Rating: A comprehensive introduction to Windows Phone 7.5 development
Here’s a very handy tool for W7 Mango fans, a definitive guide to the very latest Microsoft mobile OS. Entitled ‘Essential Windows Phone 7.5′, it has been written by a highly experienced Microsoft insider, Shawn Wildermuth. This work is available as a standard printed publication although the e-book version is cheaper. Its aim is to describe how to build a WP 7.5 application from start to finish. It has two main target audiences: – a .NET or Silverlight developer who is going mobile or an experienced mobile developer moving to Windows Phone. Crucially this reference work concentrates heaving on Silverlight rather than XNA and also highlights what’s new in WP 7.5 Mango so you can take full advantage of its best features. The book has already attracted glowing reviews on InformIT here. After an introduction to Windows Phone 7.5, Shawn Wildermuth dives directly into the essentials – emphasising best-practice examples and illustrating with code.
Inside Essential Windows Phone 7.5 you’ll discover what you need to build such skills as mastering the Silverlight Toolkit for Windows Phone 7.5 and leveraging Microsoft’s Metro design language.
Other highly useful topics it covers include building location-based services that work with the phone’s GPS and working with Windows Phone 7.5’s unique hubs and tiles.
Essential topics covered include designing the look and feel of your app’s user interface with XAML and integrating external data via REST, conventional Web services, and push notifications.
The final and all important part to this book is advice on preparing your application for the Windows Phone Marketplace.
One of the reviewers says, “One of the things I like about the book is that the author does a great job of switching between Visual Studio and Expression Blend at appropriate times.”
He also says that the book’s downloadable code is very well organised and usable. Sample code is always a bonus.
This comment is also bound to make its way onto the book’s back cover … ” A recommended read for individuals wanting a comprehensive introduction to Windows Phone 7.5 development.”
This work is published by Addison-Wesley Professional and its ISBN number is 13: 978-0-321-75213-0.
Prices start from around $40 for the printed book version but InformIT are already discounting this product for you.
