Sams Teach Yourself WPF in 24 Hours

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

 

In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you will be able to begin effectively using WPF to solve real-world problems, developing rich user interfaces in less time than you thought possible.

 

Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson builds on a real-world foundation forged in both technology and business matters, allowing you to learn the essentials of WPF from the ground up.

 

Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common questions, issues, and tasks.

The Q&A sections, quizzes, and exercises help you build and test your knowledge.

By the Way notes present interesting pieces of information.

Did You Know? tips offer advice or teach an easier way to do something.

Watch Out! cautions advise you about potential problems and help you steer clear of disaster.

 

Learn how to...

• Use XAML to build user interfaces
• Leverage data binding to minimize tedious code
• Create visually engaging applications
• Architect and design WPF applications using proven patterns such as MVP
• Incorporate audio and video into your applications
• Customize controls with styles, templates, and animation
• Apply best practices for developing software with WPF
• Deploy WPF applications to the desktop and Web
• Take advantage of WPF’s advanced printing capabilities
• Grow as a developer by improving your overall software design skills

 

Introduction 1

Part I                   Getting Started

1      What WPF Is and Isn’t 5

2      Understanding XAML 17

3      Introducing the Font Viewer 27

4      Handling Application Layout 41

5      Using Basic Controls 59

6      Introducing Data Binding 75

Part II        Reaching the User

7      Designing an Application 93

8      Building a Text Document Editor 107

9      Getting a Handle on Events 121

10    Commands 145

11    Output 157

Part III      Visualizing Data

12    Building a Contact Manager 177

13    Presenters and Views 193

14    Resources and Styles 211

15    Digging Deeper into Data Binding 229

16    Visualizing Lists 251

Part IV       Creating Rich Experiences

17    Building a Media Viewer 267

18    Drawing with Shapes 291

19    Colors and Brushes 315

20    Transforms and Effects 331

21    Using Control Templates 347

22    Triggers 369

23    Animation 383

24    Best Practices 407

Part V         Appendixes

Appendix A: Tools and Resources 423

Appendix B: 3D Tutorial Using ZAM 3D 427

Appendix C: Project Source (downloadable) 437

Index 439

Rob Eisenberg is vice president and cofounder of Blue Spire Consulting, Inc. (www.bluespire.com). He is a frequent blogger in the Devlicio.us (www.devlicio.us) blogging community and speaks at various community events on the subjects of WPF, Agile, and TDD. His career began in music composition, which very naturally led him into interactive media. He was drawn to the .NET Framework by the persistent recommendations of his present business partner and soon after discovered WPF. Rob has been working with WPF since the prebeta days and was among the top 20 finalists in Microsoft’s Code Master Challenge in 2006. In his spare time, he enjoys playing and teaching drums, making artisan cheese, reading, and swing dancing with his lovely wife, Anna.

Christopher Bennage is the president and cofounder of Blue Spire Consulting, Inc., a Florida-based software consulting firm specializing in .NET technologies and emphasizing personal interactions with the customer. Christopher began programming on his Texas Instrument in elementary school but fell in love with computers with the advent of the Commodore Amiga. His career has brought him through various technologies beginning with Lotus Notes, VBA, and classic ASP before eventually landing him in the marvelous world of C# and the .NET Framework. His early interest in Flash, rich user experiences, and usability led him to be an early adopter of both WPF and Silverlight. Christopher embraces the values of the Agile Software Manifesto and has been heavily influenced by Extreme Programming, Domain Driven Design, and other related practices. In his free time, Christopher is usually very distracted by a dozen different, competing creative ideas. Aside from that he can sometimes be found playing Frisbee golf, guitar, or video games. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with his wife, Sandra, and their two children, Adah and Ranen (soon to be three children).