Silverlight (previously code-named 'WPF everywhere' or 'WPF/e') is one of the biggest new technologies to be released by Microsoft in recent years. Interest in it amongst the Microsoft development community has been huge - dwarfing even that show for ASP.NET AJAX. A partially complete version of Silverlight (version 1.0) was released earlier this year without support for the .NET framework. A new version with full .NET support is being released early in 2008 and it is this complete version that is targeted in this book. The book takes people on a guided tour of all the new tools that are available to create Silverlight applications - from Expression Design and Expression Blend through to Visual Studio 2008. The book explains how each of the tools performs it's part of the job of putting together well-constructed Silverlight application and demonstrates this with a series of straight-forward examples that illustrate how developers and designers can perform their roles in harmony. The book has a developer's focus but takes an open approach so that readers are aware of what is happening on both sides of the fence - an essential concept to grasp in modern web development. By the end of the book readers will be well prepared to start creating Silverlight applications, both on their own or with the support of a design team.

Autorentext
Robert Lair is the president and chief executive officer of Intensity Software, Inc. and has been working with Microsoft .NET technologies since prior to its initial release in 2000. Among his accomplishments, Robert was on the team that created the original ASP.NET sample application IBuySpy, used to demonstrate the power of ASP.NET. Robert is an active speaker and writer in the development community.

Zusammenfassung

With the need for a richer user experience ever more in focus when creating web applications, Microsoft has released Silverlight, the new crossbrowser, crossplatform plugin that allows developers to create rich interactive applications for the Web.

Silverlight poses exciting new opportunities for creating visually impressive web applications, offering unparalleled response times and minimal bandwidth requirements. Key differences in the new design tools present developers with new challenges, but author Robert Lair of IBuySpy notoriety (the original ASP.NET application) shows you how to get a firm handle on Silverlight so you can start creating your own Silverlight web applications with exciting results.

Explore the best of the new tools and discover how they can benefit your own projects. Microsoft's Expression Design tool plays an important part in creating Silverlight assets, Microsoft Expression Blend is used to build user interaction for Silverlight elements, and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 manages the interaction between designers and developers and provides the coding environment for the nuts and bolts basis of Silverlight development. Prepare to take a grand tour of all these new tools and explore the fundamentals of building good Silverlight applications from scratch. Once you've mastered the basics, you'll move on to a more indepth discussion of some of the groundbreaking new features of the Silverlight technology and why they will change the way you build web sites of the future.

Inhalt
Welcome to Silverlight 2.- to Visual Studio 2008.- Layout Management in Silverlight.- Silverlight Form Controls.- Data Binding and Silverlight List Controls.- Data Access and Networking.- Local Storage in Silverlight.- to Expression Blend.- Styling in Silverlight.- Transformations and Animation.- Custom Controls.