Printed entirely in color, with helpful figures and syntax coloring to make code samples appear as they do in Visual Studio.

 

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a key component of the .NET Framework 3.0, giving you the power to create richer and more compelling applications than you dreamed possible. Whether you want to develop traditional user interfaces or integrate 3D graphics, audio/video, animation, dynamic skinning, rich document support, speech recognition, or more, WPF enables you to do so in a seamless, resolution-independent manner. Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed is the authoritative book that covers it all, in a practical and approachable fashion, authored by .NET guru and Microsoft developer Adam Nathan.

 

· Covers everything you need to know about Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)

· Examines the WPF feature areas in incredible depth: controls, layout, resources, data binding, styling, graphics, animation, and more

· Features a chapter on 3D graphics by Daniel Lehenbauer, lead developer responsible for WPF 3D

· Delves into non-mainstream topics: speech, audio/video, documents, bitmap effects, and more

· Shows how to create popular UI elements, such as features introduced in the 2007 Microsoft Office System: Galleries, ScreenTips, custom control layouts, and more

· Demonstrates how to create sophisticated UI mechanisms, such as Visual Studio-like collapsible/dockable panes

· Explains how to develop and deploy all types of applications, including navigation-based applications, applications hosted in a Web browser, and applications with great-looking non-rectangular windows

· Explains how to create first-class custom controls for WPF

· Demonstrates how to create hybrid WPF software that leverages Windows Forms, ActiveX, or other non-WPF technologies

· Explains how to exploit new Windows Vista features in WPF applications

 

Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for WPF-beginners
Comment: Book gives an excellent introduction of WPF. However, I think that the 2D/3D-part of the book is a bit over the top if you are looking for basics.

Money well spent.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great content to match the great presentation!
Comment: On first opening this book you are struck by the beautiful full colour pictures and syntax-highlighted code samples. [Though the experience was slightly marred by the tears and damage to the front cover which occurred during shipping, as was also the case with another book in the order.]

I did a quick flip through and thought... "Beautiful presentation, but the content looks a bit over-simplified. Maybe all the reviewers were seduced by the full colour pages."

Then I started working my way through the book. I was blown away. The writing style is simple and to the point. But it doesn't lack depth. There are indications of the little things that are likely to catch you out, as well as discussions of some pretty advanced topics too.

So, Yay! The content of the book was just as good as the way it was presented, if not better. My only criticism is that in some cases there could have been more code examples.

On the other hand this would probably have made the book very bloated and not as useful as a reference book. There's enough information to point you in the right direction, and from there google will get you to all the code samples you need.

So let O'Reilly do the cookbook style books with lots of code snippets. They do that so well. This book takes a novel approach, and it works brilliantly!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Comment: All the features of WPF are explained here, with samples and visual codes for your reference. I decided to buy this book and other about Blend 2, but most of my doubts I solved with this edition.
Great book from beginners to experts.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: WPF made easy
Comment: Hey, a programming book in full colour!! WPF Unleashed really does introduce the concepts and details of WPF programming in a clear and easy manner, and Adam Nathan is to be commended for his efforts. Anyone wanting to learn (more) about WPF will benefit from this book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great For Learning
Comment: This is a well written, well structured book.

Full color with good examples and covers a good range of details.

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