoft Visual C# Step by Step

Microsoft Visual C# Step by Step is a book written by John Sharp. The book provides guidance, exercises, and code you need to start building responsive, scalable, cloud-connected applications.

The book includes topics like variables, operators, expressions, methods, and program flow. It also helps you to build apps with error, exception, and resource management.

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12) C# 7.0 in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference

C# 7.0, in a Nutshell, is a book written by Joseph Albahari and Ben Albahari. This bestselling guide provides many answers you need about this programming language. This C# book offers many useful concepts and uses cases. This book offers intermediate and advanced programmers with a concise map of C# and .NET knowledge.

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13) Concurrency in C# Cookbook: Asynchronous, Parallel, and Multithreaded Programming

Concurrency in C# Cookbook is a book written by Stephen Cleary demonstrates parallel processing and asynchronous programming techniques by using libraries and language features in .NET and C# 8.0. This cookbook also shows you how modern tools help you to make the level of abstraction, making concurrency much easier and effective.

The book offer ready-to-use code and discussions about how and why solutions work, these recipes help you, to solve numerous C# solutions.

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14) Effective C# (Covers C# 6.0), (includes Content Update Program)

Effective C# is a book written by Bill Wagner. The book helps the programmer to write exceptionally robust and well-performing code.

The writer’s clear, practical explanations, expert tips, and realistic code examples have made Effective C# indispensable to hundreds of thousands of developers.

FAQs:

🏅 What is C# language?

C# (C Sharp) is a general purpose, multi-paradigm programming language developed by Microsoft that runs on the .NET Framework. C# is widely used for building mobile applications, games and windows applications.

📚 Which are the best C# Books?

Following are some of the best C# books for beginners and advanced programmers

• C# 8.0 and .NET Core 3.0
• C#: Learn C# in One Day and Learn It Well. C# for Beginners with Hands-on Project
• Head First C#: A Learner’s Guide to Real-World Programming with C#, XAML, and .NET
• C# 8.0 Pocket Reference: Instant Help for C# 8.0 Programmers
• Murach’s C# 2015

🚀 What should you know before learn C#?

Basic knowledge of C programming and OOP concept will be an additional help.