Xperimentality

I was recently asked to review the book, The Windows Phone 7.5 Data Cookbook.  In order to review this book, I was provided a free copy by the publisher.  The book was written to make you an expert in areas of data access and storage in Windows Phone applications.  The book covers databinding techniques, use of local storage and corresponding ways to store data in local storage, on-device databases, consuming cloud data sources like OData, REST, and WCF, and also utilization of the MVVM pattern.  The book uses the concept of a recipe to help understand the concepts of data handling.  A recipe is a step-by-step sample which can be followed and then used as the basis for further development.

While the book presents step-by-step examples of data handling concepts, it is not a book on beginning to develop for Windows Phone.  The book does assume some previous knowledge of XAML and C#.  It is possible to complete the examples in the book with no previous knowledge however,  because all of the code necessary for the examples is provided in the book.

The “recipe” approach to the book is easy to follow and provides a flow that I liked.  You are first introduced to a topic with a brief description.  Then you are told what prerequisites are necessary.  For example, if there are any libraries that need to be downloaded and installed. When there are additional items needed, URLs are provided to the resource.  The next step in the recipe walks through creating the necessary files and provides all of the code necessary in each file.  Once all of the code has been entered, you are told to run your project to see how it behaves.  An explanation is now provided that discusses what you did and why it worked the way it did.  Often there are links provided to Microsoft Knowledge Bases to find out more information about the resources or techniques used.  While I really like the approach of providing links to find out more information, there were times it seemed an excuse to not go into as much detail in the book.  So there are probably some recipes that will require going to the links provided to truly understand a particular technique.

Overall, the book is a great place to start.  It covers a wide range of data handling topics in a manner easily digestible to anyone at any level of experience. The addition of the section on MVVM, while not necessarily a data handling technique, is a big win for those who want to get started writing data driven applications for Windows Phone.  The depth of the examples is such that a reader will be able to understand how to use a particular technique without having to know all the technical details of the topic.  If you want a book on handling data in Windows Phone apps that will get you up to speed fast, but may require more research to become truly proficient, then The Windows Phone 7.5 Data Cookbook is a good place to start.  Chapter 2 - Isolated Storage is provided as a free download if you would like to see how the book is laid out.  You can download the sample chapter here.

PACKT Publishing sent me a free copy of 3D Game Development with Microsoft Silverlight 3 to review.  I was truly looking forward to reviewing the book.  I have built a handful of games in Silverlight purely for fun and have not really talked about game development or advertised that I work with game development using Silverlight.  In the past I have done a lot of digital video and graphics work for advertising or movies.  So, for me, creating a game is a fun and relaxing escape from day to day application development.

When I received the book, the first thing I did was to flip to the Preface section to see what the book was about in summary and who the book was written for.  The description indicated that the book was written for C# developers with a basic knowledge of Visual Studio IDE.  Furthermore, it indicated that no prior experience in 3D programming, 3D animation, and Silverlight is required.  After reading the book, I agree that this is an accurate statement.  However I think that to get the most out of the book and what the book introduces, a developer would either have some experience with 3D tools or would want to explore these tools and concepts further.

I decided I would dive into chapter 1 as though I had no prior experience.  The book starts out putting the reader into character as a developer who has always wanted to develop a 3D game.  You now have the opportunity through a new game contest.  The rest of the book follows you, the eager developer, as you build and enhance your game entry.  The approach was fun and made for a more interesting read if you read the book from cover to cover.  As such the book started from step A and went all the way through Z.

One of the first things that became clear was the layout of the chapters.  Throughout the book, concepts are introduced through a series of “Explanation”, “Time for Action”, and “What Just Happened” sections.  In the sections I would label as explanation, the author discusses tools and concepts that will be used in the “Time for Action” sections.  Next you are presented with the “Time for Action” section where you are taken step by step through some action.  Usually this involves writing code and occasionally installing software or some setup tasks.  Once you have followed the steps, performed some action, and are all happy with your results, you come to the “What Just Happened” section which explains the outcome and reiterates what you just did.  This follows the old teaching adage “Tell them, Show them, Have them do it, then Tell them again”.

Through this series of explanation, example, and confirmation, the author  walks the reader through a full gambit of topics.  By the time you get to the end of the book, topics have been covered ranging from basics like importing graphics into Silverlight, placing them on the page, and moving them around to more complex topics like animating pixel shaders, collision detection, and physics engines.  In between, the reader is introduced to popular industry tools like Blender and Gimp.

The book is a great introduction to 3D game development in Silverlight.  While certain topics like Blender and the Farseer Physics Engine are deserving of a book unto themselves, the introduction is just what is needed to get started.  The book goes well beyond what is needed to develop 2D games, but the concepts like working with objects on the screen, backgrounds, using multiple pages, collision detection, etc are very applicable to both 2D and 3D!  If you truly want to develop 3D games using objects and characters that will move and interact in a 3D environment, this is a book that can get you started.  It won’t be the last book you’ll need, but it will open the door to what you can do and help you determine what other resources you would like to explore further.

I have been really busy lately with so many different projects.  I recently spoke with PACKT Publishing about reviewing 3D Game Development with Microsoft Silverlight 3.  I am looking forward to reading the book and taking some time out to have a little fun.  I don’t get much time anymore to do programming for the sheer fun of it (not that I don’t enjoy any development I get to do).  I am going to approach the book as though I have not played at all with Silverlight game development.  I look forward to writing up a review when done.  Keep an eye out for the review soon!

I had kinda made a promise to myself that I was going to make sure I did not turn my blog into just a place to link to other information.  In the beginning, I began to get sucked into that black hole, but occasionally there are just some things that can't be said better!

To that end, my good friend and co-worker, Jeff Barnes, just sent me a link to a write up about 2 very different WPF books.  I thought it brought to light a good point.  Here is the blog entry on Coding Horror that I am speaking of.

I recently had gotten evaluation copies of these two books to determine if one or the other might make a good reference book to be used in a WPF training class I am teaching.  Needless to say, Nathan's book was the clear winner.  Not that there was no good information in Petzold's book.  Quite the contrary.   But when choosing a book that people are going to be able to use on a daily basis, the layout and format of Nathan's book is exceptional.

Bottom line is this: with the number of technical books on the market today, choosing a book is more than just choosing an author or a title.  It often takes flipping through a book to see if the content is going to make you go to sleep or excite you!  Thanks to both Jeffs!

I posted a new book review on Digital Photography Hacks. While it might not seem like much of a technology book, developing for the web does mean occasionally being a photographer.  I am often asked to take new photos or do post processing on existing photos for use as images for a website.  I assume many others are in the same situation.  Anything that helps me take better digital photography, makes me a better web developer.  As a UI developer, graphics is of great interest to me.  So you will see more reviews on books dealing with photography, Photoshop, and graphics in the near future.  Click here to read the review.

I have put out my first book review.  I have others I will move out soon.  I read the book a little while back.  The book covers a wide range of topics and thusly no topic in excrutiating detail.  As a result, the only real change you should have to make in the examples in the book are in the mappings.
Read the book review

There are so many things that I have been wanting to get to on my blog but it keeps getting put on the back burner.  I have some WPF examples and articles, book reviews, a new design that is about 50% complete, and on and on and on.  I finally decided to take a few minutes and go ahead and put one of the book reviews out that I have done.  So I have added a Book Review section to the blog.  I don't know about anyone else, but I like to see what others think about a book before I lay out the money for one (especially if you read a number of books a month).  I am going to try to do one book review per month.  Hopefully it will be helpful to someone!