Category Archives: eBooks

Free e-books exposed

Free e-Book: Programming Windows Phone 7

A new e-book is published for all Windows Phone 7 lovers! The best thing is that the book is free.  The author is Charles Petzold.

This book is divided into three parts. The first part discusses basic concepts of Windows Phone 7 programming using example programs that target both Silverlight and the XNA framework. It is likely that many Windows Phone 7 developers will choose either one platform or the other, but I think it’s important for all developers who have at least a little knowledge of the alternative to their chosen path.

The second part of this book focuses entirely on Silverlight, and the third part on XNA 2D. For your convenience, the chapters in each part build upon previous knowledge in a progressive tutorial narrative, and hence are intended to be read sequentially.

This book is a gift from the Windows Phone 7 team at Microsoft to the programming community, and I am proud to have been a part of it. Within the pages that follow, I show you the basics of writing applications for Windows Phone 7 using the C# programming language with the Silverlight and XNA 2D frameworks.

Download EBook Here

Download the Ebook’s sample code

Table of Contents and other Information

Free ebook: Moving to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

I want to tell you about a new e-book: Moving to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (Microsoft Press, 2011; 336 pages), written by Patrice Pelland, Pascal Paré, and Ken Haines.

Here’s a little bit about the authors: Ken Haines is a software development engineer at Microsoft, working in the Consumer and Online Division. He has a passion for distributed applications in the cloud and strives to help customers and partners find the right solution for their needs. Pascal Paré has worked at Microsoft since 2006, where he has held positions as a software engineer on both development and testing teams. Patrice Pelland is a principal development manager at Microsoft, working in the Consumer and Online Division. He leads a development team that is focused on innovation and incubation across all Microsoft consumer products.

Moving to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 was written with three audiences in mind:

  • Part I is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2003 to Visual Studio 2010.
  • Part II is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2005.
  • Part III is for developers moving from Visual Studio 2008.

You can download a PDF of the book here.

You can download an XPS of the book here.

You can download the book’s sample code here.

Visit the official website for more details.

Application Architecture Guide v2 – Free eBook

Microsoft Application Architecture Guide, 2nd Edition is a Must Have eBook for Developers and Solution Architects. The guide is intended to help developers and solution architects design and build effective, high quality applications using the Microsoft platform and the .NET Framework more quickly and with less risk. It provides guidance for using architecture principles, design principles, and patterns that are tried and trusted. The guidance is presented in sections that correspond to major architecture and design focus points. It is designed to be used as a reference resource or to be read from beginning to end.

The guide helps you to:

  • Understand the underlying architecture and design principles and patterns for developing successful solutions on the Microsoft platform and the .NET Framework.
  • Identify appropriate strategies and design patterns that will help you design your solution’s layers, components, and services.
  • Identify and address the key engineering decision points for your solution.
  • Identify and address the key quality attributes and crosscutting concerns for your solution.
  • Create a candidate baseline architecture for your solution.
  • Choose the right technologies for your solution.
  • Identify patterns & practices solution assets and further guidance that will help you to implement your solution.