Programming Microsoft Composite UI Application Block and Smart Client Software Factory

Its not a bad book but its not exactly what I was looking for. Having said that there are not many books telling you what this does, so it becomes a must buy.

If you are looking for a 3k page bible on SCSF and CAB, move along partner, because this ain't it. If, however, you have been wanting to work with SCSF but couldn't find a good starting point, this is your book. If you've heard the alluring call of SCSF's decoupled architecture and want to get your feet wet, this is your book. If you've done The Walkthrough and found that you still didn't understand what it really *meant*, this is your book. If you are developing in the SCSF but want to read about pitfalls, tips and tricks from someone who has already traveled that road, this is your book. This book begins top down by explaining the decoupled architecture and its benefits. It then dives down a level and explains how the WorkItems, Collections and Services work together to enable the decoupling. Finally it dives one more level and hits upon some key Services, Event Brokering, Action Catalog and some of the other "big" pieces of SCSF. At key points you get prudent advice about how real products are using SCSF features in deployed applications in the real world. To summarize: If you are already an SCSF god, there is nothing new here for you. If you are an SCSF neophyte, this book is a worthwhile read to shortcut the SCSF learning curve.

David's book provides a necessary foundation for anyone wanting to become proficient with CAB programming. Unless you are already an experienced CAB developer or are looking for low level CAB framework details, this book will be of great benefit. A real asset in helping you understand the complexities of CAB, the SCSF and get you started toward successful CAB development.

I think the other reviewers have been overly harsh. This book is an excellent introduction to CAB and SCSF. If you are looking for something with a lot of indepth discussion, this simply isnt it. However, this book is good for what it is intended for: an introductory text. Once you have read this through (in a couple days max) you will have a very good grasp of CAB/SCSF and will be able to ask real questions out on the forums.

I found this book to be well worth the money. I guess it depends on where you are coming from regarding the Smart/Mobile Client factories. I started work with the MCSF a number of weeks ago and had worked out a fair bit of it, but there were a lot of holes in my knowledge. This book filled in many of those holes. As other reviewers have said, the official Software Factory documentation. code examples and white papers do not give the whole picture. Neither does this book, of course, but IMHO it supplies a valuable part of the jigsaw. For example, if you read the code examples supplied and available on the net, some use WorkItems and others WorkItemControllers. Nowhere could I find an explanation of the differences or why you would use one over the other. David's book clearly explains the history as to how they started with WorkItems and added WorkItemControllers when real world experience found that WorkItems were outgrowing their original purpose. There are other similar examples where his experience with the product supplies valuable information available nowhere else. I even appreciated the layout. David's explanation as to why he chose this style of presentation made sense to me both before I started and after I finished reading the book. Yes, there is a lot of white space but its a very readible book. I have bought other, much longer books and have never gotten around to reading every page for one reason or another. I read this book from cover to cover in a week of train journeys to work. In fact the layout encourages you to read it in bite-sized chunks like this. There is certainly a need for more detailed documentation and David shows in this book he has the knowledge and experience to write an advanced tomb on this very topic. Perhaps then he will be able to please everyone.