Programming Microsoft Composite UI Application Block and Smart Client Software Factory (Pro-Best Practices) (Paperback)

by David S. Platt (Author)
Key Phrases: solution architecture, smart parts, smart client application, Windows Forms, Visual Studio, Problem Background (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Get hands-on guidance for developing smart client applications using Windows Forms with the Composite UI Application Block (CAB) and the Smart Client Software Factory. Smart clients bridge the gap between thin clients and rich clients--providing the benefits of Web applications without sacrificing user experience. However, developing smart clients often requires the skill of an experienced programmer using Microsoft Visual Studio®, Microsoft ASP.NET, and the Microsoft .NET Framework. This book details a simpler, approachable method. With just your fundamental Microsoft Visual Basic® or Microsoft Visual C#® skills, this guide will help you understand the prefabricated classes of CAB and the proven patterns that the Smart Client Software Factory provides. This book offers classroom-tested guidance, hands-on instruction, and a proven building-block approach. Through seven modular lessons, developers of moderate experience with learn how to create functional, robust smart client applications.

From the Publisher
Key Book Benefits:

-Includes code samples and screenshots to illustrate key concepts

-Provides a comfortable learning experience for programmers with basic Visual Basic or Visual C# skills

-Features guidance on how to use these tools with the Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation, as well as a look ahead at how these tools will evolve

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press (July 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735624143
• ISBN-13: 978-0735624146
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #428,228 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I had hoped for..., August 2, 2007

By	T. Anderson (PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Holly smokes!!!! I have never owned such a thin book with so much white space on the 199 pages that are there. I would estimate removing all the white space would bring this book down to about 120 to 150 pages.

This book does not do what I had hoped for. I posted in my blog that I was hoping for insight that did not already exist, and that is not the case. This book is a high level overview of the CAB and SCSF. The material that is there is good. The problem is there just isn't very much material, and what is there is not in depth.

I was nervous about the description of the book because it described the book as a learning workshop style of writing, but ordered it because it was written by David S. Platt. He has written some good books in the past.

I gave this book 2 stars out of 5 because if you don't want to weed through all the help documentation on the CAB and the SCSF, this book will give you a nice overview of what is available. But to get down and dirty you will need to refer to the help documentation.

This book should have been a free download labeled "CAB and the SCSF Hands on Lab".

Of course they would have to complete the code samples, which currently are labeled under construction on the author's book download site.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An unfortunate essential, August 30, 2007

By	Ward R. Bell (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It irks me to say it but this book is essential.

I must quickly add that this book is also an incredible disappointment. The other reviewers in this space are 100% correct and justifiably outraged. You will not learn much at all about programming CAB. This book deserves no better than 2 stars; it deserves zero stars.

However, the fact remains that there is no other CAB book. It is a breezy read, passably accurate (as far as it goes), and there simply is no other orientation to CAB/SCSF as good as this one.

Damn faint praise. But be honest: the CAB/SCSF help files are awful, Mario Szpuszta's white paper is a free, wonderful tutorial - but it doesn't cover the core components, and the Wiki + web-based commentary are a grab bag of point topics that presuppose general CAB knowledge.

The discussion board is full of remarks like "Hi - I'm a novice and I've read all the help, and done all the labs, yet I can't make any sense of CAB. Can someone help me?" Well, Platt is for those folks. We who think CAB is fundamentally good architecture must be grateful to anyone who can make it approachable and intelligible. Platt succeeds in doing that much.

Sure, Platt seems to have phoned this one in - the pages look like slightly warmed over copies of his lecture notes - and he could have delivered this .. this .. this pamphlet .. a year ago - but it is (sigh) still the best orientation available.

Therefore, I have to urge anyone who is considering CAB or learning CAB to buy this book. It won't be the worst $25 you ever spent.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Close To Being Completely Worthless, August 10, 2007

By	S. Loscialo (Basking Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The anticipation for the book was quite high by me and my team. We are building an application on this complex yet flexible framework and have been searching for complete, robust documentation for the last 6-7 months.

Unfortunately, this book is no better than the downloadable "Designing Smart Clients Based on CAB and SCSF" paper by Mario Szpuszta (and that was just a light architectural white-paper!). Between that paper, the included documentation and walkthroughs, and the SCSF website, this book becomes superfluous.

Save your money and wait for something with a little more meat than 200 pages of half-filled pages.