Introducing Silverlight 4 brings you up to speed with the latest version of Silverlight quickly and efficiently. The book builds off your understanding of the basics of .NET coding and WPF, allowing your journey to Silverlight 4 proficiency to be as quick and painless as possible. The text highlights where coding techniques are similar to other, more established areas of the .NET framework. Likewise, when your existing coding habits lead you to a syntax or conceptual ’gotcha,’ the text points that out, too.

This book provides you with fast-track coverage of all the most important elements of the Silverlight 4 technology ranging from XAML to standard controls, from dealing with media to networking, from testing to deployment. It also reveals the new features introduced with Silverlight 4 and offers guidance on how to best utilize them. The book concludes with a pair of fully worked sample applications for you to follow through, because nothing reinforces your understanding of how concepts fit together as much as looking at finished code.

It is assumed that readers are already be comfortable with the workings of the .NET Framework. Knowledge of Expression Blend is useful, but not mandatory: you’ll learn the Blend techniques that you need to know as you go through the book. By the end, you will have followed a sound, concise path to mastery of Silverlight 4.

What you’ll learn

• Migrate your existing .NET skills to Silverlight 4 as quickly as possible
• Learn everything you need to know to start developing quality Silverlight 4 applications with confidence
• Explore worked case studies showing techniques and best practices in a code-heavy style that you can relate to
• Understand the latest developments in Silverlight 4, including H.264 protected content, right-click event handling, a new printing API, and support for the Managed Extensibility Framework

Who is this book for?

This book is for .NET developers, whether they are previewing .NET 4.0, already using .NET 3.5, or are in the process of migrating up from .NET 2.0. The aim is to ease people's migration paths as much as possible, so the text includes notes to highlight important features of .NET 3.5 and 4.0 that people need to be aware of and also to highlight where Silverlight’s working and syntax differs substantially from that of WPF.

Ashish Ghoda is a customer–focused and business values–driven IT executive with over 11 years of leadership, technical and financial management, and enterprise application architect experience. Currently he is associate director at a Big Four accounting firm.