Get the hands-on, step-by-step guide to learning the latest enhancements in Microsoft Visual C# 2008. Visual C#, one of the tools in Microsoft Visual Studio® 2008, is a modern programming language designed to deliver a productive environment for creating business frameworks and reusable object-oriented components. Whether you’re a beginning programmer or new to the Visual C# programming language, you’ll learn how to use the fundamental features of Visual Studio 2008 and gain a basic understanding of the latest enhancement of the Visual C# language. You’ll work at your own pace through hands-on, learn-by-doing exercises, get started creating components and working Windows® applications, and build your knowledge as you start creating your first Visual C#-based applications. You’ll also explore how to create data management and Web-based applications. In each chapter, work through learn-by-doing exercises that demonstrate how, when, and why to use the many features of the Visual C# rapid application development environment. Includes a companion CD with code samples, data sets, and a fully searchable eBook.

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Would you like to create your own games, but never have the time to dig into the details of multimedia programming? Now you don’t have to! XNA makes it simple to create your own games, which will run on your PC and Xbox 360 console. Even if you don’t know how to program at all, Beginning XNA 2.0 Game Programming: From Novice to Professional will teach you the basics of C# 2005 programming along the way. Don’t get overwhelmed with details you don’t need to know— just learn what you need to start creating your own games right now!

The fast–paced introduction to XNA and the C# language provides professional developers a quick-start guide to creating a commercial product using XNA, as well as offering home enthusiasts or hobbyists everything they need to begin putting together games in their spare time. You’ll discover and understand all the key concepts required to create smooth, professional–looking results in a range of gaming genres. Every reader will come away with a firm foundation onto which they can build more advanced ideas.

What you’ll learn

• An introduction to the C# language
• Basics of game programming
• XNA basics
• Basic math/physics concepts
• Xbox 360 controller and keyboard input
• Fully worked examples of how to create 2D and 3D games

Who is this book for?

Anyone approaching XNA programming for the Xbox 360 for the first time

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In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, you will be up and running with Visual Basic 2008. Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson builds upon a real-world foundation forged in both technology and business matters, allowing you to learn the essentials of Visual Basic 2008 from the ground up. Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common questions, issues, and tasks. The Q&A section, quizzes, and exercises help you build and test your knowledge.

By the Way notes present interesting pieces of information. Did You Know? tips offer advice or teach an easier way to do something. Watch Out! cautions advise you about potential problems and help you steer clear of disaster.

Learn how to…

• Use the powerful design environment of Visual Studio 2008

• Design feature-rich interfaces using components such as tree views and tabs

• Create robust applications using modern error-handling

• Draw fast graphics using GDI+

• Build a database application using ADO.NET

• Distribute a Visual Basic 2008 Application

• Manipulate the Windows Registry

• Create, read, and write text files

• Use event-driven techniques to build responsive applications

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The original Struts project revolutionized Java web development and its rapid adoption resulted in the thousands of Struts-based applications deployed worldwide. Keeping pace with new ideas and trends, Apache Struts 2 has emerged as the product of a merger between the Apache Struts and OpenSymphony WebWork projects, united in their goal to develop an easy-to-use yet feature-rich framework. Struts 2 represents a revolution in design and ease of use when compared to classic Struts. It adds exciting and powerful features such as a plugin framework, JavaServer Faces integration, and XML-free configuration.

Struts 2 In Action introduces the Apache Struts 2 web application framework and shows you how to quickly develop professional, production-ready modern web applications. Written by Don Brown, one of the leading developers of Struts 2, Chad Davis, a passionate Struts 2 developer, along with Scott Stanlick, this book gently walks you through the key features of Struts 2 in example-driven, easy-to-digest sections.

Struts 2 in Action delivers accurate, seasoned information that can immediately be put to work. This book is designed for working Java web developers-especially those with some background in Struts 1 or WebWork. The core content, covering key framework components such as Actions, Results, and Interceptors, includes new features like the annotation-based configuration options. You’ll find chapters on Struts 2 plugins, FreeMarker, and migration from Struts 1 and WebWork 2. Finally, new topics such as the Ajax tags, Spring Framework integration, and configuration by convention give familiar subjects new depth.

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Beginning Visual Basic 2008 Databases teaches you everything you need to know about relational databases, SQL, and ADO.NET 2.0, giving you a sound start in developing console and Windows database applications. The book also includes chapters on the new SQL Server XML data type and the forthcoming LINQ enhancements to the next version of Visual Basic.

In addition to teaching you database basics like using SQL to communicate with databases, this book provides you with detailed, code-practical techniques to access data in VB 2008 across a range of coding situations. Code-heavy and full of practical detail, this book has been fully revised and upgraded for .NET 2.0 and offers you the best contemporary practice in this core programming area, so that you’ll find yourself using it in nearly all your .NET projects.

• Provides step-by-step instructions on how to install and configure necessary tools
• Presents all essential SQL query and update concepts and syntax, so you don’t need prior familiarity with relational databases or SQL
• Describes how to use ADO.NET transactions, exceptions, and events
• Covers ADO.NET features for handling XML, text, and binary data within a VB 2005 context
• Explains all concepts through straightforward code examples

What you’ll learn

• How relational databases work and how to use them
• How VB uses ADO.NET to access databases
• How to write stored procedures in T-SQL and call them from VB programs
• How to use XML in database applications
• How to use LINQ to simplify VB database programming
• How to install SQL Server 2005 Express and use it to teach yourself databases by doing databases

Who is this book for?

Beginning VB 2008 Databases is for every VB programmer. Database programming requires relatively little knowledge of VB but a lot of knowledge about relational database concepts and the database language SQL. This book assumes no prior database experience and teaches you, always through hands-on examples, how to create and use relational databases with SQL and how to access them with VB. Almost every application needs to access a database, and this book teaches all the fundamentals you may ever need to develop professional database applications.

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Clare Churcher’s Beginning SQL Queries is your guide to mastering the lingua franca of the database industry: the SQL language. Good knowledge of SQL is crucial to anyone working with databases, because it is with SQL that you retrieve data, manipulate data, and generate business results. Knowing how to write good queries is the foundation for all work done in SQL, and it is a foundation that Clare lays well in her book.

• Does not bore with syntax!
• Helps you learn the underlying concepts involved in querying a database, and from there the syntax is easy
• Provides exceptionally clear examples and explanations
• Is academically sound while being practical and approachable

What you’ll learn

• Write simple queries to extract data from a single table.
• Understand relational algebra and calculus and why they are important.
• Combine data from many tables into one business result.
• Avoid pitfalls and traps such as Cartesian products and difficulties with null values.
• Summarize large amounts of data for reporting purposes.
• Apply set theory to the problems of manipulating data and generating reports.

Who is this book for?

Beginning SQL Queries is aimed at intelligent laypeople who need to extract information from a database, and at developers and other IT people who are new to SQL. The book is especially useful for business intelligence analysts who must ask more complex questions of their database than their GUI–based reporting software supports. Such people might be business owners wanting to target specific customers, scientists and students needing to extract subsets of their research data, or end users wanting to make the best use of databases for their clubs and societies.

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The Microsoft .NET Micro Framework is a small and efficient .NET runtime environment used to run managed code on devices that are too small and resource constrained for Windows CE and the Compact Framework.

Expert .NET Micro Framework will teach you everything you need to know in order to use the .NET Micro Framework to create effective embedded applications. It begins with the basics of accessing hardware and networking before delving deep into the less well–known areas such as cryptography and globalization, and how to use technologies such as wireless communication that are not directly supported by the .NET Micro Framework.

This book is a must if you want to get as much as possible out of the .NET Micro Framework to write powerful embedded applications.

Expert .NET Micro Framework also describes how to use resources, and write globalized and multilingual embedded applications. You will learn how to effectively use binary serialization to store data permanently in flash memory or exchange data with a PDA or PC. Topics like cryptography and encrypted data exchange with a .NET or Compact Framework application are covered.

What you’ll learn

• Describes and compares wireless communication technologies and how to use them even if they are not directly supported by the .NET Micro Framework
• Describes the whole class library and features of the .NET Micro Framework, illustrated by working examples
• Demonstrates how to access hardware components with managed drivers and write applications with a graphical user interface
• Includes a detailed description of how to effectively extend or write hardware emulators using undocumented features of the configuration engine and emulator components

Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone with an interest in creating embedded systems. Primarily, it is written for the benefit of .NET developers with a background in C#, but it will equally appeal to hardware developers with a background in Assembler, C, or C++ who will be impressed by the benefits that managed code can bring to their devices.

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Sometimes you just need to solve a problem and get on with your work. To that end, Visual Basic 2008 Recipes is a compendium of practical solutions for busy VB .NET programmers. Create time for the more interesting aspects of your VB .NET project by solving common problems with the practical solutions and dozens of code examples in this book. Important new .NET 3.5 technologies, such as Windows Presentation Framework (WPF) and Language Integrated Query (LINQ), are covered, and each chapter addresses a specific problem domain, including database access, multimedia, XML manipulation, networking, and security. The code is free to download so you can use the recipes immediately.

• Take advantage of quality, ready–made solutions to common Visual Basic programming problems.

• Avoid the tedium of having to reinvent the wheel. Focus instead on the more interesting problems specific to your application.

• Learn from and be inspired by what the authors have done. Use their work as stepping stones to solve even more complex problems.

What you’ll learn

• Cleanly separate user–interface logic from business logic through the use of .NET 3.5’s WPF.

• Store data to and retrieve data from your relational database using LINQ.

• Manipulate XML data using LINQ.

• Make your programs dynamically configurable through the judicious application of reflection.

• Take advantage of multiple CPU cores by writing multithreaded applications.

• Integrate multimedia into your Visual Basic projects.

Who is this book for?

Visual Basic 2008 Recipes is written for Visual Basic developers who have at least some experience in developing Visual Basic solutions. The book contains recipes appealing to intermediate through advanced developers.

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The revised edition of the classic Core Java™, Volume II–Advanced Features, covers advanced user-interface programming and the enterprise features of the Java SE 6 platform. Like Volume I (which covers the core language and library features), this volume has been updated for Java SE 6 and new coverage is highlighted throughout. All sample programs have been carefully crafted to illustrate the latest programming techniques, displaying best-practices solutions to the types of real-world problems professional developers encounter.

Volume II includes new sections on the StAX API, JDBC 4, compiler API, scripting framework, splash screen and tray APIs, and many other Java SE 6 enhancements. In this book, the authors focus on the more advanced features of the Java language, including complete coverage of

• Streams and Files
• Networking
• Database programming
• XML
• JNDI and LDAP
• Internationalization
• Advanced GUI components
• Java 2D and advanced AWT
• JavaBeans
• Security
• RMI and Web services
• Collections
• Annotations
• Native methods

For thorough coverage of Java fundamentals–including interfaces and inner classes, GUI programming with Swing, exception handling, generics, collections, and concurrency–look for the eighth edition of Core Java™, Volume I–Fundamentals

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“Whether this is the first time or the fifty-first time you’re using WCF, you’ll learn something new by reading this book.”

–Nicholas Allen, Program Manager, Web Services, Microsoft

Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) is the easiest way to produce and consume Web services on the Microsoft platform. With .NET 3.5, WCF has been extensively revamped–and Visual Studio 2008 gives developers powerful new tools for utilizing it. Essential Windows Communication Foundation shows developers exactly how to make the most of WCF with .NET 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008.

Drawing on extensive experience working with early adopters, three Microsoft insiders systematically address the topics developers ask about WCF. The authors approach each subject with practical advice and present best practices, tips, and tricks for solving problems. Throughout, you’ll find detailed explanations, solutions for the “pain points” of WCF development, and an extensive collection of reusable code examples.

Coverage includes

• Using WCF contracts to define complex structures and interfaces
• Understanding WCF’s channel stacks and channel model architecture
• Configuring the WCF communication stack to use only the protocols you need
• Using standard and custom service behaviors to manage concurrency, instances, transactions, and more
• Serializing data from .NET types to XML Infosets and representing Infosets “on the wire”
• Hosting WCF services via IIS, managed .NET applications, and Windows Activation Services
• WCF security, in depth: authentication; transport and message-level security; and Internet and intranet scenarios
• Improving reliability: exception handling, diagnostics, and more
• Workflow services: new integration points between WCF 3.5 and Windows Workflow Foundation
• Building client-to-client, peer network-based applications
• Utilizing WCF for non-SOAP Web services: AJAX and JSON examples and .NET 3.5 hosting classes

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