GDI+ Programming in C# and VB.NET 
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Author Nick Symmonds
Publisher APress
Length 624 pages
vbRad Rating: 5 fingers up. (5 out of 5)
Reviewed by Robert

Writing effective graphics code has always been difficult, required good skills and was something left to C++ and assembly gurus. While .NET somewhat eases the task with GDI+, it still requires a steep learning curve. In his book, Nick Symmonds attempts to explain away the difficulties of GDI+ programming. In this task, he succeeds pretty well.

Even though GDI+ is still difficult, it is much simpler than GDI and the author goes to great lengths to show us how much easier it is. And having programmed an MFC-based paint application, I can attest to that. I really liked the technical level of this book - the author seems to have a great grasp on this niche of .NET and it shows. Every concept is backed up by an example. On top of that you get tips & tricks for going around the GDI+ inequities (yep, there are those).

You'll learn a plethora of interesting techniques. There is a whole chapter on vector graphics, which means you can implement your own AutoCAD lite in a hurry. Symmonds spends a good amount of time on transformation of vector graphics. It is nice to see that .NET included this functionality. Previously, it was something of a black art.

As expected, there are chapters on working with images (bmp, jpg, gif, etc...), pens, lines, brushes, colors, etc... You'll hear about anti-aliasing your output, alpha blending and avoiding flicker in your animations. Chapter 7 teaches you more about fonts than you ever wanted to know, including editing them at sub-pixel level (for ClearType fontage in WinXP). Rounding out the course is a rather nifty and useful chapter on printing techniques. Included are examples for Print Preview, various dialog boxes, etc...

Symmonds continues the tome by pointing out some things that cannot be done with GDI+, how to get around those issues (by basically pInvoking Win API calls). He then ends it by cranking out several very useful and quite involved projects.

I am not quite sure what I am impressed with more: the GDI+ technology or the effortless of explanation of it by Symmonds. Maybe both. Great read in a "matter of fact" tone, doesn't waist too much time on newbie semantics.


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