[WPF] - Some useful books for WPF programmers

Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed (WPF) (Unleashed) - - Adam Nathan

“This book stands out as one of the easiest to read technical books. The book is in color, is divided into many chapters and sub-chapters, and written in a casual style, which makes it very enjoyable to read. The coverage of the content is top-notch, save for the chapter on data binding which I think lacked better examples. I think this book falls into the category of a cover-to-cover read; meaning it is easy to get through the book in a couple weeks. There are other books that I would recommend as a reference book that contain more detailed technical information. If you are new to WPF and are the type to read complete chapters and books, then definitely start with this one.”

Essential Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) (Microsoft .NET Development Series) - Chris Anderson

“I thought no one could top Adam Nathan's WPF book, and this one doesn't top it - no what it does it match it but does so without tediously repeating the same material and approach. Chris Anderson's book is the one to read if you want to know the Why's and not just the What's - this is not just because Chris was one of the chief architects but because he explains it all so clearly. The book's organisation is wonderful, WPF has a huge surface area but Chris's presentation of it is effortless, enlightening and entertaining. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book.”

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation (Programming) - Chris Sells/Ian Griffiths

“If you are interested in Avalon (WPF) at all, then this is the book you need! It is by far the best book on the subject that's currently available. Sure, this is still beta technology and by now a few new builds have been made available, but updated samples are available online.

Not only will the technology change before it is released, but there will also be a lot of new tools available by the time it ships. For the time being however, this book tells you how things are done without special tools. And it can never hurt to know how things are done under the hood.”

Applications = Code + Markup: A Guide to the Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (Pro - Developer) - Charles Petzold

“I have had this book for about 2 weeks now, as Amazon delivered it to me early before the official release. I am a tech book junkie. I buy a lot of tech books. This is the best programming text I have purchased in the last couple of years. Petzold does a great job explaining WPF from both a nuts & bolts prespective and a big picture perspective.

I purchased two other WPF books over the last few months. This book blows both of them away. It was written using the June CTP of the .Net 3.0 framework, which is supposed to be fairly locked down API-wise. All the code works correctly, which I cannot say about my other two books. In the first 5 pages I learned something new about WPF, even though I have been knee deep in the technology for months. Several things that seemed rather mysterious to me in WPF have become crystal clear because of the explanations in this book.

The first half of the book is all C#. The second half is all XAML, acomplishing the same tasks as the first half. This approach really shows the relationship between XAML code and the resulting objects at runtime.”