Windows Forms in Action
Microsoft .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Visual C# (CSharp, C Sharp, C-Sharp) Developer Training, Visual Studio
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C# Online.NET Book Review
The first edition of this book was well received; but, this new edition is much improved with more concise chapters and better chapter layout. The second edition is totally overhauled and revised to cover the Microsoft .NET 2.0 environment.
The subject matter is enormous—dozens of Forms and Visual Studio controls, their proper uses, and interactions. It was a Herculean task for a single author to organize a mountain of information into a simple, clear, logical presentation. But, our author succeeds in balancing detail and perspective, complexity and simplicity, erudition and accessibility.
For the most part, the book is a tutorial on developing and enhancing a sample application called MyPhotos. Now, this might sound a bit trivial; but, the application is a real one, and—over some 20 chapters—it proves to be an excellent vehicle for illustrating and employing the features of Windows Forms (System.Windows.Forms). And, the author has developed the application as one would in the real world using good design priinciples and coding standards.
Fotunately for our members, the book uses C# and Visual Studio throughout. You don't have to read a single line of Visual Basic; because, all the sample code is in C#.
And, the author has developed an effective table system for explicating sample C# code. The action is in the left column and the sample code is on the right. Each row of the table represents a self-contained action and the code to implement it. As a result, you can either read down the right column to read the entire sample normally, or you can analyze the code row by row (action by action).
I do have a minor gripe about the book: it contains a 34 page C# Primer appendix. I hope publishers will soon conclude that we do not need a C# summary in the back of every book on our bookshelf. I have a few hundred books in my library; and, if they all contained C# primers, I would have some 10,000 pages of redundant, summary C# information warping my bookshelves! If this were the only .NET book I owned, perhaps it would come in handy.
This step-by-step tutorial is well written. If you use the book as intended and develop the application along with the author, you will become quite facile with Visual Studio and impressively knowledgeable in Windows Forms. And, beginners will, also, improve their C# and program design skills.
Bottom line
Windows Forms in Action is a pedagogical tour de force of technical writing.
Other books in this series
From the back cover
What's inside:
- Owner-drawn lists and tabs;
- List, tree, and data grid views;
- Data streaming and encryption;
- Masked text boxes and date controls;
- Standard and ClickOnce deployment;
- How to spice up your applications with: custom controls. drag and drop, background processing, automatic text completion, embedded web browsing.
From the publisher's Web site
Using many examples all on a common theme, this second edition of Windows Forms Programming with C# presents Windows application development in a step-by-step, easy to follow format. Written for beginner and intermediate programmers eager to get their hands dirty, the text covers fundamentals like labels, buttons, and tool strips, as well as advanced concepts like owner-drawn lists, custom controls, and two-way data binding.
The book is a tutorial, leading the reader through Windows application development using C# and Visual Studio .NET. It illustrates how the classes in the .NET Framework interact in a fully functional application. Material added for the second edition includes coverage of the .NET 2.0 Framework, extender providers, cryptographic classes, and application deployment.
Highlights
- Practical and real-world
- Examples presented in unique tabular form
- Covers application integration and code management
- Expands and updates the widely acclaimed First Edition
About the author(s)
A mathematician by training, Erik Brown has been working with code for over 17 years, as a developer, architect, consultant, and manager. He is a veteranof three successful start up companies and currently works as a program manager at Unisys Corporation. Erik lives in northern Virginia with his wife and two daughters.
Table of Contents (abbreviated)
Preface to the first edition
Acknowledgments
About this book
What’s new in 2.0
About the cover illustration
Part 1: Hello Windows Forms
1. Getting started with Windows Forms
2. Getting started with Visual Studio
Part 2: Basic Windows Forms
3. Menus 4. Context menu and status strips
5. Reusable libraries
6. Files and common dialog boxes
7. Dialog boxes
8. Text boxes
9. Buttons
10. Handling user input and encryption
11. List boxes
12. Combo boxes
13. Tab controls and pages
14. Dates, calendars, and progress bars
15. Bells and whistles
16. Tool strips
Part 3: Advanced Windows Forms
17. Custom controls
18. Explorer interfaces and tree views
19. List views
20. Multiple document interfaces
21. Data binding
22. Two-way binding and binding sources
23. Odds and ends .NET
Appendix A: C# primer
Appendix B: .NET namespaces
Appendix C: Visual index
Appendix D: For more information
