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

by Matthew MacDonald

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Renowned author Matthew MacDonald combines careful treatment of the API with detailed user-interface design principles. Further, this book incorporates C# and the final beta of .NET 2.0. The result: thorough coverage of Windows Forms and GDI+ namespaces for you .NET programmers! You will become equipped to design state-of-the-art Windows interfaces and program graphics, and learn how to create your own controls.

As a developer, you must know more than just how to add a control to a window. You must be able to create an entire user interface framework that's scalable, flexible, and reusable. This book is not a reference manual. Instead, it contains detailed discussions about user interface elements that you'll use on a regular basis.

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Genres: Programming

1080 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2005

About the author

Matthew MacDonald is a science and technology writer with well over a dozen books to his name. He's particularly known for his books about building websites, which include a do-it-from-scratch tutorial (Creating a Website: The Missing Manual), a look at cutting-edge HTML5 (HTML5: The Missing Manual), and a WordPress primer (WordPress: The Missing Manual). He's also written a series of books about programming on and off the Web with .NET, teaches programming at Ryerson University, and is a three-time Microsoft MVP.

Reviews

[Rustam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good overview of Windows forms development. Written by a dev manager at MS. I'm starting to get hooked on .NET books from Apress.

[Aleksandar Ilioski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The No 1 WinForms related book available on the market. Matthey MacDonald is proven author of c# books. I have read few of them and I am glad I had the luck to put my hands on those books. They busted my career and I have learned what I once thought it is impossible for me.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written against a late beta of .NET 2. This really should have been on the cover. It's a pretty good overview of WinForms and custom controls, but rather worryingly often recommends that you go and buy a custom control whenever it gets beyond the basics. Thanks, good advice, but I wouldn't have bought a custom controls book if I wanted to buy one. There are also mistakes or omissions - like claiming you can't start a Thread with a parameter - and it's hard to tell if this is poor editing or a result of not being written against the release framework.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew MacDonald knows how to write a computer book. He explains things in detail and makes it interesting.