Essential Silverlight 3 [Paperback]

Ashraf Michail (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321554167 | ISBN-13: 978-0321554161 | Publication Date: October 1, 2009 | Edition: 1

“The book you are holding contains the keys to writing great Silverlight 3 applications. Use them well!”

–From the Foreword by Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, Microsoft Developer Division

 

Microsoft Silverlight is a leading cross-platform, Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology that allows you to create more compelling and interactive Web experiences than are possible with simple HTML browser pages. Silverlight 3 includes significant improvements over previous versions, including “out-of-browser” operation, H.264 video, 3D graphics, and real-time effects.

 

Essential Silverlight 3 is the definitive reference and insider’s guide. It not only covers all the key features of the Silverlight 3 runtime and how to use them but, in Under the Hood sections, explains why each feature was developed and how each one works. These “insider” explanations often lead to concise, practical performance tips that can help you speed up your own Silverlight applications.

 

Author Ashraf Michail is uniquely qualified to explain Silverlight 3. He is a Microsoft Silverlight architect who has guided Silverlight from its beginnings through the current version. In this book, he shows how to 

• Integrate the principles and components of a Silverlight application, including XAP, XAML, and .NET code
• Use Silverlight vector graphics, bitmap images, and animation
• Display predictable and readable text across platforms and animate text elements
• Obtain mouse and keyboard input, including mouse wheel events
• Implement smooth animations to improve your user interface and make your application more pleasing to the user
• Use the Canvas, StackPanel, Grid, and Border elements to lay out your application and define custom layout elements
• Play high-quality, live, and on-demand video and audio
• Customize the built-in and toolkit controls and develop new custom Silverlight controls
• Connect to and synchronize with data using Silverlight Data Binding
• Use built-in real-time effects and define custom HLSL pixel shaders
• Enable GPU-accelerated rendering 

If you are a developer who is getting started with Silverlight or an expert Silverlight developer who is interested in understanding the inner workings of the Silverlight runtime, this book is for you.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Essential Silverlight 3 is not only filled with technical details, clear examples, and performance tips that will make any Silverlight application better, but Ashraf also includes insights that can only come from one of the lead developers of the Silverlight runtime. From graphics, to text, to media—this book contains all the information you need on the core Silverlight 3 runtime.”

—Brad Abrams, product unit manager, Microsoft

 

“The third iteration of Silverlight is a big step forward in true line-of-business capability for RIAs. Ashraf takes these new concepts and puts them forth in a meaningful and concise read.”

—Jason Beres, Microsoft MVP; author; INETA Speaker

 

“Essential Silverlight 3 is truly an essential book in the library of any Silverlight developer. The ‘Under the Hood’ portions of each chapter explain the details of Silverlight’s implementation, and the ‘Performance Tips’ explain how to use that information to get the most out of your software. I am very grateful I don’t have to track down or figure out all of this critical information on my own.”

—Noah Gedrich, director of technology, BLITZ Agency

 

“Ashraf Michail delivers an insightful and practical book for anyone seeking to better understand, master, and unlock the full potential of Silverlight 3. It is filled with code samples, performance tips, and other useful advice to help you create truly outstanding Silverlight applications.”

—Oleg Kokorin, CEO, MS Team, LLC

 

“Essential Silverlight 3 tackles in depth a rich, vast platform. The author has a depth of knowledge and technical insight that is present throughout, providing a pleasing ‘why’ on top of the usual ‘how.’”

—Richard Leggett, interactive developer

 

“This is a book of inestimable value on Silverlight. Even experienced Silverlight developers will learn from Essential Silverlight 3.”

—Mark Monster, software engineer, Rubicon

 

“A great reference and textbook on Silverlight 3.”

—Judith Myerson, systems architect and engineer

 

“Chock full of performance tips and information about Silverlight internals that you won’t find anywhere else.”

—Jeff Prosise, cofounder, Wintellect

 

“Skillfully written, comprehensively explained, and logically delivered. Essential Silverlight 3 is undoubtedly a must-have study and keepon- your-desk practical guide for building a wide range of high-value rich Internet applications.”

—Ash Rofail, CEO, Santeon, Inc.

 

“Essential Silverlight 3 is a must-read for anyone who wants a better understanding of the Silverlight Framework. In his book, Ashraf Michail, architect on the Silverlight team, offers unique insights into Silverlight’s architecture and design principles, along with guidance on how to improve the overall quality and performance of Silverlight applications.”

—Gerhard Schneider, senior development lead, Microsoft

 

“Essential Silverlight 3 does not just get your feet wet—its technical insights and performance tips take you for a deep dive into the Silverlight ocean.”

—Velvárt András, Silverlight MVP; founder, Response Ltd.

 

“This book really lives up to the title—essential, indeed. Anyone doing Silverlight 3, or looking to get started with it, needs this book close at hand.”

—Chris G. Williams, Microsoft MVP and principal consultant, Magenic Technologies

 

“A must-read for all software developers who are trying to build rich Silverlight applications with great performance—it provides many useful performance tips. I would recommend it to anyone trying to improve performance of Silverlight 3 applications.”

—Radenko Zec, senior software developer, Lanaco; INETA group leader, Banjaluka, Bosnia and Herzegovina 

About the Author

Ashraf Michail is a Microsoft Silverlight architect who has been working on Silverlight since its inception in 2005. Prior to that, he worked on a number of graphics, UI framework, and Internet technologies, including WPF and Internet Explorer. Michail has been at Microsoft for eleven years, has built a number of graphics engines, and has driven the architecture for graphics engines and UI frameworks for much of his Microsoft career.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 1 edition (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321554167
• ISBN-13: 978-0321554161
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,137,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not the essentials of SL *3*, October 19, 2009

By 

Thomas S. (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Silverlight 3 (Paperback)

This book was a big disappointment.
Microsoft built a lot of new stuff into SL3 targeting business applications.
SL is an interesting alternative for building B2C and B2B apps beginning with release 3.
After watching a lot of the tutorial videos on the SL homepage I expected to get material that at least touches most of the new features.
That's not the case.
Are you looking for information regarding the new Datagrid & Dataform control, Pagers, AutoCompleteBox, ChildWindows, how how to interact with data services (SOAP, WCF, binary encoding), cross domain policies, out of browser clients, merge external style templates, interaction with DOM/Javascript, interaction with Blend 3 etc? You won't find it here.
This book is mainly about drawing stuff that was already there in SL1 & SL2: lines, circles, brushes, animations, videos, layout, effects etc.
It doesn't even scratch the surface of what the SL3/toolkit bundle adds on top.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Succinct and insightful, October 7, 2009

By 

Evan S. Christensen (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Silverlight 3 (Paperback)

I really like the directness of the text--gets right to the point and has great organisation. I've been reading about Silverlight 3 for a few weeks now and "Essential Silverlight 3" is really helping pull the various things I've read together into a clearer picture. The organisation of the book is simple and works well for me as a developer. I'm still reading through the text but so for I really like it--good substance without a bunch of gas. Some of the example don't quite work, but I was still able to grasp the content.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, October 19, 2009

By 

T. Anderson (PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Silverlight 3 (Paperback)

The book is a great guide to most of the essentials of Silverlight 3.0. I say most because it misses a few key pieces of the puzzle. There is no coverage of services, no coverage of the navigation framework, and very little coverage of the Silverlight Toolkit.

Those points made, the topics covered are covered very well in the context of the essentials. The book is very well written. It is organized in a very logical and clean format.

Most of the essentials books I have read are overly complex, this one is overly simplified, and that makes it a great beginner's text. Just be aware of the missing pieces of the puzzles.

The biggest ding was the "Technical Insight", "Debugging Tip", and "Performance Tip". I'd say one third of them where just observations that you would have to be blind to miss, one third were hints or clues that you have to research further or come to the table with prior knowledge to figure out, and one third were valuable.

I could find no code download, which would have been nice to have for the graphics chapter.

This book had an army of very well know people give it praise. That was the main reason for my purchase. I will ignore praise like this from now on, because most of it was bull.

All in all, the book is excellently written and organized, and the content covered is great. I do recommend buying it, because the dings I mention above of more of a personal preference and may not apply to everyone. The content is definitely worth reading.