I bought the first edition of this book called Programming Windows Presentation Foundation (AKA Avalon) at the PDC in 2005 and read it completely on the plane home.

When I heard the second edition was released I didn't think much would have changed, but this is even better than the first edition. It's twice as big and covers all major (and not so major) topics in WPF (inc. an introduction to 3D and Silverlight).

I think this book will proof to be for WPF what Programming Windows, Fifth Edition is for WIN32 programming.

There isn't much yet on the internet about WPF, so if you want to get started using it, you really need a guide.

Not only is the book a well crafted introduction to WPF, I've just discovered that the downloadable source code makes an excellent companion to the book.

Questions that were not answered in another top-rated WPF book I found answered here... so whatever else you buy, get this book!

This book is the most in depth resource into WPF i have seen. And not just that, it gets to the good stuff that you'll actually use in your code and not just filler or lists of properties that you can get from intelisense. The examples are extremely useful.

The other benefit of this book is that it doesn't just tell you how to do things, but why. This is incredibly helpful in finding the best solution to your specific problem.

Thanks guys! great book!
Ralph

I say to ignore those reviews because they do not refer to this book. This is the second edition published August 28, 2007 with 863 pages. Those reviews are based off of the first edition published nearly two years before (September 12, 2005) and with only 447 pages.

Using Amazon's 'Search inside this book' takes you to the 2005 edition also. That shows only 10 chapters while this edition has 17. Most of the negative comments from the 2 and 3 star reviewers seem to have been resolved.

The biggest strength of this book is that it focus on using WPF programatically, not just laying out XAML. This is extremely useful if you are writing an application for 3D data visualization or a database driven application. You get to learn to create event handlers, generate meshes... all programmatically. I also believe that this book is great, not just as a learning tool, but as a reference guide. It is the most comprehensive book on the subject and a must for the aspiring WPF developer.

If you just want to focus on XAML, however, I will have to recommend "Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed" by Adam Nathan.

As a software developer I've written tons of production-level code for many companies including Rockwell Automation, Compuware, MS.
And I found this book to be too shallow for a technical person like me.

[One can save money by simply downloading WPF SDK samples and learning them]

Can one design and implement a better than WPF framework after reading this book? Obviously not!

No wonder, the authors never developed significant portions of any known product/framework!

Also, my e-mail exchange with C. Sells indicates that he himself doesn't really understand WPF in depth.
(BTW, as a MS employee he has luxury of having access to WPF source code and symbols - he obviously didn't bother to do so)

Just a few examples:
-- Managed/Unmanaged transition, e.g. the MIL stuff
-- Lack of understanding the WPF control model
-- Lack of understanding the WPF text model
-- Just like in any other *shallow WPF book* [are there deep WPF books out there?] authors make no effort to scrutinize the existing framework (WPF). [Which is definitely far from being clean and nice]
-- WPF "GDI-free" claims are nonsense since WPF uses User32 and User32 and Gdi32 libs are tightly coupled.

I've been starting to learn WPF for 6 months now. I'm stuck a bit in this study process as first of all in our company we have not had yet any project where we could use WPF.
Another reason why I was stuck was a bit because of books, so far I had following WPF books on my bookshelf:

Professional WPF Programming (Wrox, Chris Andrade et al)
Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed (Sams, Adam Nathan)

Both books are not bad at all, but somehow I was having quite alienated feeling while reading them.

My common feeling from reading of Adam Nathan's books (Com Interop, WPF Unleashed, Silverlight Unleashed), is that I'm reading quite comprehensive and very nicely formatted/pictured Encyclopedia. Reading encyclopedias can be a good exercise, but in case of WPF I would not consider it to be the best first step to do.

Professional WPF Programming from Wrox is quite inconsistent for my type of programmer, because it looks like guys tried to write the book that would be have same value for the "creative UI" and core developers, while it may be important at some stage to see the WPF world by the "creative UI" developer eyes, it is not he best starting point for me.

And now, finally I got into the book which is making the trick of "being it" for me:

Programming WPF (O'Reilly, Chris Sells & Ian Griffiths)

The book is in its second edition now which proves something, and is pretty actual.

I'm absolutely enjoying the style of the book and the way information is provided. I'm typing/running my versions of the code they provide as I read and feeling finally well about the process of getting into the new technology.

It used to be Wrox 5 or so years ago to me, but now my credit goes to O'Reilly with series of books I consider to be the best in the field:
Programming WCF Services, Programming Windows Workflow Foundation, and now Programming WPF.

I red another book on WPF before this, I red a bunch of articles but none like the sell's book are so practical and clear in explaining the approach to Windows Presentation Framework.
The book is not a "copy" of the documentation, Sells give a lot of tips on how to use WPF and XAML in the best way.
There is also an excellent appendix on XAML that give you all the essential things you need to start using it.

Programming WPF is probably the first book on WPF I ever read (the 1st Edition) and the last one (2nd Edition) I'll be buying (which is a good thing, since I have 7 WPF-related books now). The first edition was a real treat because there was nothing else available a the time and Chris and Ian really hit some topics (like Databinding) very well - so well that they set the standard for books to come. As each pre-release of WPF came out they dutifully updated the XAML and Framework calls of all the examples from the book. But with the production version of the .NET 3.0 Framework there was so much more that programmers needed to know. Ian took the WPF show on the road and Chris listened to a lot of feedback from the developer community - the results of which really come out in this new edition.

The 2nd Edition of Programming WPF comes in strong as the most complete text available on WPF. The authors' diverse background lead to a great blend of clear and concise writing for a wide variety of topics. The introductory chapters are great for beginners just getting into WPF, but there is also great detail in the advanced chapters to get you well into topics such as: handling graphics, bitmaps, databinding (templates and stying), animations, 3D, text and flow documents, and more.

I like the way they take typically hard topics (e.g. Control Templates) and go deep with concrete examples and helpful code/apps like "Show Me The Template!" from Chapter 9. They also show that they understand "real programming" environments when they don't just gloss over issues such as the interoperability of WPF and Windows Forms (which isn't a stretch because they've written on Windows Forms as well).

A "taste of Silverlight" left me wanting more - maybe there will be a companion Silverlight book once 2.0 ships? The color section in the middle was helpful but awkward, as you read through it when you get to the center of the book and see color versions of pictures you are already past and glimpse pictures of what is to come. I applaud the inclusion of only 32 pages of basic XAML syntax - enough to give you an understanding of the language but not so much as to take over the book (some books can end up being 1/3 to 1/2 syntax and framework references, which is why you install the MSDN Library and Intellisense). I wanted to see something about Expression Blend or even Design as these tools become important when doing good UI design, but at 800+ pages already there really isn't room (and I don't know what I would have cut to make room).

While several of the other WPF books have been good to read through and learn from, I can see the Programming WPF book being one that will become a reference book to return to many times over when you have need for a certain feature of WPF.

The first edition of "Programming WPF" was the first book I've read about WPF (I bought it at PDC 2005) and, since then, a lot of others appeared maybe better than that, now dated, release.
The new version comes back with nearly the double of pages and others chapters missing on previous edition (3D and Silverlight among them).
This 2nd realease has doubled the pages and contains useful details and inner workings haven't found anywhere (e.g: this book contains the best definition of a freezable object I've ever read)
Even if i own nearly all published WPF book, i always go to this to catch up the final detail on any WPF doubt.
Recommended on your desk!

This is exactly the book you need on "both ends" of working with a technology like WPF:
End 1 - The Beginning - When you're brand-new to WPF, you're quite anxious to start coding immediately, and this book pays off immediately. In each section, there is meaty depth (or, if you're vegan, "carroty depth") with extensive code examples you can type in and fiddle with. While each chapter does build upon the previous, you still get to really work with each chapter's topic instead of the overly-Professorial or baby-step approach you get with other books.
End 2 -- Well on the road -- Once you're up to your armpits in real WPF development, the book is fantastic as a reference. Look up the topic you can't quite figure out or can't recall, and everything you need is there, again with terrific code examples and notch-outs with real-world experiences to keep in mind.

Somewhere along the way, a book like WPF Unleashed (which I really don't consider a competitor to this book, but instead a good companion) is a good read to fill you in on the deeper architectural and design patterns within WPF, and will fill in any cracks that may remain after reading this text.

But for a "dive in now" AND "reference later" text, this is an excellent choice. It's also over 600 pages, making it an excellent footrest or doorstop, in the event you decide WPF is not for you.

this book was completely wrong in every way i could think of. It was hard to follow. Some things the author said didn't match the api. The book was for the beta of avalon and i was using wpf release though so maybe that was the problem.

Kudos for getting the book out fast but unfortunately it wasn't helpful at all.

If you haven't got a WPF Book yet, go get WPF Unleashed (A nathan) and XAML markup and code (can't remember author)

The life of a computer consultant can at times be very trying. I've been tackling new technology for over twenty years and the transition phase is always interesting. You're not only struggling to find time to learn the new technology, but since there's almost no public expertise to tap into (even Google can't find information that hasn't been written yet) I rely on books and whatever online forums are the most active.

In the case of Windows Presentation Foundation, there is one fairly active online forum on MSDN:

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=119&SiteID=1

But even the forums are fleeting. If the person that knows the answer to your question happens to see it fly by and is in the mood to tap out a detailed answer, you're one of the lucky few to get a quick answer. More often than not, you'll get a pointer to some section of MSDN and well, that's not really an answer, is it?

So that leaves us with the books. The books are often rehashes of the online material, but in the case of Programming WPF this is definitely not the case.

Chris Sells and Ian Griffiths have added quality code samples while welding together an enormous amount of material to make a highly readable and usable book.

WPF and XAML are really very different technologies. If you're comfortable with HTML, XAML is going to drive you crazy at first. If you read through the book, you're going to eventually see how it all folds together and those frustrations will fall to the wayside. The power and potential of WPF is clear once you work through how to layout windows, how to develop controls, and how to still do all of the things you're used to doing in a Windows application.

I highly recommend this book for anyone that's transitioning to WPF and/or Silverlight technologies.

In common with Chris Sells' previous book this has quickly become the definitive work on this technology. Ian and Chris have produced a wonderfully readable work (a BIG plus for a book on a technical subject) with the most complere coverage yet seen, which makes this new technology a breeze to learn.
I was going to write a long, rambling review of this book...but it doesn't need it. If you want to learn WPF buy this book...there's nothing else out there which even touches the detail and coverage of this one!

I was lucky enough to be the developmental editor for this book. This review is from that perspective.

First and foremost, this is not a quick and dirty update to the previous edition. Ian and Chris spent a lot of time to produce a thorough update that retains the same tone as the previous version while providing complete coverage of the important WPF 1.0 concepts and bits.

Additionally, the book is easier to read than the previous edition because Chris and Ian also spent significant time on the writing itself.

However, my favorite aspect of the book was how much new stuff about WPF I learned. I'd been a writer on the Microsoft WPF SDK for almost 1.5 years when I did the developmental edit on their book, so I was pretty comfortable with WPF. And, yet, several chapters enhanced my knowledge (of concepts and bits), particularly the data binding and graphics chapters.

I am bias in my review of this book given my role in its development but, irrespective, it's the only WPF book *for application developers* that I'll be using.

I've read many "how to program with WPF" books, and already have a year of programming experience in WPF, so I'm really not able to fairly review books like this, at least from a beginner's point of view. However, I am confident that there is enough important material unique to this book that it is a must-have for the shelf of a WPF programmer. Despite its girth (835 pages), it isn't able to explain every facet of WPF in detail - in particular, I noticed that the Border class was given very little reference. I was worried that I wouldn't find much of anything I didn't already know, but I was fortunately wrong on that account, and will close the review by summarizing the most interesting bits (to me):

p. 59: You can safely use data binding with Settings.
p. 136: Explains how focus scope affects command routing.
p. 189: Good information on validation, including custom validation.
p. 226: Grouping with PropertyGroupDescription.
p. 298: Handy table of the template parts used by each control.
p. 336: The ValidateBindings method.
p. 341: You can navigate a NavigationWindow to a string.
p. 379: It's dangerous to use types as resource keys.
ch. 12: Great information on resources.
p. 432: Working with bitmaps and bitmap effects.
p. 484: Low-level text output.
ch. 15: Outstanding information on printing.
p. 672: Using attached properties to identify template placeholders.
p. 730: Screenshots demonstrating airspace issues with interop.

I've read hundreds of technical books; this is one of the best. Period, and without exaggeration.

Sells and Griffiths combine phenomenal insight into the technology with years of practical application and an extraordinary ability to convey highly technical material in a way that is clear, concise and coherent. I wish I knew as much as they, or wrote as well; and that is not false modesty: they are the gold standard.

The second edition builds on the foundations they laid in the first, but goes well beyond. If you bought the first edition do not hesitate to buy the second; it not only updates the material, but adds at least half again as much new information and greatly expands on the insights they have to offer.

There are other books on WPF well worth owning, but this book is absolutely mandatory. If you have only enough money for one, this is the one. If you can't afford this one, then give up Starbucks and start drinking Dunkin'... 'cause you have to have this one.

On a personal note, Ian has tech-reviewed one of my books, and I can personally attest to the depth and breadth and comprehensiveness of his knowledge. He knows whereof he speaks; and I've yet to find a single instance where his understanding was shallow, let alone wrong. He brings a rigor to his writing that is not marred by pedanticism, and together, he and Chris Sells have managed that most difficult of feats: a two-author book that speaks with a single, clear voice that leaves you with few questions.

This is a six-star book; don't hesitate. In fact, stop reading my silly review and buy the book.

[NB: My opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect those of Microsoft Corporation, O'Reilly Media or any other entity real or fictitious. Your mileage may vary. Contents are hot. Void where prohibited.]

Thank you very much for this book, Chris!!

This is an excellent book, well organized smooth flow from start to end.
Easy to understand, before reading this book, learning WPF was really frustrating after reading this book, seems too easy. Code samples are excellent, I am working with VS 2008 beta 2 and pretty much all programs work too...

I read many articles on WPF, seen many presentations and read Petzold's book on XAML. They all seem to focus on the 3D rendering aspects, and spend little to no time on how to create real business style applications, which use normal controls, care about localization, layout of lists and trees. Chris his book made me understand WPF and XAML in a way I can truly say I not only understand it, but I can also apply that knowledge to build real WPF application. Given I was not and will never be the expert Windows UI developer, "Programming WPF" got me going. It is easy to read, with clear language and clear examples.

Thanks Chris,
Gert "DataDude" Drapers
Software Architect
Microsoft Corp.