Pro Business Applications with Silverlight 4

Silverlight 4 has the potential to revolutionize the way we build business applications. With its flexibility, web deployment, cross-platform capabilities, rich .NET language support on the client, rich user interface control set, small runtime, and more, it comes close to the perfect platform in which to build business applications. It's a very powerful technology, and despite its youth, it's moving forward at a rapid pace and is gaining widespread adoption.

This book will guide you through the process of designing and developing enterprise-strength business applications in Silverlight 4 and C#. You will learn how to take advantage of the power of Silverlight to develop rich and robust business applications, from getting started to deployment, and everything in between.

In particular, this book will serve developers who want to learn how to design business applications, and introduce the patterns to use, the issues that you'll face, and how to resolve them. Chris Anderson, who has been building line-of-business applications for years, demonstrates his experience through a candid presentation of how to tackle real-life issues, rather than just avoid them. Developers will benefit from his hard-won expertise through business application design patterns that he shares throughout the book.

With this book in hand, you will

• Create a fully functional business application in Silverlight
• Discover how to satisfy all of the general requirements that most business applications need
• Develop a business application framework

What you'll learn

• How to structure your project to ensure a robust and maintainable application
• How to create user interfaces with XAML and bind controls to data
• How to communicate securely between the server and the client
• How to view and maintain data within a Silverlight user interface
• How to design unique user experiences and use advanced styling techniques
• How to implement standard business application paradigms in Silverlight

Who is this book for?

This book is for developers experienced in other .NET technologies, such as WinForms or ASP.NET, looking to translate their existing skills to developing business applications with Silverlight. Patterns and methodologies associated with building robust applications will be introduced and are not prerequisite knowledge.Table of Contents

Getting Started with Sliverlight

Designing User Interfaces with XAML

The Navigation Framework

Server/Client Communication using RIA Data Services

Summary Lists

Building Data Entry Forms

Securing Your Application

Styling Your Application

Advanced XAML and Data Binding

Creating Custom Controls

Complex User Interface Elements

Model View View-Model (MVVM) Architecture

Reporting and Printing

Te...