Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0 Book Review
I really didn't need another book on WPF, at least that is what my girlfriend would say. I already own "Applications = Code + Markup" by Charles Petzold, "Essential Windows Presentation Foundation" by Chris Anderson, "Foundations of WPF: An Introduction to Windows Presentation Foundation" by Laurence Moroney, "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" by Adam Nathan, and "Professional WPF Programming: .NET Development with the Windows Presentation Foundation" by an assortment of Wrox authors.
But I saw Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0 on Amazon and decided to investigate the possibility that I need to have it. After reviewing the TOC I still wasn't sure. But after downloading the code from Apress I was sold. I have been a fan of Matthew MacDonald for some time. He has definitely worked his magic on this title.
Some of the highlights I like:
His in-depth coverage of printing.
His Custom Elements chapter.
His approach with 3-D drawings makes extensive use of the 3DTools from CodePlex.
The chapter on using ClickOnce with WPF.
Everything is gone into in depth. This is not a brush over the topic book.
The usability of the code makes the book all that much more valuable.
He also has a great site named ProseTech that has a companion site for the book. It contains all the links found in the book and the link to the code download.
For extreme coverage of Expression Blend you will have to by a book specifically on Blend. Too bad no good ones exist yet. One I have seen that is out has bad reviews. None of the books I have listed above cover Blend in-depth at all. The Wrox book has 2 high level chapters on it, but I have been playing with Blend 2 a lot and find myself in the XAML most of the time because I don't know how to get to what I want to do in Blend. On that note, this book is excellent for showing you how to work XAML to the maximum.
This book also does not cover Silverlight. It is a book about Windows Applications, not Browser Applications.
I highly recommend this book as addition to any developer's or designer's (those who need to know XAML) library. It was definitely worth buying.
But I saw Pro WPF: Windows Presentation Foundation in .NET 3.0 on Amazon and decided to investigate the possibility that I need to have it. After reviewing the TOC I still wasn't sure. But after downloading the code from Apress I was sold. I have been a fan of Matthew MacDonald for some time. He has definitely worked his magic on this title.
Some of the highlights I like:
His in-depth coverage of printing.
His Custom Elements chapter.
His approach with 3-D drawings makes extensive use of the 3DTools from CodePlex.
The chapter on using ClickOnce with WPF.
Everything is gone into in depth. This is not a brush over the topic book.
The usability of the code makes the book all that much more valuable.
He also has a great site named ProseTech that has a companion site for the book. It contains all the links found in the book and the link to the code download.
For extreme coverage of Expression Blend you will have to by a book specifically on Blend. Too bad no good ones exist yet. One I have seen that is out has bad reviews. None of the books I have listed above cover Blend in-depth at all. The Wrox book has 2 high level chapters on it, but I have been playing with Blend 2 a lot and find myself in the XAML most of the time because I don't know how to get to what I want to do in Blend. On that note, this book is excellent for showing you how to work XAML to the maximum.
This book also does not cover Silverlight. It is a book about Windows Applications, not Browser Applications.
I highly recommend this book as addition to any developer's or designer's (those who need to know XAML) library. It was definitely worth buying.
posted by tadanderson at 8:52 AM
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