title: Which version of C# (and .Net) should I begin with?
body: <p>I'm trying to bring myself up to speed on C#, having never developed for it before. In a previous question I asked about good book review sites, and through that I found a very positive (beginner-oriented) review for "Essential C#" but it was for a previous edition.</p>
  
  <p>While I'm sure that it will still be a good book even if the quality dropped between versions, it raises an interesting question for me:</p>
  
  <p>When beginning a new language, is it best to start with the latest version (e.g. C# 3.0/.Net 3.5) or should I go back a version or two and try to learn what got added to the language afterward?</p>
  
  <p>The former seems better from the point of view of being up to date immediately, but the latter seems more pragmatic in that it's probably more likely a shop will be using a slightly older version of the language.</p>