Silverlight 5 has the potential to revolutionize the way we build business applications. With its flexibility, web deployment, cross-platform capabilities, rich .NET language support on the client, rich user interface control set, small runtime, and more, it comes close to the perfect platform on which to build business applications. It’s a very powerful technology, and despite its youth, it’s moving forward at a rapid pace and is gaining widespread popularity. This book guides you through the process of designing and developing enterprise-strength business applications in Silverlight 5 and C#. You'll learn how to take advantage of the power of Silverlight to develop rich and robust business applications—from getting started to deployment, and everything in between. In particular, this book will serve developers who want to learn how to design business applications. It will introduce the patterns you'll use, the issues you’ll face, and how to resolve them. Author Chris Anderson, who has been building line-of-business applications for years, demonstrates his expertise through a candid presentation of how to tackle real-life issues, rather than just avoiding them. Developers will benefit from his hard-won expertise through business application design patterns that he shares throughout the book. With this book in hand, you will: Create a fully-functional business application in Silverlight Discover how to satisfy the general requirements that most business applications need Develop a business application framework

“The book you are holding contains the keys to writing great Silverlight 3 applications. Use them well!” –From the Foreword by Scott Guthrie, corporate vice president, Microsoft Developer Division Microsoft Silverlight is a leading cross-platform, Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology that allows you to create more compelling and interactive Web experiences than are possible with simple HTML browser pages. Silverlight 3 includes significant improvements over previous versions, including “out-of-browser” operation, H.264 video, 3D graphics, and real-time effects. Essential Silverlight 3 is the definitive reference and insider’s guide. It not only covers all the key features of the Silverlight 3 runtime and how to use them but, in Under the Hood sections, explains why each feature was developed and how each one works. These “insider” explanations often lead to concise, practical performance tips that can help you speed up your own Silverlight applications. Author Ashraf Michail is uniquely qualified to explain Silverlight 3. He is a Microsoft Silverlight architect who has guided Silverlight from its beginnings through the current version. In this book, he shows how to Integrate the principles and components of a Silverlight application, including XAP, XAML, and .NET code Use Silverlight vector graphics, bitmap images, and animation Display predictable and readable text across platforms and animate text elements Obtain mouse and keyboard input, including mouse wheel events Implement smooth animations to improve your user interface and make your application more pleasing to the user Use the Canvas, StackPanel, Grid, and Border elements to lay out your application and define custom layout elements Play high-quality, live, and on-demand video and audio Customize the built-in and toolkit controls and develop new custom Silverlight controls Connect to and synchronize with data using Silverlight Data Binding Use built-in real-time effects and define custom HLSL pixel shaders Enable GPU-accelerated rendering If you are a developer who is getting started with Silverlight or an expert Silverlight developer who is interested in understanding the inner workings of the Silverlight runtime, this book is for you.

This book is a step-by-step tutorial that shows you how to obtain the necessary toolset to create and run Silverlight Enterprise Applications on Azure. The book also covers techniques, practical tips, hints, and tricks for Silverlight interactions with Azure. Each topic is written in an easy-to-read style, with a detailed explanation given and then practical step-by-step exercises with a strong emphasis on real-world relevance. If you are an application developer who wants to build and run Silverlight Enterprise applications using Azure storage, WCF Services, and ASP providers, then this book is for you. You should have a working knowledge of Silverlight and Expression Blend. However, knowledge of Azure is not required since the book covers how to integrate the two technologies in detail.

Essential Windows Phone 7.5 is the definitive guide to creating powerful, visually compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of Microsoft''s Windows Phone 7.5 platform. Nine-time Microsoft MVP Shawn Wildermuth draws on his extensive experience teaching Silverlight and Windows Phone development, helping you to get started fast and master techniques that lead to truly outstanding apps. After introducing the latest version of Windows Phone, Shawn Wildermuth dives directly into the essentials, emphasizing best-practice examples and illustrating with code. You''ll build a complete application from start to finish, then build on your skills with increasingly sophisticated techniques. From planning and design through application delivery, Shawn Wildermuth guides you through the entire mobile development lifecycle, showing how to make the most of Windows Phone 7.5''s most important new capabilities. Whether you''re a .NET or Silverlight developer going mobile, or an experienced mobile developer moving to Windows Phone, Essential Windows Phone 7.5 delivers all the skills you''ll need. Coverage includes Leveraging Microsoft''s breakthrough Metro design language Using phone features such as email, calling, search, Web browsing, and the camera Designing the look and feel of your user interface with XAML Interacting with users via Panorama, Pivot, and other controls Mastering the new Silverlight Toolkit for Windows Phone 7.5 Choosing the right application paradigm and functionality for your specific app Incorporating touch, vibration, motion, and sound into your interfaces Working with Windows Phone 7.5''s unique hubs and tiles Building location-based services that work with the phone''s GPS Storing data in Isolated Storage or Windows Phone 7.5''s database support Multitasking reliably, without compromising performance Integrating external data via REST, conventional Web services, and push notifications Preparing your application for the Windows Phone Marketplace

A hands-on guide to Microsoft's latest rich application development technology: Silverlight 4 Silverlight 4 is the newest version of the rich Internet application toolkit that provides support for .NET capabilities over the Internet. With this latest release of Silverlight, Microsoft has revolutionized the way that Web applications can be created. This book uses the popular Problem – Design – Solution strategy to demonstrate how to harness the power and abilities of Silverlight 4 to add value to the overall user experience of a Web site. Using a Web site created by the author as a reference point, you'll go through the steps of creating a live, fully functional application for the Web using Silverlight 4 and the Silverlight Control Toolkit. Along the way, the book addresses important design considerations, such as the use of Web Services and the SQL Server database. Uses the popular Problem – Design – Solution format show you how to harness the power of the latest version of Silverlight, Microsoft's rich Internet application toolkit Puts the author's own Web site to task as you learn to create rich user interfaces that integrate video, HTML, and social networking components Explains system linking and data flow, end user interface, system architecture based on Silverlight 4 and .NET 4, and more Includes coverage on integrating social networking and Facebook With this book, you'll quickly get started using the new features of Silverlight 4 to enhance the user experience of a Web site. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

The fun and easy guide for building Silverlight 4 applications! Silverlight is a Web browser plugin that enables functions such as animation, streaming media, vector graphics, and audio-video playback that characterize rich Internet applications. It only requires a simple download, after which most end-users are not even aware that it's running. This helpful guide covers everything you need to know in order to start creating applications in Silverlight 4 and then moves on to key topics such as controls, data binding, skinning, using Visual Studio tools, and more. Whether you have just the most basic programming skills and are interested in learning to develop Silverlight apps or you are an experienced developer looking for an understandable guide on the newest version of Silverlight, Microsoft Silverlight 4 For Dummies is ideal for a wide audience. The Silverlight plugin enables animation, streaming media, vector graphics, and audio-video playback Shows you how to create applications in Silverlight 4 Covers important Silverlight topics including controls, data binding, skinning, animations, and more Discusses how to best use the offering of tools from Visual Studio Get enlightened and start creating Silverlight 4 applications with this book by your side. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.