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| Applications = Code + Markup: A Guide to the Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (Pro - Developer) | 
| Author: Charles Petzold
Publisher: Microsoft Press
Category: Book
List Price: $59.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (39 reviews)
Sales Rank: 51175
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1020
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 7.6 x 2
ISBN: 0735619573
Dewey Decimal Number: 005.446
EAN: 9780735619579
ASIN: 0735619573
Publication Date: September 13, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In this book, Windows programming legend Charles Petzold covers in parallel the two interfaces that make up the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). From the outset, the reader can shift focus seamlessly between Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) and C# to see them as flip sides of the same processes. Beginning in the first chapter, Petzold presents the general syntax of the XAML and corresponding programming code with numerous illuminating examples on how the two correspond and interrelate. The book builds on this base, providing the classic Petzold Windows user interface (UI) treatment, to show Windows developers how to create next-generation interfaces for their applications.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 Disappointing Title from an Amazing Author September 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Over the last decade I've been reading books by Charles Petzold; until this one I enjoyed them all. I consider Petzold to be one of the best Windows development authors out there. He's been writing about it since Windows was became Windows. Most of his titles offer well thought out and presented material. This book did not.
Twice I attempted to read this book as my introduction to the Windows Presentation Foundation. Both times I failed to advance my mark more than a few hundred pages. There are absolutely no illustrations, screenshots or pictures of any kind. This fact forces the reader to type up his numerous code samples to see their output. While I enjoy having many samples in a book about programming, I don't always need to type up the program myself to understand its meaning. Call it teaching to all the senses, but I like more visuals.
My other complaint with the book is that while reading it I constantly feel I'm not moving anywhere. Most other programming books I've read I felt like I could go out and use the tool, even if it was only a fraction of its functionality. With this book I constantly felt like I had to wait until the 2nd half, the XAML discussion, to really use WPF. Yes, I could write a GUI by programmatically instantiating all the elements, but that isn't the way the technology was meant to be used. I would have enjoyed a brief introduction to XAML and its use throughout; only waiting until the end for diving into its deepest intricacies.
In the end, I couldn't finish this book and purchased a different title.
 The WPF Book I was waiting for July 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Every book I had read so far on WPF sidestepped the basic premise behind WPF -- that it was a brand new platform and a new programming paradigm, which will eventually replace WinForms. How did they do that? By glorifying XAML and everything that it could do for you, turning Windows programming into that trash called HTML, which most Windows programmers stay away from. When I read Nathan Adams' highly touted book, I couldn't get past that 3rd chapter. Chris Sells? About the same. The problem was always the same -- each of the aforesaid authors unnecessarily burden you with XAML when you are already trying to get your head around the WPF, thereby glossing over some very, very important concepts!
Charlie Petzold is that seasoned veteran that started doing Windows ever since Windows came into existence. He takes a truly novel approach in teaching you about WPF. He starts off by first telling you about WPF in the language you are most familiar with -- C#. He explains all the concepts, all the ideas, all the tenets. All in C#. And then, when you get familiar with all of that, bam! He hits you with XAML. He then starts showing you how you can do all of the things that he showed you in C# -- in XAML. But by this time, you are no longer struggling with the concepts of WPF. You already know what DependencyProperties and RoutedEvents are. You are already aware of virtual trees and logical trees. So now, when you see them represented in XAML, it makes so much more sense. And it's all easier to comprehend.
The simplest analogy I can give is this: remember the time when you started learning calculus in high school? That was a new enough concept, right? Now imagine if you had to learn that in German (or your non-native tongue)! But once you learn all the concepts in English, you could very well proceed in a language you weren't quite as familiar with.
To me this is the only way I could have learned WPF. And XAML. I was pushing off WPF all these days only because XAML was getting in the way of my learning. While a lot of Web-programmers will be happy for XAML, the fact is, declarative programming is not something Windows programmers are used to. To them, the only way to approach the subject is to first teach them WPF and then show them how XAML comes in the picture.
Having said that, there are a two extremely irritating aspects to the book that start rearing their annoying heads by the time you get to the second chapter:
1. There are no graphics showing outputs from the code. Granted you are expected to run the code samples (which can be downloaded from the MS Press support site), but I shouldn't have to run every single code sample. Moreover, there are times when I'm reading the book on a crowded train, when I can't really run the program on my laptop -- there's barely room to open the book as it is.
2. Every program is a Console app. So after you hit the F5 key, the annoying console window gets in the way of viewing the main Window. You have to minimize the window, or move it in order to see the Window (Form). According to Petzold, it's convenient for him to hit Ctrl-C on the Console window to terminate the program. Note to Petzold: Chuck, have you tried hitting Shift-F5 on your IDE? I find this so debilitating that I had a utility converting every single csproj file in the folder tree from a console to a Windows application.
Aside from that, the code samples run perfectly. I'm on Chapter 11, and so far every single code sample works.
If you are a seasoned Windows/C# programmer facing similar mind blocks against XAML, this is the book for you. If you are a Web programmer for whom C# is subservient to VBScript, or JavaScript, and are comfortable with HTML, this may not be the right entry point for you (as evidenced by some of the low ratings that this book got). You may need to get in via XAML, and a book that overly emphasizes its importance (such as Adams or Sells) might be the way to go.
If you don't have this book then you don't know WPF! July 17, 2008
This book is ESSENTIAL for any WPF engineer. There are so many topics covered in this book that will allow you to take your WPF applications to the next level. Charles' style of writing is fantastic and easy to understand. I wouldn't neccessarily recommend this to be the book to learn WPF fro but consider it an essential source for advanced topics.
The dust has settled. This is a terrific book. May 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Each chapter is well thought out and develops like a good narrative. Chapters are typically 20, 25 pages and thoroughly explain a central concept. They often end with a nice lead-in to the next chapter, like "this works, but what if you wanted to ...?"
When first published, no one knew what WPF things like StackPanels looked like, so people wanted screenshots everywhere. The book uses a series of concise console applications to demonstrate WPF concepts. I'm glad it does. With a screenshot on every page, the book would be 50% thicker or have less detailed info.
The console apps are self-contained little apps that generally demonstrate one aspect of a WPF feature. After a few chapters, I realized I needn't read every line of code carefully, since the author gives an intro on what to look for in the sample and often an explanation after the example about any non-obvious lines of code.
Other books have their place. I have several others because I sometimes want to examine some topic from several authors' POV. But for taking a programming concept and building a full explanation in clear, logical steps, no one does it better than Mr. Petzold.
Whether you are going to build next-gen Windows apps or develop Silverlight 2 applications, learning WPF and XAML is essential (just as web designers must sometimes work directly with html).
Visual Studio and Expression Blend make assumptions when you drag elements onto the design surface. It's easier to work directly in XAML rather than delete extraneous properties these tools add to your code.
Some criticize it takes half the book before delving into XAML. Anything in XAML can be done in C# (or VB), so starting with the code is a logical foundation for understanding. For things that are easier to wire up in XAML, the author points forward to those chapters. By the time you get to chapters on XAML, if you know anything at all about it, you'll fly thru the pages, filling in gaps about how code and markup work seamlessly together.
I cannot imagine thoroughly understanding WPF without having this book's comprehensive explanations available to me. I think it's a terrific book that will stand the test of time.
It May Not Be Pretty, But It's Pretty Good! January 20, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book seems to have had several negative reviews.
The gist of most people's complaints seem to be:
(a) "There's no XAML until Chapter 19" and/or
(b) "There aren't any pictures".
The Complaints - are they justified?
a. No XAML
People making this complaint have in my opinion totally missed the point for several reasons.
Firstly, this is not Charles Petzold's "How to Write XAML" book. It's a book whose title explicitly tells you that it will approach WPF from both the code (C#) and markup (XAML) perspectives. Unusually (actually I think it is uniquely) he doesn't mix and chop up the two approaches, but deals with each of them in isolation.
Secondly, WPF is not XAML. You can use XAML, sure. You'd be silly not to in many situations. But XAML is only one part of the big picture. As this book clearly shows, you can successfully create an awful lot of WPF output with code alone.
b. No Pictures
Normally I would have some sympathy with Complaint (b) because it's always nice to see what the code samples should produce. But if you use this book as the author intended and actually run the samples yourself you will gain far more than any quick glance at a screenshot would give you. You will gain insight and experience in how to master this new technology.
The Book
This is a book that very carefully works its way through the requirements needed for the reader to achieve a thorough understanding of the major concepts. One of the reasons why I recommend reading it - and using it - from cover to cover is that, even in the early basic chapters little gems of code and explanation are slipped into the narrative or the examples. Often these begin to deal with more complex topics that you will come on to in more detail later.
It is crammed full of detail. Mostly it's the kind of detail that you really need once you've got past the "let's play with WPF and see what you can knock out in a couple of hours" stage. The detail you need when you move on to the point where you want to do something that isn't necessarily easy out of the box, but is achievable if your understanding is built on stone, not sand.
If I have a complaint, it's a minor one: occasionally he lets the Math geek get out and play a bit more than strictly necessary, but even that is fairly rare.
The code samples are in C# only. However, Young Joo on the VB Team at Microsoft has organised for some chapters to be translated to VB.NET and there are more to come. You can access them from here: http://blogs.msdn.com/vbteam/archive/2008/01/07/petzold-wpf-book-sample-conversion-new-chapters-young-joo.aspx .
Summary
If you are committed to fully understanding WPF then this book is one you really should buy. By all means get others too. I already have several; they all serve their purpose, are very useful and I refer to them regularly. But when it comes right down to the "roll your sleeves up, go sit in a quiet place with book and PC to learn, really learn, WPF" then I think Charles Petzold has produced a (not so little) gem that will be truly helpful to you in your learning endeavours.
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