Mono is an open-source implementation of the infrastructure upon which Microsoft"s .NET Framework is built. Providing a compatible option with all of the technical features of .NET without the restrictive licensing and prohibitive costs that Microsoft imposes, the Mono project was initiated and co-financed by Ximian Corporation for the development of an open source version of .NET Framework for Linux/Unix and Windows platforms (Mac OS X support will be added).. Mono will allow cross-platform programming and operating of .NET compatible applications. Experts see the presence of a Unix-compatible version as decisive for the success of .NET. Mono Kick Start is a practical introduction to Mono and .NET compatible application programming with Mono. After a classically structured crash-course on the C# language and Mono"s own compiler, the authors reach down deeper to subjects like threads, network programming, security, database interaction, XML, and more. A...