Silverlight is a lightweight browser plugin that frees your code from the traditional confines of the browser. It's a ruleschanging, groundbreaking technology that allows you to run rich client applications right inside the browser. Even more impressively, it's able to host true .NET applications in nonMicrosoft browsers (like Firefox) and on nonMicrosoft platforms (like Mac OS X). Silverlight is still new and evolving fast, and you need a reliable guidebook to make sense of it.

With fourcolor graphics and screenshots throughout,Pro Silverlight 2 in VB 2008 is the perfect reference: you'll learn about the features that put Silverlight in direct competition with Adobe Flash, such as rich support for 2D drawing, animations, and media playback, and best of all, you'll experience the plumbing of .NET and the design model of Windows Presentation Foundation through Silverlightall of the same .NET technology that developers use to design nextgeneration Windows applications. AuthorMatthew MacDonald provides an expertly crafted tutorial written from professional developer to professional developer. You'll learn to create rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment you're most productive inno matter what the target platform.

Matthew MacDonald is an author,educator, and MCSD developer who has a passion for emerging technologies. He isthe author of more than a dozen books about .NET programming. In a dimly-remembered past life, he studied English literature and theoretical physics.

Introducing Silverlight.- XAML.- Layout.- Dependency Properties and Routed Events.- Elements.- The Application Model.- Shapes and Geometries.- Brushes and Transforms.- Animation.- Sound, Video, and Deep Zoom.- Styles, Templates, and Custom Controls.- Browser Integration.- ASP.NET and Web Services.- Data Binding.- Isolated Storage.- Multithreading.- Networking.