OZ's Projects and Tutorials

This is my little review of Getting Started with Netduino

As others have said, this book is exactly what it says it is. It isn’t some secretly expert book that will magically make you an electronics guru. I write this with a sort of mildly sarcastic tone due to the upsetting reviews which essentially say “Hey it was what it said it was and not more! Crap!”. Sort of like the people who buy computer parts and complain about compatibility when such things are clearly stated, but I digress.

On to the actual book then.

When I began working with the netduino it was a completely new thing for me. I had never done hardware before, though I was already used to programming in the .net framework in C#. This is is where the book does a good job and can play two roles. If you know C# but not electronic concepts, the book will help. If you don’t know C# and electronics concepts, the book can help. Although the book says that some little bit of prior experience is needed, I honestly think one could learn how to use C# with this book. Granted you won’t learn how to make a windows program, but you could easily learn how to use C# for netduino things.

I would have loved to have this book when I started out. It’s a really good way to, big reveal, get started. The code samples are simple and explained, the pictures are clear and very helpful when show along side the code. The conventions used in the book make it easy to learn because its a very consistent outline.

My final thoughts are this, the book is what it advertises, a book for getting started. You can pick this little gem up, learn the basics, and move on to bigger things. Once you’re done with the book you can head over to the forums and try other people’s projects or get started with your own cool inventions! If an “expert” is ever needed, there are usually people in chat or on the forums who are happy to help.