Product Description

Silverlight 2 is a lightweight browser plug–in that frees your code from the traditional confines of the browser. It’s a rules–changing, groundbreaking technology that allows you to run rich client applications right inside the browser. Even more impressively, it’s able to host true .NET applications in non–Microsoft browsers (like Firefox) and on non–Microsoft platforms (like Mac OS X).

Silverlight is still new and evolving fast, and you need a reliable guidebook to make sense of it. Pro Silverlight 2 in VB 2008 is the perfect reference—you’ll learn about the features that put Silverlight in direct competition with Adobe Flash, such as rich support for 2D drawing, animations, and media playback, and best of all, you’ll experience the plumbing of .NET and the design model of WPF through Silverlight—all of the same .NET technology that developers use to design next–generation Windows applications. Author Matthew MacDonald provides an expertly crafted tutorial written for the professional developer. You’ll learn to create rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment you’re most productive in—no matter what the target platform.

What you’ll learn

• Develop rich media applications using Silverlight and Visual Basic across browsers and platforms.
• Create a project, set up a layout, and use controls.
• Handle 2D drawing, animation, and media playback through Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
• Integrate web services support.
• Use Silverlight in conjunction with ASP.NET and its interactions with HTML.

Who is this book for?

Visual Basic 2005 and 2008 developers encountering Silverlight for the first time. No prior knowledge of WPF or ASP.NET is assumed.

About the Apress Pro Series

The Apress Pro series books are practical, professional tutorials to keep you on and moving up the professional ladder.

You have gotten the job, now you need to hone your skills in these tough competitive times. The Apress Pro series expands your skills and expertise in exactly the areas you need. Master the content of a Pro book, and you will always be able to get the job done in a professional development project. Written by experts in their field, Pro series books from Apress give you the hard–won solutions to problems you will face in your professional programming career.

About the Author

Matthew MacDonald is an author, educator, and MCSD developer who has a passion for emerging technologies. He is a regular writer for developer journals such as Inside Visual Basic, ASPToday, and Hardcore Visual Studio .NET, and he's the author of several books about programming with .NET, including User Interfaces in VB .NET: Windows Forms and Custom Controls, The Book of VB .NET, and .NET Distributed Applications. In a dimly remembered past life, he studied English literature and theoretical physics. Send e-mail to him with praise, condemnation, and everything in between, to p2p@prosetech.com.

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