In-Depth
Books: Develop UIs in C#
Chris Sells shows you how to develop user interfaces in .NET in his book, Windows Forms Programming in C#.
Windows Forms Programming in C# is an excellent book for learning how to develop user interfaces in .NET. Chris Sells covers the simple topics of control layouts and properties, then delves into hardcore topics such as custom controls, data grids, delegates, and data binding.
The entire book is useful, but beginners especially will find the first couple of chapters helpful. The first three chapters give you a step-by-step introduction into building a form, and the properties available in Visual Studio .NET that affect that form. I found the section on building custom controls to be the most useful. Every programmer has wanted to tweak a control so it does something just a little out of the ordinary.
This book also covers delegates and events and how you can use them to affect WinForms. The section on resource localization will help if you're developing a global application. If you're an MFC developer, check out the section that helps you understand the difference between MFC and WinForms.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I used the examples several times to modify my own user interface behavior. The book really provides you the tools you need to develop professional-looking user interfaces. This book will pay for itself easily by saving you time trying to figure things out.
About the Author
David Mack is a technical lead and consultant for the National Intelligence Division at Titan Systems. He has more than 10 years of experience in management and software engineering. Reach him at [email protected].
Windows Forms Programming in C#
by Chris Sells
Addison-Wesley
ISBN: 0321116208
Price: $49.99
Quick Facts: Discusses how to build rich-client user interfaces. 658 pages.
Pros: Excellent for programmers migrating from MFC.
Cons: None.