Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5

Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5
Paperback: 308 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. (January 11, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0596510500
ISBN-13: 978-0596510503
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.9 inches







If you think you're well versed in ASP.NET, think again. This exceptional guide gives you a master class in site building with ASP.NET 3.5 and other cutting-edge Microsoft technologies. You learn how to develop rock-solid web portal applications that can withstand millions of hits every day while surviving scalability and security pressures -- not just for mass-consumer homepages, but also for dashboards that deliver powerful content aggregation for enterprises. Written by Omar AL Zabir, co-founder and CTO of Pageflakes, Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5 demonstrates how to develop portals similar to My Yahoo!, iGoogle, and Pageflakes using ASP.NET 3.5, ASP.NET AJAX, Windows Workflow Foundation, LINQ and .NET 3.5. Through the course of the book, AL Zabir builds an open source Ajax-enabled portal prototype (available online at "www.dropthings.com"), and walks you though the design and architectural challenges, advanced Ajax concepts, performance optimization techniques, and server-side scalability problems involved. You learn how to: Implement a highly decoupled architecture following the popular n-tier, widget-based application model Provide drag-and-drop functionality, and use ASP.NET 3.5 to build the server-side part of the web layer Use LINQ to build the data access layer, and Windows Workflow Foundation to build the business layer as a collection of workflows Build client-side widgets using JavaScript for faster performance and better caching Get maximum performance out of the ASP.NET AJAX Framework for faster, more dynamic, and scalable sites Build a custom web service call handler to overcome shortcomings in ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 for asynchronous, transactional, cache-friendlyweb services Overcome JavaScript performance problems, and help the user interface load faster and be more responsive Solve scalability and security problems as your site grows from hundreds to millions of users Deploy and run a high-volume production site while solving software, hardware, hosting, and Internet infrastructure problems Building a Web 2.0 Portal with ASP.NET 3.5 also presents real-world ASP.NET challenges that the author has solved in building educational and enterprise portals, plus thirteen production disasters common to web applications serving millions of users. If you're ready to build state-of-the art, high-volume web applications, this book has exactly what you need.


User Review:


Omar is an excellent .NET programmer and I really enjoyed his book. This book gave excellent insight on running a high volume website with ASP.NET. It also dives into some of the new features of the .NET 3.5 framework. I really enjoyed the sections towards the end where he showed the type of hosting environment necessary to run a large scale website. I would also recommend subscribing to Omar's RSS feeds for excellent tips.


This book explains the techniques behind the DropThings portal [...] showing some source-code (available at www.codeplex.com) and giving a couple of tips and tricks of web 2.0 programming. The book is very interesting but it's for those developers who already know the technologies it covers (ASP.NET, C#, LINQ, WF and ASP.NET AJAX) and want to know "the best way to do it" or became aware of commom problems that big web 2.0 portals generally has.
Below is the main topics of each chapter:

Chapter 1 - Conceptual meanings of Web and ASP.NET.
Chapter 2 - How can you design your own Widgets Framework (Based on his ideas that lead him to develop his own framework) and things that you need to concern when you develop a big portal.
Chapter 3 - Tips and Tricks of developing rich client controls
Chapter 4 - How can you add LINQ and Workflow Foundation to your Data and Business Layers.
Chapter 5 - Developing Widgets itself
Chapter 6, 7, 8 and 9 - Reflections over performance (at Client, Server and "client-server" interaction)
Chapter 10 - Solving Deployment and "Go-live" problems.

Bear in mind this book don't teach you those technologies, it only leads you to use them in a better way based on the author's experience (Author is the PageFlake's co-Founder and CTO, so he really knows what he's talking about).

In conclusion, if you want to learn how you use those technologies (Asp.net Ajax, Workflow Foundation..), I recommend you to try other books. Otherwise, if you want to know more about how to create a scalable web 2.0 site, tips & tricks and the best practices of those techs at web, this book will hit at the bullseye.


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Build Your Own ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site Using C# & VB

Build Your Own ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site Using C# & VB

Book Rank: #10 in [c#] , #75 in [dotnet]
Paperback: 712 pages
Publisher: SitePoint; 2 edition (October 31, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0975240285
ISBN-13: 978-0975240281
Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 7.1 x 1.4 inches





Learn how to build impressive ASP.NET 2.0 Websites in both C# and VB from scratch.

Using a practical step-by-step approach, the authors introduce the ASP.NET framework, teach you about database design, and walk you through obtaining, installing and configuring all the freely available software you need to use ASP.NET 2.0. They then show you how to build several real world Web-based applications that you can put to use instantly in your projects.

Readers will learn how to:

  • Develop a fully functional Corporate Intranet with a dynamic navigation menu
  • Create an email newsletter system using ASP.NET 2.0
  • Build web forms using web controls, validation controls, and rich controls
  • Program in both C# and VB
  • Handle unforseen errors gracefully using a range of error handling techniques
  • Secure applications using form authentication
  • Use code-behind to streamline code.

This book doesn't force you to choose an ASP.NET language in advance - all code examples are presented in both C# (pronounced see-sharp) and VB. You can choose which one you want to use, and follow-it throughout the book. Best of all, this book doesn't assume any prior programming knowledge!

What The Reviewers Say...

"This is a very well written book and an excellent overview and introduction to developing websites in C#/VB.NET on ASP.NET 2.0." - About.com

"This is the kind of book most of the developers will be looking for not only to learn the technology faster but also to create and develop a real application in a short span of time." - ASP Alliance

"This is not your grandfather's ASP.NET 2.0 tutorial. It is not condescending, pretentious, stodgy, or deadly boring; rather, it is fresh, fun, even exciting; and, it does not take itelf too seriously. The topics flow logically from one to the next. The layout is approachable. The writers' tone is friendly. And, the writing style makes the material very accessible. I have yet to find a better book for Web development novices." - C# Online .NET


User Review:


As an experienced developer with dozens of web sites developed in traditional ASP, I was delighted finally find a decent 'getting started' book for ASP.NET, VB.NET and C# that I could use myself, and share with my Microsoft-oriented students.

Anyone making the leap from ASP to .NET knows how difficult it is to find a resource that covers enough introductory information to get started, while still presenting more advanced and useful topics -- but this is the one!

Although this book won't make you an ASP.NET guru overnight (NO book can!) -- it will certainly get you far enough up the learning curve to start producing some useful and functional code which may be reused and enhanced later as you skills and competence grow.

This new release -- as for all other SitePoint books I've read -- has proven a pleasure to read, and a joy to use in the real world. Great work!


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Monday, March 30, 2009

Build Your Own .NET Language and Compiler

Build Your Own .NET Language and Compiler
Paperback: 408 pages
Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (September 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590591348
ISBN-13: 978-1590591345
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches







All software developers use languages, which are the fundamental tool of the trade. Despite curiosity about how languages work, few developers actually understand how. Unfortunately, most texts on language and compiler development are hard to digest, written from academic platforms for use in college-level computer science programs. On the other hand, Build Your Own .NET Language and Compiler demystifies compiler and language development, and makes the subjects palatable for all programmers.

This practical book presents techniques that you can apply to everyday work. You'll learn to add scripts and macro languages to your applications, add runtime expression evaluation to their applications, and generate code immediately. Further, you will learn parsing techniques, which are essential to extract information from any structured form of data&emdash;like text files, user input, XML, or HTML. As a bonus, the book includes a complete QuickBasic compatible compiler with source code that works. The compiler illustrates the book's techniques and acts as a versatile .NET language.


User Review:

I preordered the book and I forced to admit that I was disappointed in the end product. The title implies that a compiler is created for .NET, but it does not create a MSIL compiler (such as C# or VB.NET). The provided code while it is written in a .NET language does not produce MSIL which is what the title of the book implies, instead the compiler runs it's own p-code. There is no partially correct statement as a previous review states, either it is or it is not and this is *not* a .NET compiler.

The fact that the author writes excuses for the book in his own review of the book should tip you off that something is not what you would think it is at face value. If you read the book you will find that he also makes such a statement that the code may not be what you were expecting in the book itself. Nilges knows that something is wrong.

That being said, if you have no background in writing compilers then this book may be of some value to you as an introductory text on the subject but don't expect to find anything here of any real use to your own work. If you think that you might enjoy the book then buy it used.


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Beginning Web Development, Silverlight, and ASP.NET AJAX: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional)

Beginning Web Development, Silverlight, and ASP.NET AJAX: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional)
Paperback: 427 pages
Publisher: Apress (February 25, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590599594
ISBN-13: 978-1590599594
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches




Beginning Web Development, Silverlight, and ASP.NET AJAX: From Novice to Professional aims to give you the skills you need to start building web applications with Microsoft’s next–generation technology as quickly as possible. Whether you’re interested in ASP.NET AJAX, Silverlight, or the technologies that support them (WPF, WCF, WF, etc.), this book is the starting point that you need.

It adopts a “zero to hero” approach that concentrates on achieving practical results you can use in real projects rather than presenting a deep academic treatment that can’t be immediately applied.

The aim is to give you, the reader, the knowledge you need to achieve the results you want with the minimum of fuss. When you’ve read this book, you’ll have a solid understand of all the techniques that are available, when to use them, and their relative strengths and weaknesses.
What you’ll learn

  • Create next–generation web applications quickly and easily!
  • Manipulate data, display information, and communicate with other services using the latest ASP.NET techniques and best practices.
  • Discover how the .NET 3.0 extensions (WPF, WCF, and WF) can make your web applications faster, more efficient, and easier to code than ever.
  • Understand how ASP.NET AJAX and Silverlight can be integrated into your ASP.NET websites in order to provide a cutting–edge user interface for your applications and the implications that such interfaces can have.
Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone with an interest in using Microsoft’s latest web development technologies.

A basic familiarity with the .NET platform is useful, but anyone with an understanding of a web development language will benefit from the book, as all the key topics are presented from first principals.


User Review:


This book is a good start for anyone who wants a quick overview of web technologies as offered by Microsoft. Roughly one-third of the book is dedicated to what would nowadays be called "traditional" web technologies based on ASP.NET. It covers a lot of areas (Web forms, ADO.NET, Web Services, deployment), but never dives very deep. The second part focuses on the Next Generation technologies for Web Development and provides an introduction to WCF, WPF, WWF, Cardspace, Ajax, APS.NET AJAX and Silverlight. Unfortunately, it only addresses Silverlight 1.0 and some interesting new developments such as LINQ and project Astoria are left out completely.

I noticed quite some errors in the code examples in the book (especially in the first part), which I think should have been picked up by the reviewer.

All in all, an interesting read that will certainly make the user want to visit Amazon for some more in-depth books on one or more of the many topics they've just become acquainted with.



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Beginning Visual Web Programming in VB .NET: From Novice to Professional

Beginning Visual Web Programming in VB .NET: From Novice to Professional
Paperback: 648 pages
Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (February 28, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590593596
ISBN-13: 978-1590593592
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.5 inches







Beginning Web Programming in VB .NET: From Novice to Professional will teach you the fundamentals of the web environment and how Visual Studio .NET (VS .NET) makes it accessible to VB programmers. You'll build a working website that demonstrates all the elements of a VB web application. Author Daniel Cazzulino takes a step-by-step approach to each example to explore the essential technologies and how VS .NET helps to integrate them into a highly interactive, attractive web application.

In this tutorial guide you'll learn how to
  • Create dynamic web pages with ASP.NET web forms and web server controls
  • Display and manipulate data using ADO.NET and VS .NET components
  • Persist state in different ways, within the "stateless" web environment
  • Create XML files and XML schema, and use them for data transfer
  • Integrate your web applications with others through web services
  • Make your application more secure via the security features in ASP.NET and IIS
  • Eliminate bugs and unexpected failures through effective debugging and exception-handling techniques
  • Improve the performance of your application and prepare it for release



User Review:


Beginning Visual Web Programming in VB.Net is well worth a read. The book is very straight forward and the examples are such that they guide you through quite easily so that the reader can follow along without much trouble. Chapters 7 and 8 are really nice with their XML information and examples. XML is great if you need a pages that load fast and are efficient.The descriptions that come in these chapters increase your understanding of why it is such an important part of the overall structure. MSDE I personally find can be a bit of a pain when setting it up but with this particular book things seemed to go ok. Overall the book is definately worth reading and will only help in your knowledge of .NET programming.



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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Beginning VB 2008: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional)

Beginning VB 2008: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional)
Paperback: 450 pages
Publisher: Apress (February 11, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590599381
ISBN-13: 978-1590599389
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 1.1 inches







This book is for anyone who wants to write good Visual Basic 2008 code – even if you have never programmed before.

Writing good code can be a challenge, there are so many options, especially in a language like Visual Basic. If you want to really get the best from a programming language you need to know which features work best in which situations and understand their strengths and weaknesses. It is this understanding that makes the difference between coding and coding well.

Beginning VB 2008 has been written to teach you how to use the Visual Basic programming language to solve problems. From the earliest chapters, and from the first introductory concepts, you'll be looking at real-world programming challenges and learning how Visual Basic can be used to overcome them. As you progress through the book the problems become more involved and interesting while the solutions become correspondingly more complex and powerful as Visual Basic features interact to achieve the results that you want.

By the time you've finished reading this book and worked through the sample exercises, you'll be a confident and very competent Visual Basic programmer. You will still have many explorations of the .NET Framework API to look forward to in your future career, but you will have a firm foundation to build from and you will know exactly where to go to find the things that you need to progress confidently in your projects.

Christian Gross is dedicated to helping his readers understand every detail of Beginning VB 2008 and so you can contact him via SKYPE (christianhgross) if you have bought this book and have a question about something Christian discusses. If Christian is available when you contact him, he will even try to answer you right away!
What you’ll learn
  • Become skilled in the Visual Basic 2008 programming language.
  • Learn everything you need to begin building your own applications in a solid, well–considered way: this book will teach you .NET coding from the ground up.
  • Use the Visual Studio IDE to create, debug, and deploy your applications.
  • Understand the mysteries of database access and the many ways that it can be accomplished from VB.
  • Delve deeply into the huge range of supporting technologies that the .NET Framework offers: LINQ, ASP.NET AJAX, ADO.NET 3.0, WPF, WCF, and Windows Workflow are all introduced and explained in a straightforward and easy-to-follow way.
Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone who’s just starting out to learn about Visual Basic 2008. It doesn’t assume any prior knowledge of object–oriented programming, of the .NET Framework, or of coding in general. It simply assumes that you’re an intelligent person who wants to learn and starts the journey from there.


User Review:


It's an ok, but not for an absolute beginner. I would say it's for the advanced beginner to intermediate. I've been learning VB.NET for about a year and this book really helped me grasp the concepts associated with creating classes and structured code.

For the absolute beginner, read Visual Basic 2008 Step by Step before reading this book.


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Beginning VB 2008 Databases: From Novice to Professional

Beginning VB 2008 Databases: From Novice to Professional

Paperback: 409 pages
Publisher: Apress (September 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590599470
ISBN-13: 978-1590599471
Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches






Beginning VB 2008 Databases teaches you everything you need to know about relational databases, SQL, and ADO.NET 2.0, giving you a sound start in developing console and Windows database applications. The book also includes chapters on the new SQL Server XML data type and the forthcoming LINQ enhancements to the next version of Visual Basic.

In addition to teaching you database basics like using SQL to communicate with databases, this book provides you with detailed, code-practical techniques to access data in Visual Basic 2008 across a range of coding situations. Code-heavy and full of practical detail, this book has been fully revised and upgraded for .NET 3.5 and offers you the best contemporary practice in this core programming area, so that you’ll find yourself using it in nearly all your .NET projects.
  • Provides step-by-step instructions on how to install and configure necessary tools
  • Presents all essential SQL query and update concepts and syntax, so you don’t need prior familiarity with relational databases or SQL
  • Describes how to use ADO.NET transactions, exceptions, and events
  • Covers ADO.NET features for handling XML, text, and binary data within a Visual Basic 2008 context
  • Explains all concepts through straightforward code examples

What you’ll learn
  • How relational databases work and how to use them
  • How Visual Basic uses ADO.NET to access databases
  • How to write stored procedures in T-SQL and call them from Visual Basic programs
  • How to use XML in database applications
  • How to use LINQ to simplify VB database programming
  • How to install SQL Server 2005 Express and use it to teach yourself databases by doing databases
Who is this book for?

Beginning VB 2008 Databases is for every VB programmer. Database programming requires relatively little knowledge of VB but a lot of knowledge about relational database concepts and the database language SQL. This book assumes no prior database experience and teaches you, always through hands-on examples, how to create and use relational databases with SQL and how to access them with VB. Almost every application needs to access a database, and this book teaches all the fundamentals you may ever need to develop professional database applications.

About the Apress Beginning Series

The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry-level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from “novice to professional.” You’ll start your journey by seeing what you need to knowbut without needless theory and filler. You’ll build your skill set by learning how to put together real-world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you thereit is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!


User Review:


This book was more than I expected. The layout of the book makes it very easy to grasp the concepts the author is presenting. He explains a topic and then there is a simple exercise to reinfoce the concept. It is basic and doesn't go very deeply into the topics, but that's what I liked. I liked having a few hundred page book instead of a 1000 or 1500 page monster. Eventually you may have to get another book that goes into more detail on the topics listed, but for starting out learning about database/application interaction I thought it was a very good book.


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Beginning Object-Oriented ASP.NET 2.0 with VB .NET: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: From Novice to Professional)

Beginning Object-Oriented ASP.NET 2.0 with VB .NET: From Novice to Professional (Beginning: From Novice to Professional)

Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Apress (September 19, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1590595386
ISBN-13: 978-1590595381
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.7 inches






Beginning Object-Oriented ASP.NET 2.0 with VB .NET covers all of the basics, from definition to inheritance. This book even includes a chapter on Visual Studio 2005 and Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0, enabling you to create ASP.NET 2.0 applications. Also included are chapters on creating web forms, web controls, and web services. Code samples illustrate the usage of each concept.
If you have a background in procedural programming, this book will teach you what a class is, how it relates to an object, and how to model real-world data into a class. You will be able to create a class in VB .NET, add properties and methods, and use that class in a simple ASP.NET web application created with VB .NET.


User Review:


This book is far too short. Given its small size, its a shame the author pads it out so much with gratuitous screen shots and repetitive coding example, while major OOP concepts (such as implementing interfaces) are left out on the grounds that they are "outside the scope of the book". This book needs far more scope.


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Beginning Microsoft Visual C# 2008

Beginning Microsoft Visual C# 2008


Book Rank: #23 in [c#]
Paperback: 1307 pages
Publisher: Wrox (May 5, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 047019135X
ISBN-13: 978-0470191354
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.8 inches



The book is aimed at novice programmers who wish to learn programming with C# and the .NET framework. The book starts with absolute programming basics. It then moves into Web and Windows programming, data access (databases and XML), and more advanced technologies such as graphics programming with GDI+ and basic networking. The book is divided into sections including:
  • The C# Language: Basic language skills using console application. Content moves from the absolute basics to fairly involved OOP skills.
  • Windows Vista Programming: Using basic Windows applications, reinforcing earlier OOP and debugging skills.
  • Web Programming: Putting together basic Web applications, highlighting differences between Web and Windows programming.
  • Data Access: Accessing all kinds of data sources from Web and Windows applications, including SQL usage, XML, file system data, and Web Services.
  • Additional Techniques: "The fun stuff", including Windows Presentation Foundation, Windows Workflow, Windows Communication Foundation, GDI+, networking, Windows Services, and so on.

The book makes complicated subjects seem easy to learn, and it inspires readers to investigate areas further on their own by providing references to additional material, and exercise questions that require significant effort and personal research to complete.


User Review:


As far as 1300 page programming books go, this one is well above average. It covers both Visual Studio 2008 and the free Visual C# 2008 Express Edition using Express for most of the examples. C sharp is a great language if you've done any C, C++ or object oriented programming before. One can argue even if you have zero programming experience it's still the best overall language to learn. It's elegant, powerful, works for desktop apps, mobile apps, server apps and is multi-platform. C# is one of those rare things that Microsoft did well.

There's something here for everyone including C# language basics, object oriented programming theory, introduction to UML, Windows programming, web programming, databases, etc. It starts with an intro to C# in 7 chapters before introducing Object Oriented programming which is a different approach than many books. You can download the code at wrox.com.

THE GOOD: The authors manage to keep it readable and concise at the same time. There's not a lot of extra anecdotes and filler like you'll find in many beginning programming books. Most every sentence conveys something useful without being excessively dry. I haven't found many mistakes which seem all too common these days in similar books.

THE BAD: The authors sometimes mention concepts they haven't explained or even introduced yet. Often they point out when they're doing so (i.e. "don't worry about xxxx we'll explain later") but in many instances the reader is left wondering if he missed something earlier in the book only to find the answer in the next chapter. A total programming novice might find this book a bit intimidating as the authors do sometimes assume significant knowledge on behalf of the reader. For example the Object Oriented chapters dive right into UML and other confusing topics with little hand holding. But, personally, I think they did a good job of trying to include lots of useful information versus spending lots of pages on things that most readers will already know.


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Beginning Microsoft Visual Basic 2008

Beginning Microsoft Visual Basic 2008


Book Rank: #4 in [visual basic introduction] , # 41 [ visual basic]
Paperback: 912 pages
Publisher: Wrox (May 5, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0470191341
ISBN-13: 978-0470191347
Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 2.3 inches



Beginning Microsoft Visual Basic 2008 is designed to teach you how to write useful programs in Visual Basic 2008 as quickly and easily as possible.

There are two kinds of beginners for whom this book is ideal:

  • You’re a beginner to programming and you’ve chosen Visual Basic 2008 as the place to start. That’s a great choice! Visual Basic 2008 is not only easy to learn, it’s also fun to use and very powerful.
  • You can program in another language but you’re a beginner to .NET programming. Again, you’ve made a great choice! Whether you’ve come from Fortran or Visual Basic 6, you’ll find that this book quickly gets you up to speed on what you need to know to get the most from Visual Basic 2008.

Visual Basic 2008 offers a great deal of functionality in both tools and language. No one book could ever cover Visual Basic 2008 in its entirety—you would need a library of books. What this book aims to do is to get you started as quickly and easily as possible. It shows you the roadmap, so to speak, of what there is and where to go. Once we’ve taught you the basics of creating working applications (creating the windows and controls, how your code should handle unexpected events, what object-oriented programming is, how to use it in your applications, and so on), we’ll show you some of the areas you might want to try your hand at next. To this end, the book is organized as follows:

  • Chapters 1 through 9 provide an introduction to Visual Studio 2008 and Windows programming.
  • Chapter 6 provides an introduction to XAML and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) programming.
  • Chapter 10 provides an introduction to application debugging and error handling.
  • Chapters 11 through 13 provide an introduction to object-oriented programming and building objects.
  • Chapter 14 provides an introduction to creating Windows Forms user controls.
  • Chapter 15 provides an introduction to graphics in Windows applications.
  • Chapters 16 and 17 provide an introduction to programming with databases and covers Access, SQL Server, ADO.NET and LINQ.
  • Chapters 18 and 19 provide an introduction to ASP.NET and show you how to write applications for the Web.
  • Chapter 20 provides a brief introduction to XML, a powerful tool for integrating your applications—regardless of the language they were written in.
  • Chapter 21 introduces you to web services and the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).
  • Chapter 22 introduces you to sequential workflows using the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF).
  • Chapter 23 introduces you to building applications for mobile devices using the Compact Framework classes.
  • Chapter 24 introduces you to deploying applications using ClickOnce technology.
  • Chapter 25 provides some insight on where to go next in your journey to learn about VisualBasic 2008.
  • Appendix A provides the answers to chapter exercises.
  • Appendix B introduces the Microsoft Solution Framework.
  • Appendix C provides some background on security.
  • Appendix D provides insight into Windows CardSpace.
  • Appendix E compares the differences between the latest versions of the .NET Framework.


From the Back Cover
Beginning Microsoft Visual Basic 2008

If you want to learn Visual Basic 2008 so you can create powerful, database-driven applications, then this is the book for you. It walks you through this robust programming language and shows you how to build a variety of different Windows® applications and web services. Along the way you'll discover how to utilize object-oriented techniques as well as create your own business objects and Windows controls.

After a brief introduction to Visual Studio® 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Framework, you'll explore the fundamentals of the Visual Basic language. Exercises at the end of each chapter provide you with a deeper understanding of how to use these features to build rich and professional-looking applications for Microsoft Windows, intranet and Internet use, and mobile devices. The concepts covered are invaluable and will take your Visual Basic development skills to the next level.

What you will learn from this book

  • All about the features of Visual Studio 2008 and Windows programming
  • Techniques for incorporating error handling in your application
  • How to create and use Windows Forms controls
  • Strategies for accessing databases using Microsoft Access® and Visual Basic 2008
  • Tips for incorporating XML in Visual Basic 2008
  • How to write applications for mobile devices using Windows Presentation Foundation

Who this book is for
This book is for beginning programmers who have chosen to start with Visual Basic 2008 and the .NET 3.5 Framework.

Wrox Beginning guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.



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