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Full-color graphics and screenshots throughout make Pro Silverlight 3 in C# an invaluable reference for professional developers wanting to discover the new features of Silverlight 3. Author Matthew MacDonald's expert advice guides you through creating rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment you're most productive in—no matter what the target platform.

As you learn about the features that put Silverlight in direct competition with Adobe Flash, such as rich support for 2D and 3D drawing, animations, and media playback, you'll experience the plumbing of .NET and the design model of WPF through Silverlight—all of the same .NET technology that developers use to design next-generation Windows applications. MacDonald provides an comprehensive tutorial written from professional developer to professional developer.

What you’ll learn

• Develop rich media applications using Silverlight across browsers and platforms.
• Create a project, set up a layout, and use controls.
• Handle both 2D and 3D drawing, animation, and media playback through Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
• Integrate web services support.
• Use Silverlight in conjunction with ASP.NET and its interactions with HTML.

Silverlight 3 is the latest iteration of Microsoft's cross-browser technology for creating rich user experiences on the Web. Like its predecessor, Silverlight 2, it rides atop the .NET Framework for maximum ease of use and coding efficiency. The new technology carries forward much of the work that has been done before and augments it in many important respects, including support for H.264 video, major improvements to the graphics engine (including true 3D rendering), and much richer data-binding options for interfacing with other applications.

Who this book is for

.NET developers encountering Silverlight for the first time. No prior knowledge of WPF or ASP.NET is assumed.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing Silverlight
2. XAML
3. Layout
4. Dependency Properties and Routed Events
5. Elements
6. The Application Model
7. Navigation
8. Shapes and Geometries
9. Brushes, Transforms,and Bitmaps
10. Animation
11. Sound, Video, and Deep Zoom
12. Styles and Behaviors
13. Templates and Custom Controls
14. Browser Integration
15. ASP.NET Web Services
16. Data Binding
17. Data Controls
18. Isolated Storage
19. Multithreading
20. Networking

This e-book is based on SilverlightShow 7-part article series ‘Getting ready for Microsoft Silverlight Exam 70-506’.
While the online article series give references to many external resources, several for one topic, in this e-book we picked the best resource covering the topic, and have included it as full text, together with links to source code where available.
Note: approximately 85% of the resources selected are available in full, the rest of the resources are still included as links due to lack of copy permissions or inability to reach the the respective authors.
This e-book collects a total of 100+ articles in full.
From the author: Silverlight is a rapidly evolving technology. Over a time span of 3 years, it has evolved from being a JavaScript-based platform to a full .NET implementation. With 4 versions released and version 5 in the pipeline at the time of writing, Silverlight has more versions than .NET! That makes it hard for book writers such as me to keep up with new features being added.
It seems to me that it’s also difficult to create and manage exams about Silverlight. For the previous versions of Silverlight, there weren’t any exams available. Silverlight 4 is the first version of which an exam is being created. It was possible to take the beta-exam late 2010; the exam will be officially open in Q1 2011. More information about the exam can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Exam.aspx?ID=70-506&Locale=en-us
With this guide, I aim to make the preparation for the exam a bit easier.
About the author:
Gill Cleeren is Microsoft Regional Director (www.theregion.com), Silverlight MVP (former ASP.NET MVP), INETA speaker bureau member and Silverlight Insider. He lives in Belgium where he works as .NET architect at Ordina. Passionate about .NET, he’s always playing with the newest bits. In his role as Regional Director, Gill has given many sessions, webcasts and trainings on new as well as existing technologies, such as Silverlight, ASP.NET and WPF at conferences including TechEd Berlin 2010, TechDays Belgium, DevDays NL, NDC Oslo Norway, SQL Server Saturday Switserland, Spring Conference UK, Silverlight Roadshow in Sweden… He’s also the author of many articles in various developer magazines and for SilverlightShow.net. He organizes the yearly Community Day event in Belgium.
He also leads Visug (www.visug.be), the largest .NET user group in Belgium. Gill recently published his first book: “Silverlight 4 Data and Services Cookbook” (Packt Publishing). You can find his blog at www.snowball.be. Gill tweets from @gillcleeren.

Silverlight 5 is the latest iteration of Microsoft's cross-browser technology for creating rich user experiences on the Web. Like its predecessor, Silverlight 4, it rides atop the .NET Framework for maximum ease of use and coding efficiency. The new technology carries forward much of the work that has been done before and augments it in many important respects, including support for H.264 video, major improvements to the graphics engine (including true 3D rendering), and much richer data-binding options for interfacing with other applications.
Pro Silverlight 5 in VB is an invaluable reference for professional developers wanting to discover the new features of Silverlight. Author Matthew MacDonald's expert advice guides you through creating rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment you're most productive in—no matter what the target platform. As you learn about the features that put Silverlight in direct competition with Adobe Flash, such as rich support for 2D and 3D drawing, animations, and media playback, you'll experience the plumbing of .NET and the design model of WPF through Silverlight—all of the same .NET technology that developers use to design next-generation Windows applications.
MacDonald provides a comprehensive tutorial written from professional developer to professional developer.

What you’ll learn

• Develop rich media applications using Silverlight across browsers and platforms
• Create a project, set up a layout, and use controls
• Handle both 2D and 3D drawing, animation, and media playback through Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
• Integrate web services support
• Use Silverlight in conjunction with ASP.NET and its interactions with HTML

Who this book is for

.NET developers encountering Silverlight for the first time. No prior knowledge of WPF or ASP.NET is assumed.

Table of Contents

1. Introducing Silverlight
2. XAML
3. Layout
4. Dependency Properties and Routed Events
5. Elements
6. The Application Model
7. Navigation
8. Shapes and Geometries
9. Brushes and Transforms
10. Animation
11. Sound, Video, and Deep Zoom
12. Styles and Behaviors
13. Templates and Custom Controls
14. Browser Integration
15. ASP.NET and Web Services
16. Data Binding
17. Data Controls
18. File Access
19. Multithreading
20. Networking
21. Out-of-Browser Applications

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 over a decade, 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.

What you'll learn

• How to structure your project to ensure a robust and maintainable application
• How to create user interfaces with XAML and bind controls to data
• How to communicate securely between the server and the client
• How to view and maintain data within a Silverlight user interface
• How to design unique user experiences and use advanced styling techniques
• How to implement standard business application paradigms in Silverlight

Who this book is for This book is for developers experienced in other .NET technologies, such as WinForms or ASP.NET, looking to translate their existing skills to developing business applications with Silverlight. Patterns and methodologies associated with building robust applications will be introduced and are not prerequisite knowledge.
Table of Contents

1. Getting Started with Silverlight
2. An Introduction to XAML
3. The Navigation Framework
4. Exposing Data from the Server
5. Consuming Data from the Server
6. Implementing Summary Lists
7. Building Data Entry Forms
8. Securing Your Application
9. Styling Your Application
10. Advanced XAML
11. Advanced Data Binding
12. Creating Custom Controls
13. The Model-View-View Model (MVVM) Design Pattern
14. The Managed Extensibility Framework
15. Printing and Reporting
16. Out of Browser Mode and Interacting with the Operating System
17. Application Deployment

Create, customize and design rich enterprise dashboards with Microsoft Silverlight 5 book and eBook

Overview

• With this book and e-book, learn how to create, customize and design rich enterprise dashboards with Silverlight

• Move from scenarios to requirements by applying user-centered design best practices

• Discover the tips, tricks and hands on experience to create, customize and design

rich enterprise dashboards with Silverlight from a distinguished team of User Experience and Development authors

In Detail

Microsoft Silverlight is a powerful development platform for creating rich media applications and line of business applications for the web and desktop. Silverlight enables you to create, customize and design rich enterprise dashboards that highlight Key Performance Indicators for your business.

Microsoft Silverlight 5: Building Rich Enterprise Dashboards is a concise and practical tutorial that shows you how to create, customize and design rich enterprise dashboards with Silverlight.

This book provides real world user experience design topics and starts by providing an overview of the Silverlight Platform and the clear advantages it provides for building dashboards. The book then dives into topics such as Silverlight design and development tools, building a basic Dashboard, Dashboard types and user needs, Designing for Insight, Styling, Building an End to End Dashboard Solution and Data Access Strategies amongst others.

What you will learn from this book

• Learn how to create custom user controls, reference resources, and edit basic control templates

• Build an end-to-end dashboard solution

• Learn how to use Microsoft Expression Blend to style a dashboard

• Explore the different types of dashboards, and learn how to choose the most appropriate dashboard type based on your project goals

• Discover and represent user needs and scenarios as a basis for dashboard design, using user experience best practices

• Understand how to determine between the different data access strategies (SOAP, REST, and OData)

• Host and use Silverlight WebParts and the SharePoint Client Object Model

Approach

This book is a concise and practical tutorial that shows you how to create, customize and design rich enterprise dashboards with Silverlight.

Who this book is for

If you are a .Net developer who wants to create, customize and design rich enterprise dashboards with Silverlight, then this book is for you. You should have an intermediate understanding of .Net development, with a working knowledge of Microsoft Silverlight.

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.

Develop a full LOB Microsoft Silverlight 5 application from scratch with the help of expert advice and an accompanying case study using this book and eBook

• Dive straight into Silverlight 5 with the advanced techniques in this expert guide
• Fully up-to-date content for Silverlight 5 and RIA Services SP2
• Complete your knowledge with a gradually built upon case study with this book and e-book

In Detail

Microsoft Silverlight is fully established as a powerful tool for creating and delivering Rich Internet Applications and media experiences on the Web. This book will help you dive straight into utilizing Silverlight 5, which now more than ever is a top choice in the Enterprise for building Business Applications.

"Expert Line of Business Application Development for Silverlight 5: Quick Start Guide" focuses on the development of a complete Silverlight 5 LOB application, helping you to take advantage of the powerful features available along with expert advice.

Fully focused on LOB development, this expert guide takes you from the beginning of designing and implementing a Silverlight 5 LOB application, all the way through to completion. Accompanied by a gradually built upon case study, you will learn about data access via RIA and Web services, architecture with MEF and MVVM applied to LOB development, testing and error control, and much more.

With "Expert Line of Business Application Development for Silverlight 5: Quick Start Guide" in hand, you will be fully equipped to expertly develop your own Silverlight Line of Business application, without dwelling on the basics of Enterprise Silverlight development.

What you will learn from this book

• Get up and running with coverage of LOB development challenges like building forms, navigation, and service and database access
• Get to grips with the MVVM pattern and how to integrate it with RIA Services
• Dig deeper by implementing both in Browser and Out of Browser trusted applications
• Become fully acquainted with Silverlight and HTML/JavaScript integration
• Understand how to add authentication and authorization to your Silverlight application
• Gain advanced knowledge of error control topics like error notification to TFS
• Become fully equipped with everything an expert developer should know about building Line of Business applications using Silverlight 5
• Take advantage of a complete LOB case study built gradually from start to finish throughout each chapter

Approach

This highly practical, expert level tutorial teaches you to build a Line of Business application with the aid of a case study which gradually builds throughout the book. It also includes a jumpstart chapter for developers coming from other technologies.

Who this book is written for

If you already have a firm grasp of Silverlight development and are keen to advance your specialist knowledge of Line of Business (LOB) application development, then Expert Line of Business Application Development for Silverlight 5: Quick Start Guide is for you.

If you are a developer with experience of other technologies, you may also find this book useful.

Summary

Dependency Injection in .NET

presents core DI patterns in plain C#, so you'll fully understand how DI works, covers integration with standard Microsoft technologies like ASP.NET MVC, and teaches you to use DI frameworks like Structure Map, Castle Windsor, and Unity.

About the Technology

Dependency Injection is a great way to reduce tight coupling between software components. Instead of hard-coding dependencies, such as specifying a database driver, you inject a list of services that a component may need. The services are then connected by a third party. This technique enables you to better manage future changes and other complexity in your software.

About this Book

Dependency Injection in .NET introduces DI and provides a practical guide for applying it in .NET applications. The book presents the core patterns in plain C#, so you'll fully understand how DI works. Then you'll learn to integrate DI with standard Microsoft technologies like ASP.NET MVC, and to use DI frameworks like StructureMap, Castle Windsor, and Unity. By the end of the book, you'll be comfortable applying this powerful technique in your everyday .NET development.

This book is written for C# developers. No previous experience with DI or DI frameworks is required.

What's Inside

• Many C#-based examples
• A catalog of DI patterns and anti-patterns
• Using both Microsoft and open source DI frameworks

Tabel of Contents

PART 1 PUTTING DEPENDENCY INJECTION ON THE MAP
1. A Dependency Injection tasting menu
2. A comprehensive example
3. DI Containers
PART 2 DI CATALOG
4. DI patterns
5. DI anti-patterns
6. DI refactorings
PART 3 DIY DI
7. Object Composition
8. Object Lifetime
9. Interception
PART 4 DI CONTAINERS
10. Castle Windsor
11. StructureMap
12. Spring.NET
13. Autofac
14. Unity
15. MEF

Business intelligence (BI) software allows you to view different components of a business using a single visual platform, which makes comprehending mountains of data easier. BI is everywhere. Applications that include reports, analytics, statistics, and historical and predictive modeling are all examples of business intelligence. Currently, we are in the second generation of business intelligence software—called BI 2.0—which is focused on writing business intelligence software that is predictive, adaptive, simple, and interactive.

As computers and software have evolved, more data can be presented to end users with increasingly visually rich techniques. Rich Internet application (RIA) technologies such as Microsoft Silverlight can be used to transform traditional user-interfaces filled with boring data into fully interactive analytical applications that quickly deliver insight from large data sets. Furthermore, RIAs now include 3D spatial-design capabilities that move beyond a simple list or grid and allow for interesting layouts of aggregated data. BI 2.0 implemented via an RIA technology can truly bring out the power of business intelligence and deliver it to an average user on the Web.

Silverlight 4 Business Intelligence Software provides developers, designers, and architects with a solid foundation in business intelligence design and architecture concepts for Microsoft Silverlight. This book covers key business intelligence design concepts and how they can be applied without an existing BI infrastructure. Author Bart Czernicki provides you with examples of how to build small BI applications that are interactive, highly visual, statistical, predictive—and most importantly—intuitive to the end-user.

Business intelligence isn’t just for the executive branch of a Fortune 500 company—it is for the masses. Let Silverlight 4 Business Intelligence Software show you how to unlock the rich intelligence you already have.

What you’ll learn

• Design rich business intelilgence solutions for the masses
• Discover tips for using engaging business intelligence designs for application presentation
• Consume business intelligence data as a service
• Understand and create SaaS models in business intelligence
• Craft business intelligence solutions using the most advanced Silverlight 4.0 technology through C# 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010

Who this book is for

There are four core audiences for this book:

• Business intelligence professionals/developers: Cube designers, report writers, SharePoint administrators, and others in this group are looking for a resource to gain additional wisdom on cutting-edge BI concepts. These readers will gain ideas that go beyond the capabilities of the traditional BI tools they are used to.
• Senior developers or architects: Developers who are familiar with writing traditional software applications and want to broaden their understanding of concepts in order to include BI fall into this category. Some may have never written any BI applications in their careers but are interested in what BI has to offer. These readers will understand the core BI concepts and how to apply them using application techniques.
• CTOs/BI directors: These are senior managers who make strategic decisions with BI. The technical examples will probably be overly technical for these readers. However, the numerous visual aids within this book will help these strategic managers make better decisions after seeing next-generation BI concepts implemented.
• BI consultants: These readers may be any combination of the preceding three categories. The BI consultant can use this book as a resource for ideas and examples of next-generation BI designs.

Table of Contents

1. Business Intelligence 2.0 Defined
2. Advantages of Applying Business Intelligence 2.0 Using Microsoft Silverlight
3. Silverlight as a Business Intelligence Client
4. Adding Interactivity to Business Intelligence Data
5. Introduction to Data Visualizations
6. Creating Data Visualizations for Analysis
7. Enhancing Visual Intelligence in Silverlight
8. Applying Collective Intelligence
9. Predictive Analytics (What-If Modeling)
10. Improving Performance with Concurrent Programming
11. Integrating with Business Intelligence Systems
12. Mobile Intelligence
13. Surfacing Silverlight Business Intelligence in SharePoint
14. Using the Silverlight PivotViewer
15. Prototyping Applications with Dynamic Data
16. Creating a Bullet Graph User Control

Silverlight 4 in Action is a fast-paced, comprehensive tutorial that guides the reader from creating "Hello World" to coding production-quality, data-driven rich internet applications with graphics, audio, and video content. Written for a developer who already knows how to code in C#, this fluff-free book covers the basics quickly and dives into the heart of Silverlight development using XAML (a markup language for creating user interface elements) and Visual Studio 2010. You'll learn not only how to accomplish tasks, but how the underlying runtime works.
In addition to the fundamentals, the book covers the new features in Silverlight like pixel shaders, webcam and microphone, and raw media, as well as WCF RIA Services and patterns like MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel). It explains developing offline and "out-of-browser" applications, managing video and audio, handling validation, navigation and deep-linking, and how each Silverlight feature fits into the overall Silverlight ecosystem.
Table of Contents

1. Introducing Silverlight
2. Core XAML
3. The application model and the plug-in
4. Integrating with the browser
5. Integrating with the desktop
6. Rendering, layout, and transforming
7. Panels
8. Human input
9. Text
10. Controls and UserControls
11. Binding
12. Data controls: DataGrid and DataForm
13. Input validation
14. Networking and communications
15. Navigation and dialogs
16. Structuring and testing with the MVVM/ViewModel pattern
17. WCF RIA Services
18. Graphics and effects
19. Printing
20. Displaying and capturing media (including webcam/mic)
21. Working with bitmap images
22. Animation and behaviors
23. Resoures, styles, and control templates
24. Creating panels and controls
25. The install experience and preloaders