.NET User Interfaces with C#: Windows Forms and Custom Controls is a comprehensive look at cutting-edge user interface programming. It goes far beyond other .NET titles, describing how to extend .NET controls, create data binding strategies, program graphics, and code UI "intelligence" with context-sensitive help and dynamic agents.
Another .NET book?
In the past few months, a deluge of .NET books has hit store shelves, each one eager to explain the new programming philosophy of the .NET world. In the excitement, many of these books have left out the tricks and insights you need to really master .NET programming. Part of the problem is that no single work can cover the entire .NET platform-a sprawling, ambitious Framework that revolutionizes everything from Internet applications to data access technology. Many .NET books provide a good overview of essential concepts, but they can't deal with the subtleties needed for every type of development.
This book represents the start of the second wave of .NET books: closely focused works that give you the insight of experienced developers about a single aspect of .NET programming. In .NET User Interfaces with C#: Windows Forms and Custom Controls, you'll take a close look at all the ingredients you can use to design state-of-the-art application interfaces. You'll also delve into entirely new topics like custom control design and GDI+, the next-generation painting framework for Windows. You won't just learn about anchoring and docking, you'll work with complete examples that show document-view architectures, custom control layout engines, dockable windows, and hit testing with owner-drawn controls.
It provides the following:
- An overview of how to design elegant user interfaces the average user can understand. This is addressed directly in the first chapter, and indirectly in tips and asides throughout the book.
- A comprehensive examination of the user interface controls and classes in .NET. Although this book is not a reference, it contains an exhaustive tour of almost every user interface element you'll want to use, including providers, components, and custom controls.
- A tutorial with best practices and design tips for coding user interfaces and integrating help. This represents overall focus, and the single most important aspect of the book. As a developer, you need to know more than how to add a control to a window. You also need to know how to create an entire user interface framework that's scalable, flexible, and reusable.
Chapter 1: Creating Usable Interfaces
Chapter 2: Designing with Classes and Tiers
Chapter 3: Control Class Basics
Chapter 4: Classic Controls
Chapter 5: Forms
Chapter 6: Modern Controls
Chapter 7: Custom Controls
Chapter 8: Design-Time Support for Custom Controls
Chapter 9: Data Controls
Chapter 10: MDI Interfaces and Workspaces
Chapter 11: Dynamic User Interface
Chapter 12: GDI+ Basics
Chapter 13: GDI+ Controls
Chapter 14: Help and Application-Embedded Support |
