4.4 The .NET Framework SDK Documentation

4.4 The .NET Framework SDK Documentation

When you install Visual Studio .NET or the .NET Framework SDK you should make a point of installing the full documentation for the SDK. This is important. The SDK Documentation includes a wealth of great information. In fact, there is so much information in the docs that it can be overwhelming, so I am going to point out a limited set of topics that you should read.

The first topic in the table of contents for the .NET Framework SDK docs is called Getting Started with the .NET Framework->Overview of the .NET Framework. It is a short read and you should read it first. It is not nearly as detailed as this tutorial, but it will get you started with the SDK docs, and point you in the direction of other interesting topics.

The second place to look is under .NET Framework Reference->.NET Framework Class Library. This is the beginning of the reference documentation for all of the reusable types contained in the FCL. The references are arranged by namespace, and you should read the starting topic .NET Framework Class Library just to familiarize yourself with the namespaces in the FCL.

All of the reading I have suggested will most likely take less than a couple of hours. Then after this point you need only to refer to the documentation for one type at a time.