WPF or Silverlight Learning Resources for Business Applications

Question

I am the only developer at a non-profit organization(~200 employees) where we are a M$ shop and 90% of the things I develop are specific to our company and are internal only.

I am given a lot of latitude on how I accomplish my goals so using new technologies is in my best interest. So far I have developed all winform & asp.net applications. I would now like to focus on XAML driven development(WPF & Silverlight) and would like your help.

I am subscribed to numerous Silverlight blogs and I have went through a few good tutorials however, I would really appreciate a GOOD SOLID book in my hands going forward. I prefer learning books versus reference books and I REALLY would like one from a Business standpoint as well.

Shameless, self-promoting is welcomed if you happen to be an author or reviewer for one that meets my criteria. I would, however, prefer that recomendations were based on first-hand experience although I don't mind un-released books if say they are an updated version of an existing.

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disclaimer -- I know there are an insane amount of Book posts here(SO) but none I believe for my specific need. If there is and I missed it I apologize.

Answer 1

I recently had to gain an understanding of Silverlight and found this book to be incredibly helpful (I have nothing to do with the book, just a satisfied reader):

http://www.silverlightjumpstart.com/

Here is the chapter list to give you an idea of the contents:

http://www.silverlightjumpstart.com/PublicInformation/ChapterDetails.aspx

In particular, it covers all of the basics plus provides enough practical development information (e.g. debugging, deployment) to build applications beyond the usual "Hello World" stuff found in tutorials.

Answer 2

I found this book:

WPF Unleashed

very good for someone who wants to start programming in WPF. It is full of samples and there is a picture next to every block of XAML to illustrate what the XAML produce.

Answer 3

I found some of the videos from Microsoft's PDC 2009 and MIX 2010; the books I got weren't really that good. When developing business applications, I think it's pretty important to familiarize yourself with the MVVM Pattern.