Today I just finished the early review for a yet to be released book form Manning Press called 'Hello Silverlight (there is no link available on their site).
As the title says the focus of this book in Silverlight 2. But unlike many Silverlight books this is for the truly aimed at someone who is new to Silverlight and RIA (Rich Internet Application) technologies in general. It did not take me long to realize that this book is going to be a great into book for any one looking to learn Silverlight, or any RIA technology in general. The chapters flow well, there are great code snippets and good use of illustrations.
The early chapters chapters are meant to quickly ramp up the reader by reviewing the basics. The first chapter starts off by explaining the history of RIA as well as giving a brief background of existing technologies that Silverlight will be competing with (Flash, OpenLaszlo and AJax). Along with the history, you will learn the different between Vector and Raster graphics at a pretty low level.
Next you will find yourself learning the basics of XAML and why it is so important to the layout/design of high quality UI's. Here the author goes over the different types of objects you can use to create your drawings, ranging from Brushes, to Rectangles & Ellipses, to Point based Geometries. He finally finishes up the chapter talking about panels and how they make you life so much easier.
Finally the author takes you step by step in creating an simple, yet effective animation. This chapter was the best so far. Literally took you step by step in creating a very simple animation. Along the way he points out various pit falls as well as various ways to accomplish the same task.
The later chapters are going to talk about more in depth topics such as Data access, gaming, and streaming. If the these chapters are laid out/written in the same manner as the first, they should be just as good.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the book, be sure to check back for more details on those later.
Till next time,