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

This product not only enables the reader an opportunity to really come to an understanding of Windows Forms GUI presentation but, also allows the reader to casually explore the more in depth aspects of forms layout and design. The fantastic appeal that this document possesses is simple, atomic, and logical delivery of information in a "small project" styling.Allot of, what is known as, .Net 2.0 WinForms is carry over to .Net 3.0 & 3.5 and in such this book has yet to become dated. This reason alone is why I decided to purchase Pro .Net Windows Forms... by Apress. I managed to get much more out of this book than what I was expecting and I cannot say that I am unhappy about the fact.The Mono Framework for Linux and Unix systems almost completely facilitates everything compliant to the .Net Framework 2.0 now so, this book will only serve you well as .Net 2.0 conformant applications developed on Windows will now run right out of the box on Linux against the Mono Framework.This item is bar none the best literature that I have seen on this topic yet outside of MSDN. I have yet to peruse any Microsoft Press publications on this subject but, that would be my only other suggestion aside from this document and MSDN.WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) is coming along nicely but, it is not ready for the hobbiest or casual programmer. Understanding that Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation technologies will be merged indicates that the benefits of understanding good ol' WinForms GUI layout and design procedures are paramount to successfully designing a competent, graphically presented application system.

This book has already paid for itself in just a couple of weeks -- due to the time saved in trying to find the information I need. Every time I have a question regarding an issue in Windows Forms or with Custom & User Controls, I can find it here. Additionally, the content is written in a manner that can be understood by mere mortals, with some good tips and tricks thrown in too.Highly recommended.On the merits of this text, I've already purchased Matthew MacDonald's WPF book (the 3.0 one, since I haven't *quite* moved to VS 2008 yet...).

Since the moment when I took this book in my hands and was able to make practice with the examples on this book, I was able to feel recognized the simplicity in the complexity of the controls.The examples are clear and very well done, impeccables and flawless a good thing for the newbie and the old programmer.I am enjoying the controls that allow me to click on them and assign my own properties.

If you hate reading the MSDN library, then you might like this book. I found it a bit dry for a straight read-through and not adding anything more than MSDN as a reference. MacDonald's WPF book is much better.

Esse livro contém todos os ingredientes necessários para você poder dar uma boa avançada em C#, explica muitas coisas a respeito do uso de técnicas envolvendo Windows Form e User Control e até classes.

Pro .NET 2.0 Windows Forms and Custom Controls in C# by Matthew MacDonald provides a nice introduction (well more than that with a book that is ~1000 pages long) to controls in the .NET 2.0 world.Since noone else has provided a chapter listing, I will do so:01. UI Architecture02. Control Basics03. Forms04. Classic Controls05. Images and Resources06. Lists & Trees07. Drawing with GDI+08. Data Binding09. Custom Controls Basics10. User Controls11. Derived Controls12. Owner-Drawn Controls13. Design-Time Support for Custom Controls14. Tool, Menu, Status Strips15. DataGridView16. Sound & Video17. WebBrowser control18. Validation & Masked Editing19. Multiple and Single Document Interfaces20. Multithreading21. Dynamic Interfaces22. Help Systems23. Skinned Forms & Animated Buttons24. Dynaming Drawing with a Design Surface25. Custom Extender Providers26. Advanced Design-Time SupportIf you do Windows server/client development in today's day and age and want to learn about all the new controls that are offered to programmers with .NET 2.0, you owe it to yourself to pick up this book and start learning how to build forms and UI components faster than ever!!!**** RECOMMENDED

This book really hits the nail on the head. I've been struggling with custom controls for weeks searching every article on the web and all over Microsoft and MSDN. No place has demonstrated the depth of understanding anywhere near as well as Matthew MacDonald has done. Not only are there clear and to the point examples without getting bogged-down in some lengthy, arcane and mythical tasks, but the accompanying text describes the underlying 'why' that is almost more useful than the code. Every page has some exceedingly useful information. My project has been in C# but the translation from VB from the book to C# is a no-brainer (assuming you've written in both over the last few years).I pride myself as a descriptive writer but this book is far better than I could have written myself. It is to the point and thorough. If were any better it would wake you gently in the morning and make your coffee.

This book is full of simple tidbits for binding controls to data objects and custom objects. The examples are short and easy to follow so you don't get lost in the code. Matthew does not spend a lot of time explaining background code (specifically, using ADO) because this is not the forum for those topics. What you get is 1000+ pages of explanations and examples focused on the task at hand: binding data. He does spend a few chapters introducing you to the various objects, covering many not-so-common functions. I found myself thinking "Wow!! That's cool!" several times. I highly recommend this book!!

Perfect book !