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Beginning Silverlight 2 : from novice to professional
Lair R., Apress, Berkeley, CA, 2008. 500 pp. Type: Book (9781590599525)
Date Reviewed: Jun 10 2009

Silverlight provides a fresh change in the world of browser-based user interface (UI) programming, by transforming what has traditionally been a procedural model into a declarative one. Lair does a good job of introducing the philosophy, the programming model, and the framework support that Silverlight 2 offers to Web developers. This precise book covers the subject matter sufficiently.

The book begins with a discussion of what rich Internet applications (RIA) are, why they are becoming increasingly important (deployment problems with traditional applications), and how they are implemented with technologies predating Silverlight, such as Macromedia Adobe Flash. In this context, the author explores the unique distinction that Silverlight brings to the RIA solution space. It highlights the declarative model of UI description, using the Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) that makes Silverlight unique and powerful. With cutting insight, it pinpoints some other fundamentals--small footprint, simple deployment, and tooling support--that can potentially make Silverlight a developer’s delight. The second chapter gives a quick tour of Visual Studio 2008 with JavaScript IntelliSense and debugging support.

Chapter 3 is my favorite. A Silverlight novice can get a sense of Silverlight presentation, in under an hour, by reading this chapter and playing with the sample XAML. It describes and elucidates, with real XAML markup, the three layout controls Silverlight offers: Canvas, StackPanel, and Grid. Chapter 4 describes finer nuances of controls: attributes and properties; nesting behavior; event handling; and additional controls such as TextBox, RadioButton, CheckBox, and other extended controls beyond the set of what Silverlight runtime offers by default. Chapter 5 describes another important aspect of Silverlight programming: data binding. While data binding is not a new phenomenon, it is especially powerful with the declarative nature of Silverlight’s XAML-based UI. The chapter also describes the list controls.

After building a basic foundation for the reader by covering presentation and user input, the author describes broader aspects of input/output (I/O) in the next chapters. Chapter 6 covers data access with structured query language (SQL) and networking with Web services exposed through Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) extensibility mechanisms. Chapter 7 explores local, opaque storage for Silverlight applications. The store locations are opaquely handled by the runtime, while exposing a very simple structured programming model for the developer. The next three chapters take UI presentation to the next level, demonstrating integration across Microsoft Expression Blend and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. Some cool aspects of Silverlight, such as animation control, are also described. Readers who are interested in just writing solid Silverlight applications can skip these chapters on their first reading of the book. The last chapter ends with a discussion of custom controls that are definable by developers.

Overall, the book is a fairly straightforward read. Its claim to take the novice to the professional level is not entirely without basis. With clear and precise writing (in most chapters), it is definitely worth reading by programmers embarking on the Silverlight journey. In many cases, all one needs beyond the book are Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) articles and the Silverlight Web site resources (http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/).

Reviewer:  Suyash Sinha Review #: CR136941 (1005-0448)
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