Creating applications with compelling graphics has been one of the main goals of client applications, and with the arrival of WPF, Silverlight, and HTML5, it is much easier than ever before to create interactive and rich user interfaces. These technologies make use of the computational and graphical power of computers.
This book is a hands-on guide that provides you with a number of clear, step-by-step exercises that will help you take advantage of the real power of Blend in creating WPF, Silverlight, and HTML5 applications. It will give you a good grounding in creating Windows, web, and Windows Phone applications. You will learn about the various tools and techniques that are available in Blend and the different types of applications that we can create using Blend.
By the end of the book, you will be well aware of all the major concepts in Blend and will also be able to develop Windows, web, and Windows Phone applications. You will also be aware of the various capabilities that are available in Blend out of the box.
Chapter 1, Getting Started with Blend, familiarizes you with the Blend integrated development environment. You will see the various tools provided by Blend and also have a look at how the various panels in Blend are structured.
Chapter 2, Layout Panels, helps you understand the various layout panels provided in the WPF and Silverlight frameworks and how the content is managed in these layouts.
Chapter 3, Working with XAML, shows you what XAML is and how you can make use of it in your applications. You will see how XAML helps you work with Blend faster and more efficiently.
Chapter 4, Styles and Templates, teaches you what styles and templates are and how you can create, modify, and reuse them in Blend.
Chapter 5, Behaviors and States in Blend, shows you how you can attach behaviors and actions to elements and how you can use visual states in your applications.
Chapter 6, Understanding Animation and Storyboards, shows you how to create animations in Blend, modify them, and use them in your applications. This chapter also covers how you can create and design storyboards in Blend.
Chapter 7, Understanding DataBinding, covers DataBinding and how it works.
Chapter 8, Vector Graphics, provides you with the understanding of vector graphics and has a look at how it's different from normal graphics. You will see how you can create vector graphics and advantages of using it.
Chapter 9, User Controls and Custom Controls, teaches you what user controls and custom controls are and how you can create and reuse them.
Chapter 10, Creating Windows Phone Apps, shows you how you can design and develop Windows Phone applications from Blend itself.
Chapter 11, Creating Windows 8 Store Apps, shows you how you can design and develop Windows 8 Store applications from Blend itself.
Chapter 12, Prototyping Using SketchFlow, a bonus chapter, looks at what SketchFlow is about and how it helps you in prototyping designs and getting quick and usable feedback. You can download it from https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/3882OT_Chapter12.pdf.
You just need a PC with Windows 8 or above and Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.
This book is aimed at developers and designers who are new to Blend and looking to learn Blend, not just practically, but also conceptually. This book does not assume any knowledge about Blend on the part of developers; however, some experience in design or development might be useful in understanding the concepts faster, but this book explains everything very simply so that you are able to understand everything with little or no effort.
In this book, you will find several headings that appear frequently (Time for action, What just happened?, Pop quiz, and Have a go hero).
To give clear instructions on how to complete a procedure or task, we use these sections as follows:
Action 1
Action 2
Action 3
Instructions often need some extra explanation to ensure they make sense, so they are followed with these sections:
This section explains the working of the tasks or instructions that you have just completed.
You will also find some other learning aids in the book, for example:
These are short multiple-choice questions intended to help you test your own understanding.
You will also find a number of text styles that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: "Add the name of the application to HelloWorld."
A block of code is set as follows:
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition/>
<RowDefinition Height="2*"/>
<RowDefinition Height="1.5*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Run the installer and make sure you select Blend for Visual Studio in the optional features."
Feedback from our readers is always welcome. Let us know what you think about this book—what you liked or disliked. Reader feedback is important for us as it helps us develop titles that you will really get the most out of.
To send us general feedback, simply e-mail <[email protected]>, and mention the book's title in the subject of your message.
If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, see our author guide at www.packtpub.com/authors.
Now that you are the proud owner of a Packt book, we have a number of things to help you to get the most from your purchase.
You can download the example code files from your account at http://www.packtpub.com for all the Packt Publishing books you have purchased. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit http://www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files e-mailed directly to you.
We also provide you with a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. The color images will help you better understand the changes in the output. You can download this file from: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/3882OT_Graphic Bundle.pdf.
Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you find a mistake in one of our books—maybe a mistake in the text or the code—we would be grateful if you could report this to us. By doing so, you can save other readers from frustration and help us improve subsequent versions of this book. If you find any errata, please report them by visiting http://www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details of your errata. Once your errata are verified, your submission will be accepted and the errata will be uploaded to our website or added to any list of existing errata under the Errata section of that title.
To view the previously submitted errata, go to https://www.packtpub.com/books/content/support and enter the name of the book in the search field. The required information will appear under the Errata section.
Piracy of copyrighted material on the Internet is an ongoing problem across all media. At Packt, we take the protection of our copyright and licenses very seriously. If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, please provide us with the location address or website name immediately so that we can pursue a remedy.
Please contact us at <[email protected]> with a link to the suspected pirated material.
We appreciate your help in protecting our authors and our ability to bring you valuable content.
If you have a problem with any aspect of this book, you can contact us at <[email protected]>, and we will do our best to address the problem.