Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
WPF provides a unified framework for building applications with rich user interfaces and interactivity. It is built on top of the .Net Framework and makes use of the managed and unmanaged code. WPF programming model allows the developers to write code once and deploy it as a standalone installed application or in a browser.
Read the rest of this entry »
What Is Silverlight?
Silverlight is a new Web presentation technology that is created to run on a variety of platforms. It enables the creation of rich, visually stunning and interactive experiences that can run everywhere: within browsers and on multiple devices and desktop operating systems (such as the Apple Macintosh). In consistency with WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation), the presentation technology in Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 (the Windows programming infrastructure), XAML (eXtensible Application Markup Language) is the foundation of the Silverlight presentation capability.
Read the rest of this entry »
RSS is an acronym that stands for Rich Site Summary, though it’s often alternatively defined as Really Simple Syndication. The simplest definition of RSS is an eXtensible Markup Language(XML) format that uses the Resource Description Framework (RDF) for representing information about resources on the World Wide Web. Similarly, Atom is another format based on XML technology.
Read the rest of this entry »
Extensible Markup Language (‘XML’) is a standard for describing content data in a manner that facilitates the sharing of such content across different systems and applications. Over the last 10 years, the XML standard has been adopted across a wide range of environments in the IT industry. Microsoft is one of many companies that is re-aligning its existing product range to take advantage of the flexibility of XML. One of its current initiatives is the standardization of the Office Open XML File Formats (‘File Formats’).This paper reviews the standardisation process that Microsoft has embarked upon and examines Microsoft’s legal arrangements related to intellectual property associated with the File Formats and the manner in which that legal treatment interacts with other products currently on the market.
Read the rest of this entry »
Microsoft Expression Blend is an application that generates XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) via a user interface. Blend is designed to create all of the WPF UI (User Interface) elements such as windows, buttons, grid, and brushes on a designer surface. Blend will then emit all the necessary XAML code. Blend is a designer tool, so you still use Visual Studio 2005 to write the application code. (Note: If you have the next version of Visual Studio, codenamed “Orcas,” installed, you don’t need to install the Visual Studio Extensions for WPF or the .NET Framework 3.)
Read the rest of this entry »
When Microsoft created .NET, it wasn’t just dreaming about the future—it was also worrying about the headaches and limitations of the current generation of web development technologies. Before you get started with ASP.NET 2.0, it helps to take a step back and consider these problems. You’ll then understand the solution that .NET offers.
In this chapter you’ll consider the history of web development leading up to ASP.NET, take a whirlwind tour of the most significant features of .NET, and preview the core changes in ASP.NET 2.0. If you’re new to ASP.NET, this chapter will quickly get you up to speed. On the other hand, if you’re a seasoned .NET developer, you have two choices. Your first option is to read this chapter for a brisk review of where we are today. Alternatively, you can skip to the section “ASP.NET 2.0: The Story Continues” to preview what ASP.NET 2.0 has in store.
Read the rest of this entry »