Author Topic: C# book for AutoCAD  (Read 24008 times)

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Kerry

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C# book for AutoCAD
« on: February 08, 2007, 01:48:18 AM »
What sort if information would YOU expect to find in a book on C# Programming for AutoCAD {taming the beast}®  ?

What would you pay for it { us$ } ?




*taming : transitive verb

1 a : to reduce from a wild to a domestic state
   b : to subject to cultivation
   c : to bring under control :


*beast : noun

3 : something formidably difficult to control or deal with
« Last Edit: February 08, 2007, 02:54:31 AM by Kerry Brown »
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Tramber

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2007, 02:04:10 AM »
I myself paied 15 dollars for a second hand book on amazon, and I paied the same amount to make it sail (or fly) accross the ocean.

Now, I must be paied to learn C# (just kidding).

Glenn R

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2007, 06:36:37 AM »
Kerry my dear fellow, that would entirely depend on your intended 'target audience' :D

For me, personally, it would have to be the sort of book that made me go 'now that's interesting', or, 'I never though of doing it THAT way' etc. etc.

To sum up, it would have to be stellar for me to buy it. Just my $2 worth.

Cheers,
Glenn.

Kerry

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2007, 07:23:25 AM »
 :lmao:  any advance on $2 ??   :|
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jonesy

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2007, 08:20:52 AM »
I would like to see some "real-life" samples on how to write the code, starting with a simple piece of a program and then expand from there. If I can see what I am supposed to be doing (eg changing the layer of an entity), and how that fits in to how I work, and then how it could benefit me, I would be more likely to buy a book. (especially if it doesnt get too technical too quickly)

Also the book would benefit by having "reference" section to make it so it is still useful to me once I have learned how to do the samples provided.

Any coding book in the UK sells for approx £20 to £30 whicjh I suppose is up to $50(ish) dollars(US)
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David Hall

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2007, 08:53:02 AM »
I would pay up to $100 US for a decent book with examples for writing C# and Autocad.  As for what I expect, I guess I would expect it to be like every other code book I have for Autocad - Here is code to draw a line, here is code to draw a circle, etc.  Then how to build selection sets, then get into the advanced stuff.
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FengK

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2007, 12:05:12 PM »
Other than the basics, the book should cover xdata and dictionary. As far as cost is concerned, maybe between $40 to $60 for a decent book. But if it is really good, like CmdrDuh said, can be $100.

Chuck Gabriel

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2007, 01:03:19 PM »
I would expect to pay 40 to 60 dollars US for any programming book that is actually worth reading.

A few things I would expect to find in a book like that:

1) A list of educational resources for the programming language.
2) A summary of what types of problems the platform can and cannot be reasonably expected to solve.
3) A list of the tools required and supported by various versions of AutoCAD.
4) A chapter on how to set up a project and how to configure AutoCAD to work with the chosen tools.
5) A high-level overview of the object model.
6) Best practices for common tasks and comparisons to any alternative methods.
7) A chapter on COM interop.
5) Tips on things to avoid.
6) Lists of web resources and supplemental tools to aid in the learning process.

There are others, but the list is getting fairly long.

David Hall

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2007, 01:07:49 PM »
6) Best practices for common tasks and comparisons to any alternative methods.
This to me is the most important part I would be looking for.  There are so many ways to get the same thing done, that I find it hard to learn the "best" way to code a task.  Further down the road, I want to put together (with the help of those much smarter than I) a tutorial for C# and Autocad.
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Nathan Taylor

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2007, 04:30:54 PM »
I would like the code samples on CD so I could use the theory in the book and convert the samples to VB. Better yet get a VBer on board and provide samples in both languages. I have a book on Crystal Reports for VS .NET which uses this approach and it is excellent.

Regards - Nathan

mohnston

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2007, 09:57:55 PM »
I would pay $50 of my money or $100 of the company's money.

I like solution focused books.
A. Here is the problem or goal.
B. Here is solution A
C. Here is how and why that solution works
D. Here is solution B
E. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of these solutions

I agree with the comments about "what to avoid".
An honest, unbiased review of what does NOT work in the API would be very valuable.
It seems most books on programming avoid this part of the picture.

I would add that an "undocumented" section would be appealing to me. For example the recent post by Tony Tanzillo about the acmgdinternal reference was a fun, exciting and valuable find.
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Mark

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2007, 11:20:36 PM »
I'm not sure what I'd expect from such a book, maybe lots of example code. I would be willing to pay $100+ for such a book if it helped me get a good start developing apps for autocad. I think .NET and C# are probably not going away anytime soon and those are going to be the tools of choice for the serious autocad developer.

BTW, I want an autographed copy. :-)
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Mark

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #12 on: February 08, 2007, 11:23:53 PM »
Just curious but is this [ http://www.theswamp.org/index.php?topic=12649.0 ] thread related?
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Kerry

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #13 on: February 09, 2007, 12:39:24 AM »
Just curious but is this [ http://www.theswamp.org/index.php?topic=12649.0 ] thread related?

Yes, but probably in a way that most people wouldn't recognise :-)
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Kerry

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Re: C# book for AutoCAD
« Reply #14 on: February 09, 2007, 01:13:38 AM »
an alternative working title may be

C# Programming for AutoCAD
{a hackers guide to taming the beast} ® 


edit: tarted up for Jonesy
« Last Edit: February 09, 2007, 02:26:31 AM by Kerry Brown »
kdub, kdub_nz in other timelines.
Perfection is not optional.
Everything will work just as you expect it to, unless your expectations are incorrect.
Discipline: None at all.