PDF Documentation Available for Composite Application Guidance for WPF June 2008

Microsoft has made the documentation for Composite Application Guidance for WPF–June 2008 available in PDF format.



Brief Description (From MSDN Site)
The Composite Application Guidance for WPF is designed to help you more easily build enterprise-level Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) client applications. This guidance will help you design and build flexible composite WPF client applications.

Overview (From MSDN Site)
The Composite Application Guidance for WPF is designed to help you more easily build enterprise-level Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) client applications. It will help you design and build flexible composite WPF client applications—composite applications use loosely coupled, independently evolvable pieces that work together in the overall application.

What this guide covers:
--Key challenges in building composite applications and guidance on the solutions to solve these challenges
--Software design patterns applied in the Composite Application Library
--Candidate composite architecture that you can use to create your own baseline architecture
--Stock Trader Reference Implementation, which demonstrates an implementation of the baseline architecture
--Technical implementation details of the Composite Application Library
--How to design a UI for applications using the Composite Application Library
--Pointers to the Hands-On Lab, QuickStarts, and How-to topics on MSDN

Get it here.

Prism V2 Drop 1 (aka Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight)

The patterns and practices team has made their first drop of the Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight (Prism V2).

Release Notes (from CodePlex)
Development for Prism V2 (formally known as Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight) is underway. We have a number of items in our backlog, the top items are multi-targeting for WPF and Silverlight and UI composition on Silverlight. This first drop we are focusing in on multi-targeting.

Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight (from CodePlex)
Welcome to the first drop of the Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight. This file contains information that can be useful in using the guidance. See the full readme in the source.zip or Prism V2 Drop 1 Readme for more information.

Definitely check out David Hill's blog announcing this first release. He provides direction on how to get it up and running, and the details of what the goals of this first drop were.

Get the drop here.

Advanced ASP.NET AJAX Server Controls For .NET Framework 3.5 Book Review

I started programming on the internet with Internet Explorer 2.0 on a Mac Performa using notepad, and then using Claris Home Page. I was using the AJAX technologies well before 2000. It is interesting to see how engrained into our browser development they have become. A few years later I started developing Windows Form applications, which moved into the Smart Client context, and now RIA using WPF and Silverlight. I have gotten my hands dirty with browser applications a few times since 2002, but I try to avoid them like the plague. I am a firm believer that the browser is being abused, would love to develop every day without it, but have found that is still not possible today when targeting home users and environments you do not control. That is not the case with our project, we should be using WPF, but those in charge do not care. Why all the useless blather? Because I want you to know I have absolutely zero interest in ASP.NET AJAX, but I have to get up to speed on it because it is being forced on our team. That said, this book sucks, because it is written so well I cannot put it down. These guys zero in on ASP.NET AJAX Server Controls, but they take the time to go in-depth on all the technologies that ASP.NET AJAX Server Controls interact with. Including JavaScript, JSON, HTTP Handlers, the ASP.NET AJAX Extensions, the ASP.NET AJAX Toolkit, REST, and WCF. This book has given me a new perspective on the present day browser environment that will make this next project enjoyable. If you are getting started with ASP.NET AJAX I highly recommend this book. It digs into the guts of ASP.NET AJAX and will give the inside story on how the ASP.NET AJAX Controls are working and how to build high quality controls yourself. I would suggest being proficient in ASP.NET, have a good understand of JavaScript, and have played around with the ASP.NET AJAX Extensions and the ASP.NET AJAX Toolkit. The examples in the book are great, and the downloadable code is well organized and very usable.

MS and patterns and practices News- Prism 2.0, App Arch Guide project, and Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)

The patterns and practices crew and MS has announced a few interesting projects they are working on.

patterns and practices Application Architecture Guide (Overview from CodePlex)
The Application Architecture Guide provides design-level guidance for the architecture and design of applications built on the .NET Framework. It focuses on the most common types of applications, partitioning application functionality into layers, components, and services, and walks through their key design characteristics.

Check it out here

Prism Overview from CodePlex
The Composite Application Guidance for WPF can help you split the development of your WPF client application across multiple development teams, each responsible for the development of a piece of the application, and help you seamlessly compose those pieces together into a client application. The guidance includes a reference implementation, reusable library code (called the Composite Application Library), documentation, quick start tutorials and hands-on labs

Info on Composite Application Guidance for WPF(Prism) version 1.0 here

Prism 2.0 Links-
Scope for Prism 2.0
Hello Prism 2.0! - Includes an overview of the new Silverlight Architecture.


Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)- Overview from CodePlex
The Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) is a new library in .NET that enables greater reuse of applications and components. Using MEF, .NET applications can make the shift from being statically compiled to dynamically composed. If you are building extensible applications, extensible frameworks and application extensions, then MEF is for you.

A warning about using MEF based on the licensing. - Note the Glenn Block responded at the bottom of the post

Check out the MEF Community Site

MS and patterns and practices News- Prism 2.0, App Arch Guide project, and Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)

The patterns and practices crew and MS has announced a few interesting projects they are working on.

patterns and practices Application Architecture Guide (Overview from CodePlex)
The Application Architecture Guide provides design-level guidance for the architecture and design of applications built on the .NET Framework. It focuses on the most common types of applications, partitioning application functionality into layers, components, and services, and walks through their key design characteristics.

Check it out here

Prism Overview from CodePlex
The Composite Application Guidance for WPF can help you split the development of your WPF client application across multiple development teams, each responsible for the development of a piece of the application, and help you seamlessly compose those pieces together into a client application. The guidance includes a reference implementation, reusable library code (called the Composite Application Library), documentation, quick start tutorials and hands-on labs

Info on Composite Application Guidance for WPF(Prism) version 1.0 here

Prism 2.0 Links-
Scope for Prism 2.0
Hello Prism 2.0! - Includes an overview of the new Silverlight Architecture.


Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF)- Overview from CodePlex
The Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) is a new library in .NET that enables greater reuse of applications and components. Using MEF, .NET applications can make the shift from being statically compiled to dynamically composed. If you are building extensible applications, extensible frameworks and application extensions, then MEF is for you.

A warning about using MEF based on the licensing. - Note the Glenn Block responded at the bottom of the post

Check out the MEF Community Site

Pro WF: Windows Workflow in .NET 3.5 Book Review

This book is the book to have if you are going to get into Windows Workflow Foundation. There are no other books on WF out on the market that compare to the broad view and depth of this book. I own the first version of the book and was reluctant to buy this version because there was not too much changing in .NET 3.5. I am glad I did. I like having the most current information on a technology I am working on at my finger tips. And not in electronic format. I have no idea how people can code all day and then read eBooks all night. Plus my other copy was pretty scribbled up with notes. This version contain two new chapters. One titled Advanced Custom Activities, and the other titled Workflow Service and WCF Integration. Both new chapters contain a lot of valuable in-depth information. The code samples are very well organized and add a lot of value to this book. However, as the author points out in the beginning of the book, he wrote it to be readable on the beach. Meaning the code is in the book, and you don't have to have it open on a computer to read the book. The examples are simple yet he uses them to take you down into the weeds. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to get into WF. It is a great resource!!!!

Programming .NET 3.5 Book Review

I waited a very long time for this book's release. I wrote this blog about it over a year ago and had been waiting for sometime at that point. This book is very different than most of the book I have purchased on .NET because it covers XAML, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Silverlight, Ajax, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Workflow Foundation (WF), CardSpace, as well as the industry standard patterns Microsoft has incorporated in these technologies. None of the technologies are gone into in great depth, and I thought I would be slamming them for that, but I can't because they tell us upfront they don't do that. I also can't do that because they did a great job of making this a roller coaster ride through the .NET 3.5 Framework. Meaning they point out some really cool stuff in one part of it, and then speed off to another part of it to show off the cool stuff there. I would suggest you have somewhat of a background with .NET 3.5. You don't have to, but it helped me because I could easily place the book's topics into the proper context. The authors do a good job introducing some of the key patterns found in the .NET Framework. It is the same as the rest of the book, they look at one cool view of the pattern and then speed off to the next one. The code samples shown in the book are available online, and they are well organized and very usable. All in all I have enjoyed reading the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who has been trying to get a grip on all the different features in .NET 3.5. They will get a cool glimpse into each area.