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Designing Silverlight Business Applications: Best Practices for Using Silverlight Effectively in the Enterprise (Microsoft Windows Development Series) [Paperback]

Jeremy Likness
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

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Book Description

April 8, 2012 0321810414 978-0321810410 1
Build Highly Usable, High-Performance Business Applications with Silverlight 5

 

Microsoft Silverlight MVP and Wintellect Consultant Jeremy Likness gives you all the hands-on guidance and proven  patterns and practices you need to build scalable, maintainable, and highly professional applications for multiple platforms  and browsers. In this first complete guide to designing Silverlight applications for commercial use, Likness focuses on  the advanced Silverlight features most directly related to solving real-world business problems and demonstrates how  these features fit together in production-quality applications.

 

Written from the ground up, this book covers every key area of enterprise Silverlight development. For each, Likness  introduces the opportunities and capabilities Silverlight provides, offers relevant case studies from actual projects,  presents complete C# code samples, and explains them in detail. Every chapter concludes with a summary highlighting  the specific information and techniques most important for developers to consider.

 

Coverage includes

•    Discovering why Silverlight is superior to HTML5/JavaScript for most line-of-business applications

•    Leveraging Silverlight 5’s powerful enhancements to performance, text, printing, usability, security, and programmability

•    Effectively applying Silverlight’s application cycle in enterprise applications

•    Using XAML to drive Silverlight’s visual interface

•    Quickly transforming raw data into visually appealing information

•    Using Silverlight’s innovative Visual State Manager and data binding to separate design, UI/UX experience,  and business logic

•    Simplifying development with the MVVM pattern

•    Using MEF to integrate modular code into highly extensible, maintainable, and testable Silverlight applications

•    Improving and automating testing with Silverlight Unit Testing Framework and third-party add-ons

•    Mastering each leading approach to navigation and implementing the best one for your application

•    Implementing the service layer, persistence, and state management

•    Building advanced “out-of-browser” applications

•    Integrating sophisticated line-of-business features into your solutions

•    Optimizing the performance of your Silverlight applications

 

This book will be invaluable for all experienced client developers who use Microsoft’s  technology stack and want to leverage Silverlight’s immense power; and for every Silverlight  developer seeking to improve existing line-of-business applications with the new Silverlight 5.


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Designing Silverlight Business Applications: Best Practices for Using Silverlight Effectively in the Enterprise (Microsoft Windows Development Series) + Silverlight 5 in Action + Pro Business Applications with Silverlight 5
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeremy Likness was named Silverlight MVP of the Year in 2010. Now Senior Consultant and Technical Project Manager for Wintellect, LLC, he has spent the past decade building highly scalable web-based commercial solutions using the Microsoft technology stack. He has 15 years of experience developing enterprise applications in vertical markets including insurance, health/wellness, supply chain management, and mobility. Likness created the popular MVVM framework Jounce, as well as an open source Silverlight Isolated Storage Database System (“Sterling”). He speaks and blogs frequently on Silverlight, MEF, Prism, Team Foundation Server, and related Microsoft technologies.

 

Product Details

  • Paperback: 720 pages
  • Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (April 8, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0321810414
  • ISBN-13: 978-0321810410
  • Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 1.4 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #765,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeremy Likness is a 3 year Microsoft MVP and was named Silverlight MVP of the Year in 2010. He is a principal consultant for Wintellect, LLC and has spent the past 15 years building highly scalable web-based commercial solutions using the Microsoft technology stack. He has 20 years of experience developing enterprise applications across multiple verticals including insurance, health and wellness, financial, supply chain management, and mobility. He is the creator of the popular MVVM framework Jounce and an open source Silverlight Isolated Storage Database System called Sterling. Likness speaks and blogs frequently on Windows 8, MVC, JavaScript, Silverlight, MEF, and related Microsoft technologies.



Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
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In this book the author simplifies and does a great job of explaining the pattern. T. Anderson  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
I didn't know how accomplish what I wanted to do until I found the answers in this book. Todd Haehn  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
You have the best adviser at your side to develop business applications. Mauricio Morales  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
If I could change one decision Microsoft has made, it would be the one they made to drop Silverlight. Silverlight is the prefect line of business application platform for the enterprise, and this book shows us how to take full advantage of it.

Although the author does an excellent job of building a case for using Silverlight over HTML5 in many scenarios, the key ingredient missing that would allow me to build Silverlight applications for my customers is support from Microsoft.

Why read this book then? Because XAML is here to stay and I don't want to skip a release. I want to stay completely current even if there is no chance of building Silverlight applications with my current customers. Microsoft not saying it is dead, is not enough for them. They need to hear it will be supported before they use it again. Since that isn't happening anytime soon, neither will a Silverlight project.

All that said, this book was a pure pleasure to read and shows us why Silverlight is absolutely, hands down, the best technology available today for enterprise LOB applications.

This book doesn't contain any fluff. After the awesome introduction there is a Getting Started chapter. I planned on skimming this but as I started skimming I found myself repeatedly pulled into the topics. I ended up reading the entire thing.

The complete list of chapters is Silverlight, Getting Started, Extensible Application Markup Language (Xaml), Advanced Xaml, The Visual State Manager, Data-Binding, Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM), The Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF), Testing, Navigation, The Service Layer, Persistence and State Management, Out of Browser Applications, Line of Business Features, and Debugging and Performance Optimization.

One of the things I really like about this book is the down to earth attitude the author has. A perfect example is his chapter on MVVM. Most books I have read take the approach of over complicating MVVM. In this book the author simplifies and does a great job of explaining the pattern.

One thing I didn't like was that some of the sample code didn't run right off the bat, and some I just gave up on. Chapter 10 Manual Navigation was an interesting chapter, but the way the application with the sample code was put together the application didn't load and could not be easily debugged. Some of the other samples included dlls from the feature pack 2 which requires Visual Studio Premium or Ultimate, so not everyone will be able to run them. A lot of them also require IIS Express. Most of the samples worked and they would all probably work if you want to take the time to get them working. I didn't get any of the To-Do samples to work which made up 12 of the 40 samples. Spent way too much time trying to.

One chapter that began with cracking me up was Line of Business Features. The author starts off with a description of a miserable picture of what the word "enterprise" paints in the eyes of the development community. He then paints a much better picture of what an enterprise line of business development environment can look like throughout the rest of the chapter. I have seen plenty of both and the picture the author paints of how it could be is absolutely achievable. Although, most enterprises I have seen don't come close to achieving it.

Developing LOB with Silverlight provides us with the opportunity to do development right. Technology absolutely plays a big part in an enterprises development environment. Where it really counts is in maintenance and enhancements. HTML (ASP.NET), CSS, and JavaScript have always produced spaghetti code nightmares in every shop I have seen use it. I know it is necessary for reach, but when you own the environments, which most enterprises do, Silverlight is the way to go. After Silverlight WPF. Microsoft is missing a huge opportunity to own the enterprise development world. They are forcing us back to two choices again, Browser spaghetti code or perceived thick client deployment headaches. Yes, the world still fears thick client deployment. They threw the baby out with the bath water when they dropped Silverlight.

So my advice? Read this book. The author does a great job of showing us what we should be doing today with LOB application architecture and development. He also brings us up to speed on the latest inner workings of XAML based development. The asynchronous model will be there in Windows 8 XAML development, so learning how to use it and other features now will help you later. The author does a great job of walk us through a the most power features Silverlight has to offer and puts them into a line of business application context.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Hits the mark May 1, 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having been a Jounce user from very early days I was eagerly looking forward to this book. From his published projects and blog it is obvious that Jeremy has a keen insight into the ways to design software.
However, this book wasn't what I expected. It was much better. I had expected a very Jounce focused guide to writing MVVM silverlight applications. Jounce does not dominate and the advice and samples are applicable to many situations and frameworks.
I particularly like how concepts are developed. To take a small example, property mapping. Many times I have seen this as "the problem of mapping properties between objects is solved and the answer is 'Automapper'" That may be true but this book shows the problem as a natural part of application design and then solves the problem in a simple way. Jeremy shows how to create your own property mapper. No magic, no smoke and mirrors, just what to do and how to do it. At this point I can fully understand the nature of a solution. Then Automapper is shown and now I really get what it does. Later examples just use the tool that Jeremy has created. So, if you are a "I don't need the details just give me the easiest way" person then you can happily use Automapper for a great result. If you are a "I need to understand how it works and bordering on a 'not invented here'" person then you can do it yourself now.
The same approach is taken with inversion of control, MVVM, synchronisation, etc, etc. After reading this book you will be in a much better position to make an informed decision on how to design a small, medium or large line of business application.

This is not a beginners book. If you don't know how to work out what 'using' statements need to be added when you get a 'type or namespace name could not be found' error then this book is not for you. On the other hand, if you are past needing your hand held for every small piece of code then you will find this book and working through the samples a refreshing and enlightening experience.
I read this book in a rush over several days, typing in all the samples myself and learnt a lot. Now I need to go through it again more slowly and thoughtfully so that the higher level design advice sinks in. I am sure it will be rewarding.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good for more advanced usage of Silverlight May 16, 2012
Format:Paperback
This book has been a great surprise. If you know nothing about Silverlight, do not get this book. On the contrary, if you already read an introductory book on Silverlight, this book is a natural step ahead. Jeremy is a developer and talks to developers. Do not expect tons of screenshots; it is about Silverlight for people knowing enough Silverlight to gear up for something more advanced such as LOB applications.
Laurent Bugnion's book is great. Jeremy's one takes you a step further. I strongly recommend this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A very practical guide to Silverlight development
Everything you need to know about Silverlight LOB development in one great book. The notable feature of the book is that its written by a very experienced Silverlight developer and... Read more
Published 22 days ago by John Wilkie
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!!
You have the best adviser at your side to develop business applications.
After reading several books on the subject, this
book to come to integrate all previous... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mauricio Morales
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book but sloppy examples
What is it with the trend over the past few years with really sloppy examples in technical books. A few months ago I slammed Pro Silverlight 5 with VB for having such bad examples... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Terry Hutt
5.0 out of 5 stars A Book Like No Other
I have been using Silverlight for LOB applications for a while now, and I had lots of questions that went unanswered until I found this book. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Todd Haehn
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good Silverlight book
First I have a tremendous amount of respect for Jeremy and his work with Silverlight. His blogs helped me immensely when I was starting out with Silverlight. Read more
Published 11 months ago by K. Frost
5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful information
Useful content and very well presented. Jeremy really knows Silverlight well. I still wonder and worry where the Microsoft is going with Silverlight.
Published 11 months ago by FrancoisKorb
5.0 out of 5 stars Silverlight On a New Level
If you thought you knew all about Silverlight, wait until you read this book. It show every nook and cranny in Silverlight in detail and with examples. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Osheh
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