Programming WPF, 2nd Edition

Forewords

First Edition

Over the past two-plus years, my day job has involved XAML-izing various parts of the Microsoft universe. My standard refrain when encountering XAML newbies has been "read the XAML appendix from Chris and Ian's book." That appendix (originally printed in the beta edition of this book) was easily the most direct and to-the-point treatment of the topic I've seen, and several dozen of my coworkers got their first taste of XAML from Ian's excellent writing. (Ian wrote the XAML appendix.) Over the past year, as I've started to make the transition from runtime plumber to pixel pusher, the chapters on WPF proper were super-efficient in getting me off the ground (things have changed a lot since I wrote my last WndProc).

At the time this edition hits the shelves, there are numerous books dedicated to WPF, written by some pretty notable folks. This book is unique in that Ian has been telling the story on the road for a couple of years getting the right balance of conceptual understanding and pragmatic "everyone screws this up" experience. I know from personal experience that there's nothing like teaching to hone a story to perfection—this book is evidence of that.

Ian's co-author should thank his lucky stars that Ian was willing to travel the planet trying out the material rather than taking a cushy job in Windows.

Now that they've gotten this book out, maybe Ian should take a cushy job, too.

He's certainly earned it.