5 comments about Pro VB 2005 and the .NET 2.0 Platform, Second Edition (Pro).

1. This book covers what programmers need to know. The pillars of OOP are presented and clear examples are shown.
   
   I refer to this book often because it gets to the "meat" of things rather quickly and is not for beginners.
   
   My only criticism is that this book's examples are 90% console applications. Nobody uses this in the real world. But I understand the focus is on the code, but I still like the Deitel approach better. Use Windows applications NOT console, take the time to get the screen shots. (Just my opinion).
   
   Don't get me wrong, I can easily translate over what he is trying to convey, but still I see great authors such as Francesco Balena showing most examples with the console window. I don't like this trend. But hey that's me.
   
   Very good book though..



2. This is best VB.NET I ever had. This book explains OO concept very clearly with easy to understand examples. I am still in middle of the book. So eager to finish till end. Waiting to read more books from this writer. Thanks for Excellant Work.



3. If you are looking for a Visual Basic book that covers a lot more than books like Wei-Meng Lee's Visual Basic 2005 Jumpstart than this book should be at the top of your list. As well as the basics this book is very good at explaining advanced concepts like Interfaces, IEnumerable Types, Generics, Asynchronous Delegates, and Multithreaded Applications. The author has an excellent writing style. He stays on track, does an excellent job at expaining complex concepts, and provides a lot of hints about how the topic he is writing about now is related to the big picture. Apress should also be commended for the graphical layout of the book. It is very easy to find information on a particular topic in this book as all of the book is divided into clearly labeled short sections.



4. This book covers just about everything: The .NET platform; VB language fundamentals; OOP; Assemblies and classes. In each chapter the author gives a simplified example and then progresses thru to a complete module. He explains each step in detail and give many of the most-likely errors.
   
   This is not novices. The author expects some level of programming experience with VB, C, C++ being the best. It is also best for a Visual Studio 2005 environment, though it is not required. If this is you and you are looking to move to VB.NET, this book is absolutely for you.



5. I have read several books on this topic, but this book was very structured wich made it easy to follow. It gave a very clear explaination on both base- and advanced OOP programming concepts. Many things I'v not read anywhere else and many times I yelled 'AHA!' and 'WOW!'. Yes, it was great fun to work trough all the 'Fun with...' examples.
   I really can recommend this book, however NOT if you are a beginner!
   I also learned that I'm a Generic Type, because I drink a lot Of T. :)

No comments about Programming Flex 3: The Comprehensive Guide to Creating Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex (Programming).

5 comments about PostgreSQL (2nd Edition) (Developer's Library).

1. This book lives up to it's claims for "the comprehensive guide to building, programming and administering postgresql databases". I'm a MySQL guy, but may have to do a little pgsql to support a third party app, so I was looking for a book that would bring me up to speed.
   
   The quick review is this... I give this book 3 stars, because it's so huge and covers so much territory that, in my opinion, it does a middling job of it. I would have preferred a more focussed book. I think, given it's goal of being so comprehensive, it is about as good as it could be and if you really need to know everything - from sql, to developing extensions, to embedding this in your c/c++ programs and administering things AND want a single book that covers it this is probably the book for you. If you don't need quite that much, or are willing to go to more than one book to get it, I think you would be better served to look elsewhere.
   
   The longer review...
   
   Honestly, I don't know why books on databases almost invariably are terribly dry reads, but this book, following the odds, falls into that category. It's a hefty tome weighing in at about 1000 pages divided into 3 sections.
   
   The first category, about a quarter of the book, is an introduction to sql and postgresql in particular. It does quite a nice job of introducing your standard sql commands, datatypes and basic administrative commands (like creating tables and the like). This part goes from basic to fairly advanced, covering topics like outer joins and creating new datatypes. I suspect it'll be review for those familiar with sql but reasonably usable for those delving into sql, even if they don't immediately understand all of the more advanced concepts.
   
   The section ends with a chapter on performance, something I was particularly interested in given postgresql's reputation. Here the authors talk about standard performancy things like indexes, using various tools to figure out what a particular query is actually doing, all worthwhile. But they never go into any detail about the performance implications of using some of the more advanced postgresql features like composite types and table inheritance. I was quite disappointed to find not even a whisper of this type of information in the book.
   
   The second section, about half the book covers programming with postgresql. This is a very broad chapter - covering many aspects of what it means to program this database. From server side programming using PL/pgSQL to extending the database with custom functions and types. They discuss creating clients in c, c++, java, perl, php, tcl, python and .net. Each one of these languages gets a chapter about 30-50 pages long where they go over the basics of how that language typically connects to the database and then goes through a process of creating a basic client and refining over the course of 4 or 5 iterations to become more and more robust and full featured. This is the bulk of the book and because it's so wide spread, I think most people will only be interested in one or two of these chapters - the rest of which will probably be uninteresting.
   
   The last section is the final quarter of the book where they go over the administrative requirements of the database. They admirably try to direct people to download and compile their own binaries, but cover installation from binary on unix and windows. They have an excellent reference on the things you can tweak to configure the runtime environment. They also cover backing up the database, replication, internationalization and security. Although they mention performance optimization in the intro to the section, they don't actually discuss it anywhere in the section.
   
   So, to sum up. If you really need to know about all aspects of pgsql and are looking for a one stop shop, this book is - I think - as good as you're going to find. But if you're looking into only a particular aspect (developing, administereing, etc..) or don't mind going to more than one, I feel confident that there's other books out there that will cover those topics in better detail.



2. PostgreSQL 2nd Edition is a phenomenal book if you're a programmer, and a great book if you're a non-programming admin. As someone whose programming ability reaches only ever so slightly beyond bash scripting and WSH, the parts of this book that were really worthwhile to me were those devoted to the administration of PostgreSQL. Backing up, recovering, and performance tuning were excellent resources, especially to someone who had never set up or administered a database. Speaking of which, the very beginning of the book, covering what exactly a database is, terminology, and setting up and creating schema were invaluable. To have all the information in PostgreSQL 2nd Edition consolidated in this one book makes it a must-have for any admin's bookshelf. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars from me was because I'm not a programmer, and I couldn't take away every single ounce this great resource had to offer.



3. I'm upset that this book that I've been trusting for the past month or two has such an egregious error in its discussion of regular expressions on page 51. I wish the authors had left out any discussion of regexes if they weren't going to actually test their assumptions about a topic on which I assume they know little. :-(



4. I am a database application developer with MS SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase and many other RDBMSs experience.
   This book allowed me to start working on PostgreSQL immediately.
   Pro: comprehensive, good examples, good supplement to the documentation.
   Cons: is not deep enough for me (does not explain format of a transaction log file or WAL file, for example), but, I guess, I should read the PostgreSQL code for this.
   If you are new to databases you would need to read some other books first.



5. As a developer with many years IT experience in control systems and only a little in databases and none with Postgres, I found this book to be extremely helpful. It covered a huge amount of topics with examples and put them together in a way that made it more efficient than googling!
   
   It helped that I knew what topics I needed in looking for answers but the chapters were self explantory in the topics they covered which I believe would allow a beginner to make quick progress in learning Postgres.
   
   Cavaet: If you are after a book to learn SQL and database design (normal forms) you will be disappointed, this book is not for you.

5 comments about How to Break Web Software: Functional and Security Testing of Web Applications and Web Services. Book & CD.

1. I recently finished reading How to Break Web Software: Functional and Security Testing of Web Applications and Web Services by Mike Andrews and James A. Whittaker. I, like many of you, develop web software for a living. I've always taken security seriously and occasionally sneered when I ran across examples of common mistakes. Having said that, this book was an eye opener for me.
   
   The book covers common exploits such as bypassing input validation, SQL injection, and denial of service. There were also several types of attacks I hadn't really considered before. I won't list them here because someone would undoubtedly say, "I can't believe he didn't know about that one!" The authors cover 24 different types of attacks in all. The book also includes coverage of web privacy issues and security related to web services.
   
   Finally, as icing on the cake, a CD is included that contains many tools that will find permanent spots in your arsenal. There are tools to do things like scan web servers for common exploits, mirror sites for local analysis, and check SSL cipher strengths. My favorites are the local proxies that will allow you to view and modify posts as they travel from the client and the server. I always knew I could do this, but didn't know how easy it is. The CD also contains the source code of an example site that includes many flaws for you to practice.
   
   This book is written for software professionals to help them put the hackers out of business. So, it necessarily includes hacker techniques. If you develop or test web software, you should read this book before the hackers do. :-)



2. It was a good experience to purchase from Amazon and getting them delivered in India at my door-step. Order reached me ontime and is in good condition.
   
   Thanks,
   Samta



3. I've been programming for over 10 years and thought that I had encountered it all. Uh ya, I was wrong. I'm amazed that a person can work with something for so long and yet still miss simple things like URL jumping. This is a great 32,000 foot view of web security (not a how to hack book) and covers what you should know if you are a web developer. Even if you alredy "know it all" this is a great read and excellent reference for creating check lists on projects and threats they may be succeptable to.



4. I was disappointed in this book. The actual content was pretty thin, and not very well written. Chapter 1 is a complete waste of time, and actually spends pages explaining what client/server means, what the Web is, and other things that are patently obvious to the supposed audience for this material. I found myself turning to the front to see if this book was written in 1997! You then get nine fairly short chapters with instructions on how to hack a website, more or less; followed by 50 pages of useless padding in the appendices including: an unrelated article co-authored by Whittaker for the IEEE, a detailed list of all the bugs present in their "sample application," and then descriptions of their recommended tools, all of which can easily be found on the Web without paying $22 for this book.
   
   As another reviewer mentioned, there are many typos and other problems like incorrect illustrations, making the reader wonder if Addison-Wesley even employs a copy editor. Furthermore, I felt this book was inaccurately named and described. It's really more about rudimentary hacking and protecting your web application against hackers than web quality or web testing. A beginning web developer might do well to read this as a primer on how to create sites and applications with basic security, but as an experienced tester it was of limited use to me.



5. If your company has a web site, there are many people waiting to attack it and break into it.
   
   In How to Break Web Software: Functional and Security Testing of Web Applications and Web Services, authors Mike Andrews and James Whittaker detail the myriad Web software exploits that attackers will attempt to carry out. The tools and techniques that can be used to fight against them are also detailed.
   
   The book also includes a companion CD that contains all of the source code referenced in the book in addition to a number of testing tools. The authors include software code from an insecure Web site, which helps the reader get a real-world feel for the topics involved.
   
   The authors conclude with a look at the last 50 years of software defects, showing that developers are not learning from the mistakes.
   
   The authors are of the opinion that software quality is no better today than it was decades ago. And in some cases, it is worse.
   
   The book helps drive home the importance of having developers think about writing secure code and testing it for flaws. It is a recommended read for IT professionals.

2 comments about Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Audio and Video Podcasting, Second Edition (Solutions).

1. Yes that's right, this is the perfect book for any and all podcasters. If you are a podcaster, or want to be one or just want to find out what it's all about buy this book.
   
   The title says it all; Podcast Solutions. Chock full of info, written concisely, humorously, intelligently, informatively and in language that anyone can understand (even me) this is the one book to buy on the subject. It takes you step by step down the road to conceiving, creating, recording, producing and profiting from your show idea. This book covers every nook and cranny of the considerable field of information on both podcasts and vodcasts.
   
   I personally have used both editions of this book to help me get my podcast going as well as optimizing it once it was up and running. What I really enjoyed about this book is how the authors explain things so that not only do you know what to do next but also why it works. Not only that there are many highlighted sections where the authors share a personal experience that really drives a point home. This brings the whole process into very sharp focus.
   
   And their personal experience goes way beyond the technical aspects of podcasting and vodcasting. On page 85, for example, they share a tip that is critical to anyone who really wants to make effective communication with their material. And that is this; "speak as if you are speaking to one person". That one piece of advice can turn a blah and lifeless presentation into one with depth and impact. This book is loaded with tips like that.
   
   I can't say enough good about this book. Without it I may not have gotten my podcast going. The two guys who wrote it have been doing this since it began and they know all the tricks. Don't think about, just buy the book. You'll thank me and more importantly you'll thank the authors Dan Klass and Michael W. Geoghegan.
   
   Geoffrey Leigh Tozer
   Producer - Sly Crooner



2. A couple of years ago, I got Podcast Solutions and was really impressed with its' overall content. For its' time. Of course, with everything on the web, practically everything changes and thus, a new edition of this book had to be released. And it's still probably the best book out there. Lots of updated information on how to create, edit and upload podcasts and for the most part, do it on the cheap since if you're really looking to make a million bucks doing this, keep looking. Lots more stuff on video which has truly taken off thanks to YouTube and similar sites and newer ways to promote and get advertisers to your site. You'll also learn how to use WordPress and similar blogs and create a podcast site as a result. That's what I did with one of my clients. Not as thick as the Bibles out there but at least you won't get a hernia trying to lift it. You should be getting ideas for your own (or your clients own) podcasts within minutes of surfing thru this book.

5 comments about Expert Spring MVC and Web Flow (Expert).

1. As computer books continue their never ending slide into the abyss, Apress and Manning seem to be leading the way. This book is one of the best works of fiction ever written. From incomplete and non-working examples to the many errors, the publishers would be better served by pulling this tome off the market and starting over. There is nothing "expert" in this text nor is there anything the least bit helpful. Well, ok, I will admit the UML diagrams are nice.
   
   Avoid this book at all costs.



2. The book provides really good information and I was able to build out an application after reading it. The only problem is the editing and I hope a 2nd edition is released with fixes and updates for Spring 2.0. There are good PDF presentations out there that give a quick overview and one good tutorial that's a working example. I would google for those and read them alongside with this book.



3. I completely agree with the reviewer who points out how almost chaotically the information is delivered in this book - for the most part. Generally, you need to skip from section to section and back a few times before you can get all the pieces together. That's unacceptable. It's impossible to use this book as a convenient reference since each example generally provides only partial answers, and you have to scan back and forth through the pages to look for the clarification on the missing pieces. Often, the coverage is quite superficial. The official Spring Reference Guide on the Spring site does not get into too much detail on Spring MVC, leaving out lots of important and interesting details. Nevertheless, much more - and better - information is indeed available on-line today - at no cost. I haven't yet seen a perfect one-stop source for Spring MVC, but this book is definitely a waste of money. It may have been okay a couple of years ago when much less info was available online, but certainly not today.
   
   The only part of this book that is very well written is the chapters on Spring Web Flow. Indeed, it appears that the chapters were written by someone other than the authors of the rest of the book. Someone who understood and appreciated the importance of a very thoughtfully organized FLOW of any sequence of logical steps, be it a software application, or a flow of information such as an instructions manual, or a tutorial. That's why Colin Yates, the apparent main contributor to Chapters 11 and 12 (on Spring Web Flow), does a much better job than the rest of the authors. Unfortunately, those Web Flow chapters are largely obsolete today. Some code in the book won't work. You'll immediately see that the classes in the org.springframework.webflow.test package you get with your latest Webflow distribution differ from the ones used in the book's examples. What's even worse is that the flow configuration XML files in the examples apparently use the old/obsolete XML schema. That means you shouldn't use them as examples for your own code. Just compare the code from the latest Spring [on-line] Reference Guide and the examples in the book and you will instantly see the difference.
   
   For a very good introduction to Spring Web Flow, see the Spring Reference Guide (http://static.springframework.org/spring-webflow/docs/1.0.x/reference/introduction.html) and the article by the author of Spring Web Flow at http://www.ervacon.com/products/swf/intro/index.html, which is excellent.
   
   Do not waste money on this book! Honestly. ;)



4. The book was great pre-release book, but like most programming books for specific frameworks becomes almost useless within a few months



5. I bought this book with the hope of getting a better idea of how I should build the Web Flow flows in my Grails ( [...]) application. I know it is my own fault, and that I should have more carefully read the excellent reviews of this book, but I was a little disappointed to discover Web Flow was the topic in just two of twelve chapters when it is approximately 50% of the book's title.
   
   If anyone knows a good source of reference on how to design Web Flow flows so that my web app has a nice natural user experience (e.g. able to use the browser 'back' button having gone though a flow's end state without getting in a mess) then please let me know. I want to aim for the sort of experience I have when using the amazon dot com shopping cart, not the sort of experience I have when using an ERP solution. So far with Web Flow my efforts have tended towards ERP quality :(

5 comments about The Haskell School of Expression: Learning Functional Programming through Multimedia.

1. C, Java, Pascal, Ada, and so on, are all imperative languages. They are "imperative" in the sense that they consist of a sequence of commands, which are executed strictly one after the other. Haskell is a functional language. A functional program is a single expression, which is executed by evaluating the expression. Anyone who has used a spreadsheet has experience of functional programming. In a spreadsheet, one specifies the value of each cell in terms of the values of other cells. The focus is on what is to be computed, not how it should be computed.
   This book is a unique attempt to teach the reader the Haskell programming language by demonstrating how to write programs that perform interesting tasks such as animation, graphics, robot control, and functional music composition. The book succeeds at introducing the reader to the Haskell language and the idea of functional programming, and the book is a fascinating read with unique projects performed in the Haskell language. This is particularly true if you are interested in multimedia programming. However, intermediate features of the language are brushed over. If you are already familiar with Haskell, this book will teach you interesting ways to look at functional programming and give you some ideas for some interesting projects. If you are new to Haskell, you are going to find yourself somewhat confused when you get to the more advanced material. I therefore recommend that you read this book along with "Haskell:The Craft of Functional Programming" by Thompson. That book is not nearly as interesting as this book, but it fills in all of the intermediate details that are missing in a very detailed manner.



2. in general, and if you don't know Haskell, OCaML, ML, or F#, then you really should buy this book and work through it.
   
   A generation ago, Abelson and Sussman wrote "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs," which brought world-shaping clarity to programming in the form of a generic, functional approach. In the time since then, "types" and "lazy evaluation" have fundamentally improved that overall approach, and Haskell is the rightful successor to Scheme as the best-of-breed of functional programming languages. That said, types and lazy evaluation are somewhat tricky to learn, and this book offers a fun and easy way to do it.
   
   The software needed to run the samples in the book is free and works on Windows platforms (and possibly some others).
   
   Buy it, work through every word of it, you won't regret it :)



3. This is a good book... However, I wish I hadn't bought it. It seems to focus too much on geometry and multimedia, which is not that interesting to me. (Yes, I knew that when I bought the book).
   
   Anyway, my problem with it is that it seems more suited to someone who'll learn in a "linear" way, going through all chapters (maybe because functions defined in previous chapters are used in the others). I'd rather get a book with self-contained chapters (for example, I've learned Lisp with Peter Seibel's "Practical Common Lisp", and I jumped around, reading chapters as I felt like, or as I needed them). But it's great if you don't mind having to go through all of it.
   Maybe it's me, I don't know. I just didn't really like it.



4. Granted I am new to Haskell and to some degree functional programming. I thought this book would be really cool, pretty much an ideal book on a subject matter that I am very interested in. The text is definitely easy to follow for the most part, but WHY, WHY use a 'Times new roman' type font for the code samples? The code samples are basically in the same font as the text only in italics, making it hard to figure out what is supposed to be whitespace, which I find a pretty strange decision for a textbook on a language where layout matters...



5. I admit, I did not read the book very much. I looked through it and the format of everything was really weird. The code snippets used characters one cannot type in what seemed to me to be a variable width font. It bothered me for some reason.

5 comments about Real-Time Collision Detection (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Interactive 3-D Technology).

1. I've read MANY collision detection books over the years and this is by far the best one i've seen to teach programmers how to LEARN collision detection from basic tests to highly advanced algorithms.



2. Two things stand out about this author: 1) he drives every discussion toward performance issues, and 2) he provides just enough source code for a developer like me to lock in the concepts. That's a great combo that makes this book a hands-down winner.
   
   I've never worked in gaming. I've been doing CAD/CAE/CAM, mostly with Java and CATIA v4 / STEP data, for ten years. I'm currently involved in a robotics planning project, where I've been able to model all the kinematics of an 8-DOF robot system, but the scale of the collision detection challenges has overwhelmed me...until reading this book.



3. The first half of this book explains the most popular collision detection functions. The collisions presented are mostly in 3D, but there are also some 2D versions. You can use Amazon's "Search Inside" option and take a look at the content table, which shows a large variety of shape vs shape tests. Most of the functions are explained using advanced math, and that's ok because there is no other way to show were the concepts of the book come from. There is an introductory chapter on the math used in the book, but it isn't enough. In my opinion it would have been better to remove that chapter and add some more explanations and algorithms on dynamic collisions.
   
   Most of the second half of the book deals with the different structures to optimize collision detection queries, showing pros and cons for all of them, so the developer can select the one that best fits it's project. The last part of the book is on hardware optimizations.
   
   I agree with other reviewers the CD doesn't bring enough code, and no executable code at all. What one finds in the CD are the pieces of code exactly as they are printed in the sheets, sorted in files by chapter. In my opinion that presentation makes the author look like he is just adapting the algorithms from other papers. Having runnable code is not just a fancy feature, but a necessity for programmers. With compilable code one can see how it works, getting a better idea of how the algorithms are integrated in the actual graphical engine, and it's also a proof the code has no bugs (otherwise reveals them). I'm removing 1 star only because of this reason, hoping a new edition will enhance the content.
   
   This book saves a lot of research, time and money. Just compare this table of collision tests: http://www.realtimerendering.com/int/ with the book's content. You will see that many of these tests are explained and included in the book (and there are some more not in that table). This book is a great compilation of those algorithms which are pretty dispersed in papers and books.



4. This is an extremely well written text. The examples are clear, and it manages to cover a lot of ground. In my opinion, this book is far better than many of the other collision detection and game-development texts.
   
   Nowhere else will you find as good a reference on shape intersection tests and closest point computations. Ericson covers these topics swiftly and efficiently within the early sections, a task which often occupies the entirety of many lesser books. The coverage of the Gilbert-Johnson-Keerthi algorithm is likewise top-notch.
   
   My main gripe with the book is the chapter on GPU optimization. Its placement didn't seem very logical, and the techniques it contains are quite out of date as of 2007. Fortunately, the rest of the book is so good that it can be easily forgiven.
   
   Overall: Highly recommended.



5. Book that every game programmer should read - it's that simple. While it does focus on collision detection, this subject is so broad it touches multiple other vital areas like linear algebra, spatial partitioning, ray tracing, bounding volumes and more. It's not just a list of equations and algorithms, rather a practical guide on how to implement them in an optimal way. More "general" chapters on numerical robustness and optimizations are pure gold.

5 comments about Beginning J2ME: From Novice to Professional, Third Edition (Novice to Professional).

1. If you need a no-nonsense, down-to-earth, non-philosophical guide for how to write Java applications for mobile/cellular phones, this is the best book you can buy today. It's very concrete, with lots of working examples etc, and leaves out the fluffy stuff that's so typical for computer books nowadays. The book is an especially good starting point if you are into applications (communicating or non-communicating), but the APIs for writing games are also covered. I hadn't programmed in Java before (yet C and Visual Basic for many years), but I had no problems developing mobile applications after reading this book. Being such a concentrated book means it also works as a reference for when you need to look things up. All in all, this book is for real developers and strongly recommended.



2. this book is very easy to read..good technical explanations.,
   easy to understand JME model concept..
   
   reallity from beginner to professional..
   very sugested..



3. I was still fairly new to Java, but noticed that there was a J2ME study group near me.The bokk helped me both with Java knowledge in general as as well as J2ME in particular
   Jana
   Leader, San Gabriel Valley Java Users Group



4. I have always been under the impression that when buying a book of technical nature, one is supposed to purchase a piece of an author's hard-earned, over-the-years experience, otherwise it's just paying for a documentation reprint. Such an experience can be conveyed to a reader in at least two major ways: (1.) a very well-organized, thought-through and consistent presentation of fundamental - yet often complex - concepts (e.g., "Head First Java" by Sierra), or (2.) an in-depth, unique perspective on advanced topics not to be found anywhere else (e.g., "Effective Java" by Bloch). Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, this book delivers neither. As an example of the lack of the former: the discussion of J2ME Configurations and Profiles is almost as muddy and inconsequential as the specification site itself. As an example of the lack of the later: the entire Performance Tuning chapter, a subject I would expect to be critical for success with a mobile platform is about 10 pages, entire page -sized screenshots included. Topics such as real-world compatibility of J2ME across different vendors' implementations is almost not mentioned at all. So, what's left? Basically, a few hundred pages of short, introductory chapters on J2ME APIs, reading pretty much just like Sun Developer Network Reference technical articles or implementation-oriented CodeProject pages. Don't get me wrong, the book authors' hard effort is clearly visible, but you can as well google for "J2ME Record Store tutorial", a "J2ME Bluetooth API tutorial" and so on.



5. Never programmed in java beyond the Hello World type application and bought this book. This along with one that covers learning the syntax of java and I have written two useful apps that I have on my phone.
   
   I have something pretty complex as my ultimate goal (although text based - not a game) and feel confident this gives me enough to accomplish that goal.

5 comments about Essential Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) (Microsoft .NET Development Series).

1. Chris has always impressed me with his talent to explain even the hardest bits of WPF in an approachable fashion - I guess many Channel 9 and other dev-related sites visitors would agree with me. Therefore, I started reading Essential WPF with high expectations...
   
   There is nothing wrong with the book itself, but the marketing is completely and utterly false. Chris himself emphasizes that he would like to talk about the "why-s" of the platform and this is the very reason why I bought his book - only to find out that nothing like that happens. Quite honestly, any technical author could write this book after reading Windows 3.0 SDK documentation thoroughly - there is very little added value or insight. There are moments when Chris writes "this may be confusing..." and in this very moment, you would expect "... but it was necessary because of this and that" but that almost never happens. You are left with doubts about the quality of WPF which is probably the worst thing an author can do.
   
   Don't be confused as I was: this book is not about "why-s", it is not about reasoning, it is not about in-depth discussion of some decisions made. It is an extensive walkthrough through the WPF features, it is a description of the framework but nothing more. Of course you will find some insights in this book but they are definitely not in proportion to Chris's role in the WPF team and his otherwise great skills.
   
   I, personally, started reading this book as a big fan of WPF and was left with doubts if all the complexity is really necessary (and some things are pretty complex compared to Flex which is my current development environment). Actually, I think that I enjoyed reading the WPF introductory articles in the Windows SDK 3.0 documentation more and honestly, I thought that this could never happen when comparing docs and a book.
   
   Anyway, if you really need great WPF book, don't waste money on this one - go buy Adam Nathan's WPF Unleashed. I'm on page 130 now and my enthusiasm for WPF is back. That book provides exactly what I wanted - deep discussion, great insight, practical tips, well thought-out structure and trust that the sub-optimal things in the current version are known issues likely to be fixed in WPF vNext.



2. If you're an experienced programmer and looking for a primer on WPF, Anderson has written a succinct overview that will definitely get you going in the right direction without wasting your time. It will give you not only the basics but provide an insight into what is going on and how you can go further in exploring WPF. Although it lacks in-depth examples (and source code) this book provides a readable reference covering all aspects of WPF- what it is, what it can do, and what makes WPF different.



3. Essential WPF by Chris Anderson is intuitive and inspiring. The author explains WPF in a baby-step-forward approach with mostly success. Nearly every facet of discussion comes with a clear example. For a 450+ page book, much of WFP is explained in a fashiion that intermediate developers (designers?) can comprehend.
   
   But this does not mean the book provides buy-in for developers to use WFP instantly. For example, every time I attempted to "get my hands dirty", not long was I easily discouraged. I figured that I just needed to keep reading the book before trying again .. and again .. and again .. until I was out of book. From making a Windows application, to ASP.Net, to Silverlight using VS2008 and Expression Blend, nothing was easy enough to finish a small project much less an enterprise application. And then I would have to explain to my colleagues how it works.
   
   In summary, Chris did an impecable job explaining the complexities and modeling of WFP. This book is an acceptable starting point. But do not expect to jump right into WFP during or even after reading this entire book. Rather take note that you *understand* WFP, and then move to the next reference of choice.



4. This book is all about the philosophy behind the WPF design and architecture. It delivers a simple but comprehensive understanding about WPF features - given this simple "big picture" it will be easier to learn the details - they will just fit in nicely and effortlessly. The book is an essense of everything that you should know to become a professional WPF developer - everything else is in IntelliSense/online help. Given this knowledge, you'll easily learn how to use any WPF topic.



5. This book provides a good introduction to the overall architecture of WPF. However, it lacks the depth necessary to feel comfortable performing the more advanced programming activities that you will be tasked with on a real WPF project. This is really a beginners book which does not even advance to the intermediate level. The Programming WPF book by Chris Sells provides more in depth coverage of WPF and is therefore a better buy. Therefore, read this book just to get started but expect to read another to really make some headway into understanding WPF.