C

Pro .NET 2.0 Windows Forms and Custom Controls in C#

Format: Paperback
Author: Matthew MacDonald
ReleaseDate: 15 December, 2005
Publisher: Apress
Rating:

Excellent Windows Forms and Custom Controls Coverage
It is very thorough and well written. This book covers everything you need to know about Windows Forms and Custom Controls.

The code samples work well and are well organized.

It doesn't cover the smart client gamut, like data storage, communication, or architecture in context to smart client applications. Which is ok. No book currently out covers smart client properly, but windows forms are the front end to smart clients so it would have been nice to have them placed into the smart client context.

And just to clear up the review below. Turn to page 94 for all the classic common dialogs. Mathew didn't miss anything in this book. Relate to Windows Forms UI development.

He also emphasizes using proper UI architecture and getting business logic out of the UI and develops his samples accordingly.
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The controls and nothing but
NET, file access, the common language runtime, or any other "starter" . Don't buy this book if you need to learn ADO.NET topic. This book isn't a general introduction to writing a Windows application. (If you want that, read Jesse Liberty's fairly good "Programming . NET Windows Applications" instead. )

This book is a drill-down, no-holds-barred, VERY comprehensive look at programming advanced WinForms interfaces. It gives the full details on every control, complete with great advice for customizing and extending them. (Custom controls are a major theme in this book. ) There's excellent content here that just can't be found in the MSDN, like tips for using layout engines, mixing web and windows contet, and multithreading an interface. This book was written with support from Microsoft's Windows Forms team, and it shows--the content on many subjects is several degrees more comprehensive that any I've seen before.

All in all, this is a stand-out choice for professional developers who already know . NET and C#.

Disappointing
NET 1. Fails to mention existing Dialog Boxes that have been around since .1. In one example shows how to make a dilog that lists all folders on the machine. I guess he didn't know about the FolderBrowserDialog.

Fails to mention using the config file to store application settings and gives an example of how to store them in the registry.

Makes no mention I can find regarding the project properties window where application settings can be entered.

Still, the book does have good material regarding Windows forms design.

I think this book uses text from an earlier book, which would explain the ommision of the items listed above.