Coding4Fun: 10 .NET Programming Projects for Wiimote, YouTube, World of Warcraft, and More (Paperback)

by Dan Fernandez (Author), Brian Peek (Author)
Key Phrases: feed reader, peer channel, feed title, Visual Basic, End Get Set, Private Sub (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
How would you like to build an Xbox game, use your Nintendo Wiimote to create an electronic whiteboard, or build your own peer-to-peer application? Coding4Fun helps you tackle some cool software and hardware projects using a range of free Microsoft software. Now you can code for fun with C#, VB, Lua, ASP.NET, WPF, XNA Game Studio, and Popfly. If you love to tinker, but don't have time to figure it all out, this book gives you clear, step-by-step instructions for building ten creative projects, including: Alien Attack: Create a 2D clone of Space Invaders with XNA for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune LEGO Soldier: Create an action game using Popfly with a custom-built virtual LEGO character World of Warcraft RSS Feed Reader: Use WoW's customizable interface to have feeds pop up while you're gaming InnerTube: Download YouTube videos automatically and convert them to a file format for off-line viewing PeerCast: Stream video files from any PC TwitterVote: Create custom online polls on Twitter WHSMail: Build a website with ASP.NET for Windows Home Server that lets you view the messages stored on a computer with Outlook "Wiimote" Controlled Car: Steer your remote-controlled car by tilting the Wii Remote controller left and right Wiimote Whiteboard: Create an interactive whiteboard using a Wii Remote Holiday Lights: Synchronize your holiday light display with music to create your own light show

The perfect gift for any developer, Coding4Fun shows you how to use your programming skills in new and fun ways. "This book is amazing! The scope is so wonderfully broad that anyone who has an interest in designing games at any level should read this book." -- Alex Albrecht, Creator of Diggnation / TotallyRad Show / Project Lore

About the Author
Dan Fernandez is an Evangelism Manager in the Developer and Platform Evangelism team at Microsoft. Dan has been with Microsoft since July 2001, working in multiple roles including the Lead Product Manager for Visual Studio Express and Popfly, the Visual C# Product Manager, and as a Developer Evangelist in the Mid-Atlantic district. Prior to joining Microsoft, he worked as a developer at several consulting firms including IBM Global Services specializing in web-based and mobile application development. Dan is also the co-creator of Coding4Fun and works on fun open source projects in his spare time. You can read more about Dan on his blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/danielfe/.

Brian Peek is a Senior Developer at ASPSOFT, Inc., and a Microsoft C# MVP who has been actively developing in .NET since its early betas, but has been developing solutions using Microsoft technologies and platforms for even longer. Along with .NET, Brian is particularly skilled in the languages of C, C++ and assembly language for a variety of CPUs. He is also well-versed in a wide variety of technologies including web development, document imaging, GIS, graphics, game development, and hardware interfacing. Brian has a strong background in developing applications for the health-care industry, as well as developing solutions for portable devices, such as tablet PCs and PDAs. Additionally, Brian previously co-authored the book "Debugging ASP.NET" and currently writes for MSDN's Coding4Fun website. You can reach Brian via his blog at http://www.brianpeek.com/ .

Product Details

• Paperback: 510 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (December 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596520743
• ISBN-13: 978-0596520748
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #61,099 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making Programming Fun Again, January 1, 2009

By	Michael Taylor "C# MVP" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Remember back when you programmed for fun rather than for profit? That is what this book is all about. You won't find the solution to some problem you're having in your commercial apps. Instead you'll find several small, fun projects you can work on with tangible results.

The book covers several different areas from XNA to Wii so everybody is likely to find at least one project that they can do. Each project is self contained and relatively small. The book does an execellent job of walking you through each one.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is getting a little bored with programming on a regular basis.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alien Attack, Wee-controlled Car, InnerTube, Oh My!, June 16, 2009

By	Philippe F. Monnet - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been an avid fan of the DotNetRocks podcast since the beginning and when Brian Peek and Dan Fernandez went on the show [...] to talk about their Coding4Fun book, I felt their enthusiasm and decided to get the book. I am technical architect and "code for work" every day, so why did I get so excited about the book? Who has not wanted to write a game or build some fun gizmo? Well, whether you are coding for work or for fun, the creative projects presented by Brian and Dan are sure to make you want to pick your keyboard and mouse and get going. Going through the first chapter and building the Alien Attack game, I got a chance to discover the patterns in use in most game as well as learn to use the Microsoft XNA gaming platform. The authors introduce the different techniques in layers so you can see the game evolve as you go. You will get some good chuckles out of playing (and even losing at) your own game, guaranteed! If you're more eager to tackle hardware and software projects, the Wee-controller or electronic board based projects should pique your interest. Even though I have not built all projects (at least not yet), I very much enjoy browsing through the chapter and see how each project is structured. Whether you want to feed the inner geek, or inner coder in you, or whether you've always wanted to code for fun for a change but don't know what to code, then this book is for you! Just go and code-4-fun!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, fun projects, February 16, 2009

By	C. Riedel - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Well written, but not for the newbie. These projects assume you have some previous coding knowledge, which is great for those of us that do. Some of the projects (the Wiimote ones, namely) do require several pieces of additional equipment, which can be expensive, but it is well worth it to write some cool little programs to use them for purposes other than the Wii! If you are a bored Coder, pick up this book!