Microsoft Silverlight Books

It's all about the sample code

I'm coming in late to laud this remarkable book. I wanted, however, to emphasize what makes this book so remarkable. It comes down to the code samples.

Many tech books treat code samples almost as an afterthought. In Jeff Paries' book, it is front and center. All the sample projects -- it is embarrassing even to have to say this -- actually _work_!

The sample projects are also well designed -- each demonstrates a particular feature of Silverlight that Mr. Paries wants to highlight. The text of the book then elucidates the aspect of Silverlight that is being featured.

You will notice that even Bob Vignato's lowball review is all about the code samples -- in this case his difficulties in accessing them.

This is all to say that the successful execution of Jeff Paries' book brings to the fore something that has been a source of shame for the technical publishing world for quite a while. Simply put, the code should work! I can certainly put up with technical authors who can't spell or can't form a decent metaphor. They are, after all, coders first and writers second. What I find difficult to abide is technical authors who cannot -- or do not -- make sure that the code they provide with a book, first, works, and second, is useful.

This is surely not too much to ask.

The code that accompanies this wonderful book by Jeff Paries not only works and enlightens -- it also delights with clever and interesting animations one feels compelled to play with and modify. My six year old on occassion asks me to bring up particular code examples from this book that she enjoyed. What greater recommendation can a book receive?




James Ashley
14 September, 2009

Make the code download easier....

This book is great but you need the code to really understand whats going on... The site that has the code makes you enter a password to get it and you have to beg the author, or someone else thats not very nice. 50/50 on this book.

Robert A. Vignato Jr.
14 May, 2009

The best book on Silverlight Animation (and more) I've Seen

I have an iron-clad rule that I do not evaluate technical books; I don't think it is fair to the other authors as sooner or later we'll write competing books and I doubt my own objectivity.

I violate this rule about once a year when someone writes such a truly terrific book it stands as an object lesson in what technical writing should be. Two that come to mind immediately are Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds and Programming Windows Presentation Foundation by Chris Sells and Ian Griffiths. The newest addition to my pantheon of great technical writing -- books that transcend the subject matter and yet have enormous practical value -- is Foundation Silverlight Animation by Jeff Paries.

There is much to say about why this is a truly canonical book; but begin with the fact that I found myself learning something useful on every page. There was nothing I wanted to skip; no fluff, no wasted time, no throw away words. Blaise Pascal is said to have ended one correspondence with "The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter." He, like Paries understood that great writing does not waste words, but like all great technical writers, neither does Jeff leave you wondering, confused or lost.

A second very strong factor in this book is Paries' commitment to going beyond the material you can find in the documentation, and even the material you can dig up on various web sites, to advanced material you would not, initially have thought yourself capable of, or in need of, and then demonstrating both the benefits and the ease with which you can conquer the material. This is especially true in his sections on creating animation procedurally (in code, as opposed to declaratively in Xaml).

My complaints about his book are the same as about my own: the code could be set off a bit more and line numbering would be terrific, but since I have the same problem I can't say more than that it would be nice.

Key to the success of this book is that it is obvious the author spent as much time thinking through how to present the material and who his potential audience is, as he did writing it. This is an extremely well organized, well written and valuable book that I find I keep close at hand.

Jesse Liberty
Senior Program Manager
"Silverlight Geek"
Microsoft

[These opinions are mine alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Microsoft, O'Reilly or any other organizaiton. I have met Jeff though we are neither personal friends nor have we ever worked together, though I hope we will do so soon. In any case, my admiration for this book was formed well before I met the author]

Jesse Liberty
27 April, 2009

Another Silverlight "Must Have"

With over 200 programming projects and step-by-step tutorial-style writing, this is a fantastic book if you're wanting to do animation in Silverlight.

As the other reviewers have noted, Jeff doesn't scrimp on the topics, yet even the difficult concepts are presented in a very readable and usable format.

As someone who writes and speaks about Silverlight, this book is on my short list of books you need to have and read if you're going to seriously develop in Silverlight.

You will NOT be disappointed, kudos Jeff!

D. Campbell
26 February, 2009

Big thumbs up

This book is easily worth ten times the money. I haven't seen a better book about animation in silverlight yet. Great job on kinematics - if there's ever gonna be a follow up on SL3 I'm definitely getting it.

Maciej Misztal
17 February, 2009