Essential Windows Presentation Foundation (Wpf)

by Chris Anderson

"Chris Anderson was one of the chief architects of the next-generation GUI stack, the Windows Presentation Framework (WPF), which is the subject of this book. Chris''s insights shine a light from the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321374479
• ISBN13: 9780321374479
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
• Length: 458 Pages
• Weight: 2.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 7.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A fantastic primer on WPF

If you're an experienced programmer and looking for a primer on WPF, Anderson has written a succinct overview that will definitely get you going in the right direction without wasting your time. It will give you not only the basics but provide an insight into what is going on and how you can go further in exploring WPF. Although it lacks in-depth examples (and source code) this book provides a readable reference covering all aspects of WPF- what it is, what it can do, and what makes WPF different.

The Why of WPF with Real World Examples

This book is great if you want to understand the why behind WPF. I have found that a lot of people are turned off by some the abstract teaching found in some of the Essential Series from Addison-Wesley. They feel the level of learning is too deep and doesn't show or relate to real world examples. That is not true with this book. Chris does an excellent job of digging deep while at the same time keeping the content in the real world. This book is a definite complement of Adam Nathan's WPF book. No there is no color, but I didn't really think about it until I was writing this review. The structure of the book's content is great, very well organized, and very thorough. This is definitely a book you want at your side if you are programming WPF.

Required reading for WPF

I thought no one could top Adam Nathan's WPF book, and this one doesn't top it - no what it does it match it but does so without tediously repeating the same material and approach. Chris Anderson's book is the one to read if you want to know the Why's and not just the What's - this is not just because Chris was one of the chief architects but because he explains it all so clearly. The book's organisation is wonderful, WPF has a huge surface area but Chris's presentation of it is effortless, enlightening and entertaining. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book.

An inside view of WPF

I bought all available WPF, so at the beginning i wondered: "What else can another book say new about WPF?". Well, this book has a lot of interesting details missing on others, probably because it has been written with an "inside" view, i knew a lot of architectural decisions reading it. It has a good mix of xaml and code, it has pictures (!) and its a pleasant reading. Recommended to people migrating from Windows Forms to WPF world.

The Foundation to the Foundation

Essential Windows Presentation Foundation is precisely what the title says it is. What more can you ask for in a book? There are already several books on the RTM of WPF, and there are bound to be more. The unique value this one has is that it is written by Chris Anderson, who as most know, was an instrumental architect in designing WPF, and this (along with his direct connection to the others who worked on it) gives him insight that you just otherwise can't get. In particular, I like that he often provides the thinking that went into particular design decisions. He readily admits in several places that the design of this or that was hotly debated, and one can only imagine that they would be. Having worked at a few commercial software vendors myself, I know how difficult it can be to know the best way to design a thing, and it can only be more challenging as your audience widens. After this, the main thing that makes the book valuable is that it is deeply conceptual. The point of the book is not to be a reference, a recipie book, or a smattering of tutorials. Rather, the book provides, in a coherent form, the key principles underlying the different aspects of WPF. And by elaborating these principles, Chris establishes a strong sense that the Foundation was designed in a similarly coherent manner. My favorite chapters were the one on Data, the one on Actions, and the Appendix. For a solutions architect and developer, these I think provide the most interesting meat. Of course, these types will likely want to delve into the first three chapters as well. In fact, the only one that I'd suggest you can probably get away with skipping is the one on Visuals; I found this one pretty dry and hard to push through. Designers and those more interested in graphics per se will likely enjoy these. The chapter on Styles took me by surprise, but then, that's because the concept of styles in WPF is a tad surprising. Being the language-oriented person that I am, I am a bit bothered by the choice of Style to encompass everything that you can do with styles in WPF. Needless to say, it's not just UI goodness--devs will need to be pretty familiar with this stuff. Other than that, my only contention is with the assertion that apps today are all about data. This won't come as a surprise to those who've read my articles or talked to me about architecture much, but despite my philosophical objection, when it comes to UI, I'll admit that LOB apps are in fact largely about the data, i.e., largely about displaying and manipulating data since thus far, we seem to have mainly used computers to help with data storage and retrieval. In any case, it is certainly important to have good data binding mechanisms in the UI, and I have to say, WPF nails this better than any UI tech I've bumped into thus far. But I digress. The book is good; I recommend it as a starting point or to complement other WPF learning resources. It is the essentials with which you can