Silverlight 4 in Action [Paperback]

Pete Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 4, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1935182374 | ISBN-13: 978-1935182375 | Edition: Revised

Silverlight 4 in Action is a fast-paced, comprehensive tutorial that guides the reader from creating "Hello World" to coding production-quality, data-driven rich internet applications with graphics, audio, and video content. Written for a developer who already knows how to code in C#, this fluff-free book covers the basics quickly and dives into the heart of Silverlight development using XAML (a markup language for creating user interface elements) and Visual Studio 2010. You'll learn not only how to accomplish tasks, but how the underlying runtime works.

In addition to the fundamentals, the book covers the new features in Silverlight like pixel shaders, webcam and microphone, and raw media, as well as WCF RIA Services and patterns like MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel). It explains developing offline and "out-of-browser" applications, managing video and audio, handling validation, navigation and deep-linking, and how each Silverlight feature fits into the overall Silverlight ecosystem.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing Silverlight
2. Core XAML
3. The application model and the plug-in
4. Integrating with the browser
5. Integrating with the desktop
6. Rendering, layout, and transforming
7. Panels
8. Human input
9. Text
10. Controls and UserControls
11. Binding
12. Data controls: DataGrid and DataForm
13. Input validation
14. Networking and communications
15. Navigation and dialogs
16. Structuring and testing with the MVVM/ViewModel pattern
17. WCF RIA Services
18. Graphics and effects
19. Printing
20. Displaying and capturing media (including webcam/mic)
21. Working with bitmap images
22. Animation and behaviors
23. Resoures, styles, and control templates
24. Creating panels and controls
25. The install experience and preloaders

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; Revised edition (October 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935182374
• ISBN-13: 978-1935182375
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 1.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #601,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

When I set out to write this edition, I wanted to create the definitive book on Silverlight for developers. While I spent many sleepless nights to put this together (the more amusing bits are the 4am paragraphs when the geek humor really comes out), it was a labor of love about a product I enjoy using for a community I respect.

I wrote this for both the accomplished developer who is new to Silverlight, and the Silverlight developer who wants to better understand the inner workings of this platform. If you're new to Silverlight, you'll find this book a good choice for getting up to speed. Like great video games where you can go back and replay with a different character for an enhanced experience, you'll find this book to be full of "Ah-hah" moments once you've written a few Silverlight projects.

The full set of source code is downloadable from Manning's site.

Achievement Unlocked: Awesome Silverlight Developer.

About the Author

Pete Brown is a Community Program Manager leading the developer division community team . Pete's focus at Microsoft is the community around client application development (Silverlight, WPF, Windows Phone, Surface, Windows Forms, C++, XNA, Native Windows API and more).

Prior to joining Microsoft, Pete was a Microsoft Silverlight MVP, INETA speaker, and RIA Architect with 17 years experience building applications in everything from Assembly and C++ to VB and dBase to C# and .NET.

Pete lives with his wife and two children, a bunch of fish, and swarms of mosquitos, in the woods outside of Annapolis, MD.

Product Details

• Paperback: 800 pages
• Publisher: Manning Publications; Revised edition (October 4, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935182374
• ISBN-13: 978-1935182375
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 1.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #601,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!!!! A MUST HAVE Silverlight Resource September 11, 2010

By T. Anderson TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Finally someone has given Matthew MacDonald some competition when it comes to Silverlight books. This book is a great read.

The book starts with an introduction to Silverlight and XAML and then digs into the application model and browser integration.

Below are the book's chapters-

Introducing Silverlight
Core XAML
The application model and the plug-in
Integrating with the browser
Integrating with the desktop
Rendering, layout, and transforming
Panels
Human input
Text
Controls and UserControls
Binding
Data controls: DataGrid and DataForm
Input validation
Networking and communications
Navigation and dialogs
Structuring and testing with the MVVM/ViewModel pattern
WCF RIA Services
Graphics and effects
Printing
Displaying and capturing media
Working with bitmap images
Animation and behaviors
Resources, styles, and control templates
Creating panels and controls
The install experience and preloaders

There are also an appendix on how to install the database used throughout the book's examples.

The book does a great job introducing MVVM, RIA Services, and inversion of control. The MVVM chapter is one of the best resources I have come across for someone to learn about the pattern.

The threading coverage using SynchronizationContext is great. It is the first book I have seen use it instead of the Dispatcher.

The author's style of writing is clear and the book is an enjoyable read. If the author detours to a sidebar story, it is done in such a way that it adds enjoyment to the reading and value to the topic at hand. I have read a ton of books lately where I find that not to be the case.... The sidebar stories are distracting and tend to annoy me. An example in this book is the beginning of the MVVM chapter when the author tells about his experience teaching the pattern. It set the stage for the chapter's logical flow.

The accompanying code is very well organized and usable. The author really did a good job of breaking the code down per Listing allowing you to open the examples at different stages instead of just the end result.

The only thing I would have like to have seen more material on Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF).

A very cool thing is that you get with your purchase is a free ebook with your purchase. Not a 45 day trail to view it online, an actual downloadable ebook, which is great for finding all the places a given topic is covered, and fast.

All in all I highly recommend this book to anyone doing Silverlight development. It is a must have addition to any Silverlight developer's book shelf. Read more ›

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding in content and even in style October 6, 2010

By Christopher Estep

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It's rare to find a technical book that succeeds in balancing depth with approachability. I've been using Silverlight since it was still called WPF/E so I'm no novice. But unlike many technical books, you have to make a choice between entertaining "beginner" books and dry "expert" books with the latter reading more like a textbook. I was very please to discover that Brown's book does cross that gap quite well. It certainly has content that a veteran like myself needs but it also takes a relative beginner (at least in the specific Silverlight technology) and helps them come up to a more useful speed.

As I said previously, the style is lighter than one typically finds in a technical book of this depth and length. This is a good thing. Brown has discovered the little applied truth that technical books don't have to read like an IBM manual, circa 1975. The tone is conversational when it's appropropriate but doesn't sacrifice content quality or substance in favor of that style.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good end-to-end guide to Silverlight version 4. It's broad, but has good depth. I can't recommend it enough.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book with engaging author! September 22, 2010

By JoeSuchy

Format:Paperback

Let me just say up front that Pete Brown has such an engaging style of writing, especially to an audience of nerds! The little references to Star Wars and so many other nerdy references makes the book feel more like a conversation instead of another dry book about technology. I have also not seen Silverlight covered as completely anywhere else. Pete covers many topics that are hard to explain and I think other authors just decide to stay away from. Even the way the book is laid out: Intro, application structure, "completing the experience". It just makes sense. I find myself reading a chapter, writing bits of code to reinforce what we covered, and then I'm ready to read some more! I follow Pete on Twitter and enjoy his comments and helpful tidbits there, but this book is the full explanation. Enjoy!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Silverlight 4 In Action. Buy it. October 11, 2010

By Erik Mork

Format:Paperback

If you're like me, you've been waiting for this book for a while. It doesn't disappoint.

What's good about it?
* It's really clear. Rare is the technical book that reads this well.
* It's really complete. Rare is the technical book that covers this much material in style.
* It has tidbits. If you know of Pete Brown, you know he knows Silverlight inside and out. This books surfaces that knowledge in a really interesting and compelling way.

What's bad about it?
* It's not really a cookbook. If that's what you need, look elsewhere.
* Buying this book kills trees. (I'm trying here...)

Who should buy it?
*Anyone* who is interested in Silverlight. You want it on your bookshelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Silverlight book I've read December 15, 2010

By Rudy Lacovara

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Other people have already covered the important ground so I'll just say that I've been through most of the main Silverlight books, Matthew MacDonald's Apress books are good (but stay away from the other Apress books), the PACKT book on Silverlight 4 Data and Services is surprisingly good, but Silverlight in Action is definitely the best. Thank you Pete Brown, and thank you Manning.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book November 3, 2010

By FrancoisKorb

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Excellent book - this is a must have if you are doing Silverlight 4 development.
It provides coverage of all the important Silverlight 4 topics.
The free PDF is a bonus and obviously very useful for searching.
Well done Pete.