This review is on the book '101 Windows Phone 7 Apps: Volume I: Developing Apps 1-50', and has been submitted by a member of the Windows Phone 7 User Group - a user group supported by SilverlightShow.
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I think 101 windows phone 7 apps is a great book. It’s a great book if you're new to programming with Silverlight or to windows phone 7. It can also serve as a great reference material for intermediate programmers and veterans alike.
The last time I got this excited about a book was when I got head first java, but unlike head first java, 101 windows phone 7 apps doesn't try to take you into deep technicalities of what a class is or what an object is, neither does it try to take you into the technicalities of Silverlight or c# or xaml, but rather takes you straight to the point by building simple and practical windows phone apps, teaching you the design (xaml) and programming (c#) concept of the platform as you go along, though I will add here that it might not be as easy if you are completely new to programming.
This approach of using real life apps to teach means that by the time you get midway through the book, you would have been involved in the building of 25 fairly standard and practical apps and also would have touched on a lot of features and functionalities of the windows phone 7 platform. This would involve both the user interface design and also the code behind.
I think there's no better way to teach sometimes than by example, and in this case we've been offered 50 great examples. The author has managed to write a book that walks you through the code line by line thereby giving you the reader greater understanding of the role of what each line does.
For those of us who are not newbies to windows phone 7, it comes in handy as a reference material. In my case I needed to incorporate a longlistselector or jumplist in my app and found it so easy to just lookup an app in the book that does this.
Though the size of the book might seem daunting initially, don't be scared to have a go at it since its not one massive book that goes on and on about the same thing but rather it contains isolated chapters that treat on functions and features that are enough to build a fully functional standalone app.
I highly recommend his book for beginners, and intermediate programmers alike, and I think even the veterans might find this a great addition to the tech bookshelf.