Wednesday, 11 April 2012

Pro C# 2010 and the .NET 4 Platform

The first edition of this book was released at the 2001 Tech-Ed conference in Atlanta, Georgia. At that time, the .NET platform was still a beta product, and in many ways, so was this book. This is not to say that the early editions of this text did not have merit—after all, the book was a 2002 Jolt Award finalist and it won the 2003 Referenceware Excellence Award. However, over the years that author Andrew Troelsen spent working with the common language runtime (CLR), he gained a much deeper understanding of the .NET platform and the subtleties of the C# programming language, and he feels that this fifth edition of the book is as close to a “final release” as he’s come yet.
This new edition has been comprehensively revised and rewritten to make it accurately reflect the C# 4 language specification for the .NET 4 platform. You’ll find new chapters covering the important concepts of dynamic lookups, named and optional arguments, Parallel LINQ (PLINQ), improved COM interop, and variance for generics.
If you’re checking out this book for the first time, do understand that it's targeted at experienced software professionals and/or graduate students of computer science (so don't expect three chapters on iteration or decision constructs!). The mission of this text is to provide you with a rock-solid foundation in the C# programming language and the core aspects of the .NET platform (assemblies, remoting, Windows Forms, Web Forms, ADO.NET, XML web services, etc.). Once you digest the information presented in these 25 chapters, you’ll be in a perfect position to apply this knowledge to your specific programming assignments, and you’ll be well equipped to explore the .NET universe on your own terms.

Pro ASP.NET MVC 3 Framework

The ASP.NET MVC 3 Framework is the latest evolution of Microsoft’s ASP.NET web platform. It provides a high-productivity programming model that promotes cleaner code architecture, test-driven development, and powerful extensibility, combined with all the benefits of ASP.NET 4.

In this third edition, the core model-view-controller (MVC) architectural concepts are not simply explained or discussed in isolation, but are demonstrated in action. You’ll work through an extended tutorial to create a working e-commerce web application that combines ASP.NET MVC with the latest C# language features and unit-testing best practices. By gaining this invaluable, practical experience, you’ll discover MVC’s strengths and weaknesses for yourself—and put your best-learned theory into practice.

The book's authors Steve Sanderson and Adam Freeman have both watched the growth of ASP.NET MVC since its first release. Steve is a well-known blogger on the MVC Framework and a member of the Microsoft Web Platform and Tools team. Adam started designing and building web applications 15 years ago and has been responsible for some of the world's largest and most ambitious projects. You can be sure you are in safe hands.

Pro Agile .NET Development with SCRUM

Pro Agile .NET Development with SCRUM guides you through a real-world ASP.NET project and shows how agile methodology is put into practice.

There is plenty of literature on the theory behind agile methodologies, but no book on the market takes the concepts of agile practices and applies these in a practical manner to an end-to-end ASP.NET project, especially the estimating, requirements and management aspects of a project. Pro Agile .NET Development with SCRUM takes you through the initial stages of a project—gathering requirements and setting up an environment—through to the development and deployment stages using an agile iterative approach: namely, Scrum.

In the book, you'll focus on delivering an enterprise-level ASP.NET project. Each chapter is in iterations or sprints, putting into practice the features of agile—user stories, test-driven development (TDD), behavior-driven development (BDD), continuous integration, user acceptance testing, extreme programming, Scrum, design patterns and principles, inside-out development, lean developent, KanBan boards, and more. An appendix features code katas designed for the reader to get up-to-speed with some of the features of extreme programming, while also showcasing popular open-source frameworks to assist in automated testing and mocking. In addition, popular open-source architectural foundation projects such as S#arp and NCommons are demonstrated to allow you to base future projects on these frameworks, which already have many best-practice design patterns and principles built in.

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

Windows Phone Recipes A Problem Solution Approach



Windows Phone 7.5 (code-named Mango) marks a significant upgrade to Microsoft’s smartphone products. Packed with sophisticated new features and functionality, the device is a .NET developer’s dream, easily programmable using Silverlight, XNA and C#.

Windows Phone Recipes utilizes a proven problem-solution approach, providing a concise guide to all the phone’s features in recipe book format. First, the problem you're facing is identified. Then, a clear explanation of the solution is given, supported by a fully-worked code sample that demonstrates the feature in action.

All aspects of development, configuration, testing, and distribution are covered. You'll find recipes that unlock advanced user interface features, deal with data storage, integrate with cloud services, add media and location services, and much more. It's everything you'll need to put a professional polish on your Windows Phone 7.5 applications!

Visual C# 2010 Recipes A Problem-Solution Approach

Mastering the development of .NET 4.0 applications in C# is less about knowing the Visual C# 2010 language and more about knowing how to use the functionality of the .NET framework class library most effectively. Visual C# 2010 Recipes explores the breadth of the .NET Framework class library and provides specific solutions to common and interesting programming problems. Each recipe is presented in a succinct problem/solution format and is accompanied by a working code sample to help you understand the concept and quickly apply it.
When you are facing a Visual C# 2010 problem, this book likely contains a recipe providing the solution—or at least points you in the right direction. Even if you are simply looking to broaden your knowledge of the .NET framework class library, Visual C# 2010 Recipes is the perfect resource to assist you.
This is an updated reference for .NET 4.0 programmers. All code samples come as stand-alone Visual Studio 2010 solutions for your convenience.

What you’ll learn

  • Clear, concise answers to myriad problems that occur during day-to-day C# 2010 development
  • How to write code according to Microsoft's best practice guidelines
  • Answers to questions covering everything from workflow to XML processing 

UML Applied - Object Oriented Analysis and Design Using UML



UML Applied: A .NET Perspective is the first book to examine the two worlds of Unified Modeling Language (UML) and .NET concurrently. The core of this book provides a set of proven, hands-on, team-oriented exercises that will have you solving real-world problems with UML faster than when using any other approach—often in under a day. Author Martin Shoemaker also demonstrates how to use Rational XDE for effective model-driven development.

From the author:

“In teaching UML to my students, nothing has been as effective as 'Five-Step UML,' a process I devised by stripping away, one piece at a time, everything that got in the way of learning UML. Eventually, I was left with five simple, clear steps that show the students why and how to use UML, by having them start the class by actually solving problems with UML. After they learn the why and the how, they're motivated to learn the what: the details of the UML notation. And they have a lot of fun in the process.

Windows Mobile Game Development Building games for the Windows Phone

This book will provide you with a comprehensive guide to developing games for both the Windows Mobile platform and the Windows Phone using the industry standard programming languages C# and VB .NET.
You will be walked through every aspect of developing for the Windows Mobile platform—from setting up your development environment for the first time to creating advanced 3D graphics. Finally, you’ll learn how you can make your applications available to others, whether distributing for free or selling online.
Using extensive code samples throughout, you’ll gather all the information needed to create your own games and distribute them successfully for others to enjoy.
Aimed primarily at C# developers, almost everything in the book can be used in VB .NET too. For those areas where this is not the case, workarounds are suggested so that VB .NET developers are still able to use the techniques described.

Monday, 9 April 2012

Beginning Ajax with PHP



Ajax breathes new life into web applications by transparently communicating and manipulating data in conjunction with a server-based technology. Of all the server-based technologies capable of working in conjunction with Ajax, perhaps none are more suitable than PHP, the world’s most popular scripting language.
Beginning Ajax with PHP: From Novice to Professional is the first book to introduce how these two popular technologies can work together to create next-generation applications. Author Lee Babin covers what you commonly encounter in daily web application development tasks, and shows you how to build PHP/Ajax-enabled solutions for forms validation, file upload monitoring, database-driven information display and manipulation, web services, Google Maps integration, and more.
You’ll also be introduced to other key topics like conquering cross-platform issues, countering potential security holes, and testing and debugging JavaScript with efficiency. All examples are based on real-world scenarios, so you’ll be able to apply what you learn to your own development situations.

More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3



More iPhone 3 Development

Interested in iPhone development? Want to learn more? Whether you’re a self-taught iPhone development genius or have just made your way through the pages of Beginning iPhone 3 Development, we have the perfect book for you.

More iPhone 3 Development: Tackling iPhone SDK 3 digs deeper into Apple’s latest SDK. Best-selling authors Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche explain concepts as only they can, covering topics like Core Data, peer-to-peer networking using GameKit and network streams, working with data from the web, MapKit, in-application e-mail, and more. All the concepts and APIs are clearly presented with code snippets you can customize and use, as you like, in your own apps.If you are going to write a professional iPhone app, you’ll want to get your arms around Core Data, and there’s no better place to do so than in the pages of this book. The book continues right where Beginning iPhone 3 Development left off with a series of chapters devoted to Core Data, the standard for persistence that Apple introduced to iPhone with SDK 3. Jeff and Dave carefully step through each of the Core Data concepts and show you techniques and tips specifically for writing larger applications—offering a breadth of coverage you won’t find anywhere else.

Beginning XML with DOM and Ajax

Beginning XML with Dom and Ajax: From Novice to Professional


Don't waste time on 1,000-page tomes full of syntax; this book is all you need to get ahead in XML development. Renowned web developer Sas Jacobs presents an essential guide to XML. Beginning XML with DOM and Ajax is practical and comprehensive. It includes everything you need to know to get up to speed with XML development quickly and painlessly.
Jacobs begins by presenting an overview of XMLits syntax, rules, vocabularies, and the hows and whys of validity. She also covers the current state of XML support in todays web browsers. Next, Jacobs covers all of the basic essential uses of XML. You’ll learn how to display XML data using CSS, and transform XML data using XSLT. You’ll even learn about dynamic XML scripting using the XML DOM.
The last part of the book covers advanced server-side XML uses in real-world applications, including displaying XML data in Flash, and XML-driven PHP and ASP.NET applications. And last but not least, Jacobs provides a perfect introduction to Ajax development.