.NET Compact Framework Programming with Visual Basic .NET (Paperback)

~ (Author), David Durant (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"For nearly two decades, Paul Yao and David Durant have been acknowledged as experts on the Windows platform, so it's only natural that they would bring their experienced point of view to the .NET Compact Framework. With a unique combination of historical perspective and in-depth understanding of the subject matter, Yao and Durant take the reader through not only the technical guts of the Compact Framework but also the reasons behind the design decisions." --Joshua Trupin, Executive Editor, MSDN Magazine "Yao and Durant have written a book that, although it assumes no prior experience with the .NET Framework, serves both the rookie and advanced programmer equally well. This is definitely a rare quality among technical books and is certainly not an easy thing for an author to accomplish." --Doug Holland, Precision Objects "This is a very good hands-on book with plenty of sample code illustrating programming tasks and techniques, which any serious development effort for Windows CE or Pocket PC will require." --Bill Draper, Director of Software Development"This book serves as both a great reference and tutorial when building .NET Compact Framework applications. My only wish is that it had been available sooner." --Greg Hack, Senior Software Engineer, Allscripts Healthcare Solutions"Of the handful of books on Compact Framework, this book takes the cake. Paul Yao and David Durant's expertise with .NET Compact Framework is evident from their excellent and very insightful coverage of sections such as Building the User Interface, Managing Device Data, and Creating Graphical Output. The chapter discussing the topic of P/Invoke is unparalleled. After reviewing this book, I am certain that if there is one book that will help you understand .NET Compact Framework, this is the one." --Deepak Sharma, Senior Systems Specialist, Tata Infotech Ltd."Yao and Durant's fresh, innovative, and in-depth look at the .NET Compact Framework gets developers up to speed using C# to develop robust and scaleable handheld software solutions. A definite must-read for mobile handheld developer enthusiasts!" --Andrew Krowczyk, Software Architect, Zurich North America .NET Compact Framework Programming with Visual Basic .NET is the definitive tutorial and reference for the .NET Compact Framework (CF). It shows you how to transfer your skills and your code to the Pocket PC 2003 and other mobile and embedded smart devices. Authors Paul Yao and David Durant draw upon their years of research and experience with members of the Microsoft .NET CF team to show you exactly how the best CF programming gets done in Visual Basic .NET. This is the only book a programmer needs to master the art of CF coding. Throughout the book, sample code and examples illustrate best practices and programming techniques. In addition, the companion Web site includes downloadable code for all these examples, along with a set of development tools to help you with your CF development projects. The authors expertly zero in on what programmers need to understand for successful smart device programming, including: *Garbage Collection in the .NET Compact Framework *Controls and supported Properties, Methods, and Events (PMEs) *Custom controls with Windows Forms Designer support *Using Platform Invoke (P/Invoke) *Simple and complex data binding and the DataGrid control *Programming with ADO.N ET data classes *Synchronizing SQL Server CE with SQL Server 2000 databases *Creating graphical output, including font and printing coding tricks *Differences between the standard desktop framework and the CF .NET Compact Framework Programming with Visual Basic .NET is your single resource for everything you really need to know about CF programming.

From the Back Cover

.NET Compact Framework Programming with Visual Basic .NET is the definitive tutorial and reference for the .NET Compact Framework (CF). It shows you how to transfer your skills and your code to the Pocket PC 2003 and other mobile and embedded smart devices.

Authors Paul Yao and David Durant draw upon their years of research and experience with members of the Microsoft .NET CF team to show you exactly how the best CF programming gets done in Visual Basic .NET. This is the only book a programmer needs to master the art of CF coding. Throughout the book, sample code and examples illustrate best practices and programming techniques. In addition, the companion Web site includes downloadable code for all these examples, along with a set of development tools to help you with your CF development projects.

The authors expertly zero in on what programmers need to understand for successful smart device programming, including:

• Garbage Collection in the .NET Compact Framework
• Controls and supported Properties, Methods, and Events (PMEs)
• Custom controls with Windows Forms Designer support
• Using Platform Invoke (P/Invoke)
• Simple and complex data binding and the DataGrid control
• Programming with ADO.NET data classes
• Synchronizing SQL Server CE with SQL Server 2000 databases
• Creating graphical output, including font and printing coding tricks
• Differences between the standard desktop framework and the CF

.NET Compact Framework Programming with Visual Basic .NET is your single resource for everything you really need to know about CF programming.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1424 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (June 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321174046
• ISBN-13: 978-0321174048
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,315,873 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The Microsoft .NET Development Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Looks good at first but then ....., April 28, 2005

By	Michael Simpson "Owner of KronosRobotics.com" (Leesburg VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At first glance I thought the book was well written. However after digging deeper I found that each time I wanted a particular question asked I had to result to other books. Throughout the book the examples are fragmented and are not tied together very well.

When I downloaded the examples from the author's web site I found that every single example project I tested to be incomplete with missing files or code.

There are several syntax errors in the VB code and it is obvious that they were just copied over from the C# examples with out testing. This is also probably why the VB projects did not work. It is this reason that I decided to return the book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent end-to-end introduction to portable .NET, October 13, 2004

By	Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I'm really impressed. I'm not usually much on the big tome books. This one is almost 1400 pages, which weighs in at 5 pounds on my bathroom scale. That being said, the text is really tight, the illustrations are cropped, not overwhelming in number, and are used effectively. And the book on the whole does not pander to the reader. The topics are also covered at a reasonable depth.

The book is essentially three books, one on the compact framework, one on WinForms and one on database access, all in one book, in a well integrated form. And it works. If you need a book that is an end-to-end introduction to .NET on small devices, this is a great book to try.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Initially seemed OK, but badly written, June 23, 2006

By	Robert Polding (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book started well, with a good high-level overview of the CF. However, the authors then put the reader in deep water, they don't explain examples hardly at all, use very technical language without explanation and to top it all most examples didn't work, even when downloaded from the author's site. When used as a reference, there are not clear examples of how to do even simple things, instead there are very long and complex examples which confuse and overwhelm. Unless you want to spend hours trying to do simple tasks, stay well away from this book.