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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great first book for anyone looking to learn Silverlight 2.0, February 22, 2009
This review is from: Beginning Silverlight 2: From Novice to Professional (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)
This is a great first step for someone looking to gain exposure to Silverlight 2.0 and learn the fundamental concepts and techniques of Silverlight 2.0 application development. The book is very well organized with each chapter building on lessons learned in previous chapters. I found the book to be well written and easy to read. I learned as much from the written content of each chapter as I did from the examples and labs.
The author, Robert Lair, does a great job keeping the examples and labs simple and to the point. I was impressed with the thoroughness of the book's explanation for all of the code found in the book. Someone with a basic familiarity with C#, JavaScript, and XML will have no issues following all of the examples and labs in the book.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to learn Silverlight 2.0.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent resource for the beginner, February 22, 2009
This review is from: Beginning Silverlight 2: From Novice to Professional (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)
I've just finished to read this book by Robert Lair and, as an educator, I have liked very much the writing style and the example-driven approach used by the author.
When you have to learn a new technology, It's fundamental to have the possibility to find, explore and run practical applications explaining the concepts, in order to rapidly become productive. And this is the case of "Beginning Silverlight 2: From Novice to Professional": every chapter, after a brief but exhaustive introduction of the subject, contains one or more dedicated examples which illustrate, step by step, how to accomplish a determined task. These instructions are clear and accurate, becoming a valuable resource for the beginner.
Of course you can find similar examples on the web, but for a novice it's important to find the right material in the right place to avoid confusion.
However, if you are looking for a book to use as reference for more complex scenarios and applications, you should look at others titles which contain more material but, at the same time, are more difficult to read.
If you want to learn Silverlight using a "by example" approach, this is the book you have to read. It can also be a valuable resource to quickly explore the powerful capabilities of this technology.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read!, February 10, 2009
This review is from: Beginning Silverlight 2: From Novice to Professional (Books for Professionals by Professionals) (Paperback)
In web development, it's important to keep current on new and updated technologies to avoid falling behind in the field. As a designer-turned-coder, I enjoy reading about and following up on the latest tools available for design and interface programming. Having designed and programmed in Flash for almost 10 years now, I was excited to read this book and see how Microsoft was tackling Rich Internet/Interactive Applications.
The author, Robert Lair, starts out the book with an introduction to Silverlight and the benefits of building interactive applications using Silverlight and its related tools. After the brief introduction, the real work begins and the reader is quickly involved in writing Silverlight applications. Robert does a great job walking the reader through the various tools available while building each application, and each example builds on or incorporates the previous examples, effectively 'stair-stepping' the reader up to building their own Silverlight applications.
Robert suggests that the reader be prepared with some knowledge of C#, JavaScript, and XML, but still keeps the code and examples simple enough to follow quickly and open enough to continue building as the reader's knowledge expands. Possibly the only break from this learning curve flow is the final chapter, where Robert describes and builds a custom control for Silverlight, a button with an extra 'cool down' function that isn't possible using just the predefined Silverlight controls. This is definitely one of the most exciting areas in Silverlight, and while it seems a bit abrupt to dive right into coding a custom control, there isn't a great way to teach such a high-level process without hitting it head-on. Robert handles that extremely well by walking through the code in steps and giving detailed explanations on each piece of the control.
Following the book from beginning to end, the reader will certainly have the tools and enough starting experience to create and deploy Silverlight applications. As with most design and interface tools, the only limit is the imagination and creativity of the person behind the tools. This book provides an excellent starting point for anyone interested in learning about Silverlight and its capabilities.
As I finished the book, I found myself even more excited about Silverlight applications. While I'm not prepared to run around shouting 'Flash is dead!', I am thrilled to see a contender to Adobe's Flash and Flex. It's also good to see an option for the .NET developers to build the Rich Internet Applications while using the programming language and tools they are accustomed to. This book will put those developers on the fast track to rivaling even the best Flash/Flex applications available today.
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