Novice

The ultimate guide to creating and managing websites using Microsoft Expression Web 4.

The first book to completely demystify leading-edge component development with the Adobe Flex 3 platform - How to build components for Flex and AIR applications using ActionScript 3.0 and Adobe's powerful MXML user interface markup language - Covers expert techniques most books ignore, including component metadata, error handling, documentation, and creating Flex components in Flash using the Flex Component Kit - By Mike Jones, world-renowned Flex development consultant and speaker Summary Adobe Flex 3 offers a powerful new framework that web developers can use to quickly produce richer, more immersive, higher-value solutions. To help developers build the most powerful next-generation web applications, Adobe structured the Flex framework around components, and allowed developers to extend Flex's capabilities with their own components. However, few Flex developers know how to create these custom components. Developing Flex Components is the first book to completely demystify that process. Renowned Flex developer and speaker Mike Jones begins by presenting a quick overview of Flex and Flex Builder aimed at ActionScript 3.0 Flash developers. Jones explains the anatomy of a Flex component, including both visual and non-visual components, and introduces the components that come with the Flex framework. Next, one step at a time, he walks through building new Flex components that leverage the platform's powerful capabilities and can be incorporated into both Flex and AIR applications. Jones covers topics that are rarely addressed in Flex books, including component metadata, events and error handling, data binding, skinning, styling, and creating Flex components in Flash using the Flex Component Kit. He also presents a full chapter on writing and maintaining component documentation, as well as an appendix of additional resources for Flex component developers.

C# 4.0 Unleashed is a practical reference focusing on the C# language and the .NET platform as a whole. While covering the language in lots of detail, it also provides enough coverage of various popular .NET technologies and techniques (such as debugging) for the reader to be successful on the .NET platform. The in-depth coverage of the language features is crucial to the success of a developer. Knowing exactly where and why to use certain language features can boost efficiency significantly. This book differs from other works by going into enough depth on how things work, while not being a clone of the formal language specification. Concise anecdotes with concrete samples illustrate how certain language features behave, and also point out possible caveats in using them. On the side of platform coverage, the author provides a gentle introduction to the wide landscape of the .NET platform, following a logical structure that reflects the high-level architecture of an application: presentation, logic, data, connectivity, etc. In the .NET part of the book there's coverage of relevant new technologies such as cloud computing, modeling, and parallel programming - things that will gain much more attention moving forward.

The authors of the bestselling Beginning iPhone 3 Development are back, with the same excellent material completely updated for iOS 4 and written from the ground up using the latest version of Apple's Xcode 3. All source code has been updated to use the latest Xcode templates and current APIs, and all-new screenshots show Xcode 3 in action.

Beginning iPhone 4 Development is a complete course in iOS development. You’ll master techniques that work on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. We start with the basics, showing you how to download and install the tools you'll need, and how to create your first simple application. Next you’ll learn to integrate all the interface elements iOS users have come to know and love, such as buttons, switches, pickers, toolbars, and sliders. You’ll master a variety of design patterns, from the simplest single view to complex hierarchical drill-downs. The confusing art of table building will be demystified, and you’ll learn techniques to save and retrieve your data using SQLite, iPhone’s built-in database management system and Core Data, the standard for persistence that Apple brought to iOS with the release of SDK 3.  

And there’s much more! You’ll learn to draw using Quartz 2D and OpenGL ES, add multitouch gestural support (pinches and swipes) to your applications, and work with the camera, photo library, accelerometer, and built-in GPS. You’ll discover the fine points of application preferences and learn how to localize your apps for multiple languages. You'll also learn how to use the new concurrency APIs included in iOS 4, and make robust multithreaded applications using Grand Central Dispatch.  

• The iPhone 4 update to the best-selling and most recommended book for Cocoa Touch developers  
• Written in an accessible, easy-to-follow style  
• Full of useful tips and techniques to help you become an iOS pro

What you’ll learn

• Everything you need to know to develop your own best-selling iPhone and iPad apps
• Best practices for optimizing your code and delivering great user experiences
• How to create “universal” apps for both iPhone and iPad

Who this book is for

Anyone who wants to start developing for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Pro Expression Blend 4 is for .NET developers wanting to learn how to use Expression Blend when creating their WPF and Silverlight applications. The book focuses on the Blend IDE and is comprised of two parts.

The first part of the book provides a detailed examination of the key Blend topics, including workspace customization, graphics, layout, styles, themes, data binding, and the use of SketchFlow. At the end of this part you will have an excellent understanding of the Blend product and what it can do for you.

The second part of this book makes it unique.  It contains a series of walkthrough ‘lab’ sessions to build four fully working applications. This part of the book is more detailed and modeled on the tutorial support that you might receive in a good training class or hands-on lab. You’ll work with both Blend and .NET code to finalize fully working projects that will provide both valuable insights and a foundation of working code for your future WPF and Silverlight projects.

What you’ll learn

• Go on a complete tour of the Blend IDE and understand its potential.
• Learn how Blend can be used to simplify your WPF and Silverlight workflows making you both faster and more productive.
• Understand how to rapidly prototype your ideas using the powerful SketchFlow tools
• Build a fully working video game as a proof-of-concept for your new-found skills

Who this book is for

This book is for developers who find themselves needing to work with Blend. As you'd expect from a Microsoft technology, the underlying code is C# but the focus is squarely on the Blend IDE, making the book suitable for for both .NET developers and experienced programmers from other technology areas moving to Blend for the first time.

With Advanced iOS 4 Programming, developers have the expert guidance they need to create amazing applications for Apple's iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Inside, veteran mobile developer Dr. Maher Ali begins with a foundation introduction to Objective C and Cocoa Touch programming, and then guides readers through building apps with Apple's iPhone SDK 4 – including coverage of the major categories of new APIs and building apps for the new Apple iPad.

This book concentrates on illustrating GUI concepts programmatically, allowing readers to fully appreciate the complete picture of iOS 4 development without relying on Interface Builder. In addition, Interface Builder is covered in several chapters.

Advanced iOS 4 Programming delves into more advanced topics going beyond the basics of iOS 4 development, providing comprehensive coverage that will help you get your apps to the App Store quicker.

Key features include:

• Objective-C programming language and runtime
• Interface Builder
• Building advanced mobile user interfaces
• Collections
• Cocoa Touch
• Core Animation and Quartz 2D
• Model-view-controller (MVC) designs
• Developing for the iPad
• Grand Central Dispatch
• Parsing XML documents using SAX, DOM, and TouchXML
• Working with the Map Kit API
• Remote and Local Push Notification
• Blocks (closures) in Objective-C
• Building advanced location-based applications
• Developing database applications using the SQLite engine
• GameKit framework