Building Solutions with the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework: Architecture and Best Practices for Mobile Development 
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Author Dan Fox, Jon Box.
Publisher Addison-Wesley
Length 400 pages
vbRad Rating: 4 fingers up. (4 out of 5)
Reviewed by Robert Jurado

Couple months ago, I was deciding between upgrading my Palm IIIc or buying a window based PDA. I had my palm for 3 years and I was so used to it. However, the downside is that I didn't find easy 3rd party software to create programs for the Palm. I am sure that someone can argue that there are, but I just don't have the time (or energy) to learn a different language to create software. Then I discover that the Visual Studio NET supports the PDA (Smart Devices Projects). So I started to play-practice with C# and then VB.NET. I tried to find useful samples, but nothing completely helpful. Worse, I was programming blindly, I was programming like it was a desktop. This book is the "411" on the Compact NET framework.

This book starts by explaining the history of the PDA programming and the evolution of each technology which I found useful when trying to figure out what I am doing. Part 2 is the most useful for me since I was interested in starting programming. I found what I needed on this section. If you are interested about access remote, data synchronization and SQL Server CE connectivity, this is your book. It has some examples, but of course, I wish it had more. A whole appendix of samples would be great. The book ends with more advanced techniques and topic which are very interesting for someone who develops PDA software for living. For the hobbyist, like me, I just want to start coding a simple, but useful program for myself. I recommend this book; it will definitely start you with a solid understanding of what Microsoft NET Compact Framework has to offer.


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