Customer Reviews

Seeing Data: Designing User Interfaces for Database Systems Using .NET

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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The one quality that makes this book a clear winner is the quality of the content and clarity of author Rebecca Riordan's writing. She uses a friendly, humorous, often bitingly sarcastic voice that eases the normal tension accompanying such a complex topic as UI design for Windows applications with .NET technologies. You'll appreciate this tone as Riordan takes you through some very challenging scenarios in developing winning desktop apps.

The main focus is on presentation tier technologies and techniques used to create great programs that customers will really enjoy using. The book starts out with five phenomenally-written chapters on GDI+, typography, color, and image programming that every developer working with .NET should read, whether they're examining UI design for desktop applications, or otherwise. It also includes a helpful glossary of development terms mentioned throughout the text that you'll enjoy and refer to often.

Riordan also attempts to demystify the many complexities of .NET databinding within Windows Forms. as do most Addison-Wesley texts, the book's physical properties are to be appreciated, using sturdy binding and thick paper, making the book close and sit easily after a session open on your lap (and who hasn't wrecked at least book doing so?).

The only downside to this book (and a minor one at that) is the exclusive presentation of code in Visual Basic .NET, which would make the book largely one-dimensional to programmers working with that language (or liberal minded C# readers). But programming language semantics aside, this is a real gem, and one you'll want to pickup for your WinForms team projects.

A formidably detailed and comprehensive attack on the problem of user interfaces and data visualisation. Riordan tackles this in the context of Microsoft's .NET platform. Notice the two topics. There are books on pure UI design, for various operating systems. Nothing wrong with that. But they tend to concentrate on the strict visuals and how the user interacts with various widgets. Usually, any data to be displayed or modified is general and lacks much structure.

There are certainly elements of this approach here. Like where Riordan discusses the various properties of fonts and faces, or colours or different image types.

But she goes further. She shows how to make UIs customised for SQL data. To make your SQL Server easily accessible. A full workout. From using the widget families that come with .NET and hooking these all the way back to a SQL Server. In, for example, a four tier architecture. Unusual to see all this in one book. PLus, she makes VB seem very easy to design and program in.

Seeing Data: Designing User Interfaces for Database Systems Using .NET is an amazing book for anyone designing a user interface (UI) to allow users to display and edit data. It is very specifically focused on .NET WinForms development, however much of the information is useful for all developers.

Starting with coverage of the basics, like fonts, colors, etc., the book moves on to how to display and allow proper editing of various data types. This is very much a needed book, since the Microsoft User Interface standards book has not been updated since 1999. A lot has happened since 1999 in the Microsoft world, and the advice Rebecca offers comes from a lot of hard-won experience.

I do not do a great deal of Windows Forms development, but when I do, I will keep this book nearby.

I was initially surprised by the structure of this book. It starts with an introduction on user interface principles, then in goes into the mechanics of user interface implementation in .NET, then it veers into databases. This is where I thought I was lost, but actually it turns out that it's the anchor for the sections that follow, which show how how databases are linked to the UI and how that is done effectively. In this way I think the book is different than any other technology centric book on .NET user interfaces, which only cover the API portion of the problem.

On the whole I am impressed by this book. I think it takes a fresh look at the entire topic. In addition it's well written and not overly illustrated. It's a unique book, so I recommend a look before you buy, but I certainly recommend the look.