Summary: This section details useful resources for learning WPF.
We're just kicking off a WPF project. How can we get the development team up to speed quickly?
Firstly, get them a few books for their technical library:
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Applications = Code + Markup: A Guide to WPF (Charles Petzold)
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Programming Windows Presentation Foundation (Chris Sells & Ian Griffiths)
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Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed (Adam Nathan)
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Foundations of WPF (Laurence Moroney)
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Essential Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)bbssr_1/002-5321928-6579204?ie=UTF8&s=books (Chris Anderson)
The return on investment for having a few copies of each of these is unbeatable, and folk will very quickly get up to speed and have a sound reference with these to hand.
If you prefer lectures to books, check out the
WPF boot camp , which is three days of great content about WPF.
Alternatively, if you can't wait for the books in the mail, there are a bunch of free online introductory articles for you to peruse.
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Getting Started - This is a portal to dozens of articles that cover everything from high-level introductions to more detailed information on specific WPF technologies (e.g. controls, animations, data binding, etc).
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Introduction to Windows Presentation Foundation - The name says it all.
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Get Started Using Windows Presentation Foundation - This tutorial guides you through creating a simple WPF app.
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Getting Started - This is a portal to dozens of articles that cover everything from high-level introductions to more detailed information on specific WPF technologies (e.g. controls, animations, data binding, etc).
Be sure to get your desktop set up for WPF.
Tim Sneath's blog post tells you how.
There are also lots of
Hands-On-Labs posted, including:
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Building WPF Applications *
Building WPF XBAP Browser Applications *
Creating Rich 2D and 3D Content *
Creating a Rich Reading Experience *
Using Databinding The materials available for learning Expression Blend are as follows:
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Expresion Blend Feature Tour - This is a hands-on lab
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Creating WPF buttons with Expression Blend and Expression Design - This is another hands-on lab which shows workflow between Expression Design and Expression Blend
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Creating a Glass Button in Blend - A great tutorial on creating a glass button in Blend.
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ContentPresenter.com - A series of screencasts that show things such as doing 2D on 3D, Creating a Split Button in Blend and more
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Expression Blend on Lynda.com - Over an hour of screencasts of Blend training
(NOTE: Cost Associated) *
Channel9 Screencasts - There are at least 8 screencasts up here, including basic overviews, databinding, styling, workflow and more
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Tutorials by Kirupa_wpf/index.htm - A comprehensive and great set of tutorials by Kirupa
Community Forums on Expression Blend are as follows:
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ExpressionBlend.com - A community forum. It also contains 'How 2' videos on Expression Blend.
Also, there are a few companies providing training.
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Pluralsight are offering WPF training in Massachussets and LA;
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Developmentor are doing WPF training in LA, Boston and London as well as on-site.
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IdentityMine assists companies mentor development resources through the technology adoption process through customized on-site training.
College Classes (both regular face to face and online) are available from
Foothill College in Los Altos Hills (Bay Area), California. In addition to many other
.NET Related classes Foothill offers classes in
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Windows Presentation Foundation and
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Expression Blend A comprehensive list of resources can be found at:
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WPFPlex.com *
WPF Resources Finally, there's a two hour
introductory clinic offered by MS Learning, and
Karsten Januszewski has a
great article and
follow-up on "hitting the WPF curve", both of which might be useful supplemental materials.
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