Day: May 9, 2010

[Review]: Microsoft Silverlight 4 Business Application Development: Beginner’s Guide

Microsoft Silverlight is a programmable web browser plug-in that enables features including animation, vector graphics, and audio-video playback – features that characterize Rich Internet Applications. Silverlight makes possible the development of RIA applications in familiar .NET languages such as C# and VB.NET.

The book ( by Cameron Albert and Frank LaVigne ) is written for dot NET developer who want to build business applications with Silverlight.

No experience of programming Silverlight is required.  Basic understanding of Visual Studio, C#, dot Net development, XML, and Web development concepts (HTTP, Services) is required.

What you will learn from this book

  • Learn the basic tools and skills needed to get started in Silverlight 4 business application development.
  • Discover how to enhance your Silverlight business applications with rich data such as sound and video.
  • Know when and how to customize your data in Silverlight using important data controls.
  • Understand how your Silverlight business applications can connect to various Data Sources.
  • Deliver your Silverlight business application in a variety of forms.

The book has 490 pages and consists of 10 chapters. Each chapter has a “Time for action … “ section. I totally agree to the motto: “Less theory, more results”, because all examples are explained step by step and easy to follow.

A whole bunch of source code is available. One issue here: the link to the download ( on page 4)  does not work and will lead you to the home page of the publisher. This should not happen; Packt should review it’s QA process!

Another annoyance is the quality of the screenshots; 50% are of very poor print quality. Perhaps not a problem for those of you with eagle eyes, but I had my problems recognizing the details. White letters on a black background are not the best choice.

My fazit: I recommend this book, despite the issues mentioned. You can order your copy here.

UPDATE: here is the correct download link http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/9768_Code.zip