r/learnprogramming • u/InstructionFar407 • 9h ago
Programming Books That Read Like a Dictionary?
Hello. I’ve been wanting to start actually learning more about different programming languages, specifically applications and languages such as C#. I am a learner who loves reading in order to discover new things, but already know a lot about how programming languages work, and how each functions syntax-wise. So I have two questions:
Are there any programming books that specifically work sort of like a dictionary with its documentation, where I can just look to a certain part to know about its syntax for a specific task?
Is C# the way to go for what I want? If needed I can elaborate further. I don’t have an exact thing I want to do. All I know is that C# is a language that works well to build applications and is able to still perform its own tasks math and science wise.
Thanks!
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u/KerPop42 8h ago
HTML/JS/CSS: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference
Python: https://docs.python.org/3/library/index.html
Rust: https://doc.rust-lang.org/stable/std/index.html
Like these?
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u/InstructionFar407 6h ago
Yes, like these. For example, I already know what a for loop is, so I don’t need a book to help me learn what a for loop is, but rather a way just to quickly find the syntax for a for loop in the given programming language.
Many say that an online database is much more efficient, but I am looking to start learning physically and to collect these books, as they help me better.
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u/KiwasiGames 8h ago
Pretty much every language has reference docs online. For C# you can find them on Microsoft Learn (used to be MSDN).
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u/oceanic_darkness 8h ago
The C# in a Nutshell books are basically exactly what you're after for question 1, it's laid out more like a technical reference than a tutorial so you just flip to what you need. For question 2, C# is fine if you don't have a specific goal yet, it's general-purpose enough that you won't hit a wall where you suddenly need to switch languages to do something useful.
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u/Mediocre-Pumpkin6522 6h ago
C# has some limitations when it comes to cross platform use. While the .NET SDK is available on Linux support for building desktop GUIs has been sporadic. ASP.NET or other non-GUI projects are okay.
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u/Available_Safe1818 4h ago
There is something exactly like this you could read. It's called Google.
> I know is that C# is a language that works well to build applications and is able to still perform its own tasks math and science wise.
That's basically meaningless. You just described every mainstream programming language, probably even all of the ones you've ever head of.
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u/captainAwesomePants 8h ago
You want a "reference book." They are meant to be referred to for specific information rather than read from cover to cover. C# has several good ones.
C# is a perfectly good programming language. It's a fine choice for a general purpose language. All programming languages have things they're better at and worse at, and C# is no exception.