| Four years after the .NET Framework first hit the programming scene, smart client applications still refuse to die.
This is significant because when .NET first appeared, all too many people assumed it was about to usher in a new world of Web-only programming. In fact, for a short time Microsoft’s own Web site described the .NET Framework in a single sentence as a “platform for building Web services and Web applications”—ignoring the Windows technology that made the company famous.
Now that the dust has settled, it’s clear that Web and Windows applications aren’t locked in the final rounds of a life-or-death battle. Instead, both technologies are flourishing. And not only are both technologies gaining strength, but they’re also stealing some of each other’s best features. For example, the latest release of .NET gives Web developers rich controls like menus and trees that were previously the exclusive domain of Windows coders (or Web-heads who weren’t afraid to write a mess of hardcore client-side JavaScript). On the other hand, Windows applications are gaining easy Web-based deployment, more-flexible layout options, and the ability to display HTML. All of these innovations point to many productive years ahead for Web and Windows developers alike.
If you’ve picked up this book, you’ve already decided to learn more about programming Windows smart clients with .NET. Although both Web and Windows applications have their strengths and weaknesses, only Windows applications allow you to break out of the confines of the browser and take full advantage of the client computer. With Windows Forms, you can play sound and video, display dynamic graphics, react to the user’s actions instantaneously, and build sophisticated windowed interfaces.
In this book, you’ll learn how to use all of these techniques to design state-of-the-art application interfaces. Best of all, you won’t just learn how to use the existing controls of the .NET Framework—you’ll also learn everything you need to extend, enhance, and customize them. |