PRObooks
Windows Forms Programming with C#
The subtitle of Windows Forms Programming with C# could have been, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About .NET Windows Forms Controls, as it provides extensive detail about every major common control and Windows Form widget that ships with Visual Studio .NET. It also covers in detail the classes behind the controls. Author Erik Brown walks you through the construction of the book s central application, an imaging viewing Photo Album application authored in C#. When you re-create this program, you learn how C# can generate a program with the look and feel of a traditional MFC-based application.
Although the book stays true to its instructional objective, it stops short of providing a comprehensive tome on the subject. A paltry 38-page chapter talks about data-binding controls, which, in my opinion, are the controls Windows Forms applications likely will leverage the most. It also lacks examples of connecting Web service results with form widgets. Most disappointing is the book doesn t cover how to extend the control s base classes into user-defined descendents.
In essence, Windows Forms Programming with C# clearly shows the coding advantages of using C# for Windows Forms, but it fails to demonstrate the visual advantages of using C# managed code vs. old-fashioned MFC.
You can download the book s source code from the publisher s Web site, and Manning Publications has also offered an electronic edition of the book available for $13.50 (plus a $3.50 service charge); you can apply this charge toward the hard copy of the book if you choose to purchase it. Offers like this are encouraging to see, especially in light of the tablet PCs coming to the masses that will accelerate the transaction and consumption of this type of content.
Mike Riley
Windows Forms Programming with C#, by Erik Brown, Manning Publications, http://www.manning.com
Rating:
ISBN: 1930110286
Cover Price: US$49.95
(752 pages)
