Mono: A Developer's Notebook

by Edd Wilder-James, Niel M. Bornstein

Overview

The Mono Project is the much talked-about open source initiative to create a Unix implementation of Microsoft's .NET Development Framework. Its purpose is to allow Unix developers to build and deploy cross-platform .NET applications. The project has also sparked interest in developing components, libraries and frameworks with C#, the programming language of .NET.The controversy? Some say Mono will become the preferred platform for Linux development, empowering Linux/Unix developers. Others say it will allow Microsoft to embrace, extend, and extinguish Linux. The controversy rages on, but--like many developers--maybe you've had enough talk and want to see what Mono is really all about.There's one way to find out: roll up your sleeves, get to work, and see what you Mono can do. How do you start? You can research Mono at length. You can play around with it, hoping to figure things out for yourself. Or, you can get straight to work with Mono: A Developer's Notebook--a hands-on guide and your trusty lab partner as you explore Mono 1.0.Light on theory and long on practical application, Mono: A Developer's Notebook bypasses the talk and theory, and jumps right into Mono 1.0. Diving quickly into a rapid tour of Mono, you'll work through nearly fifty mini-projects that will introduce you to the most important and compelling aspects of the 1.0 release. Using the task-oriented format of this new series, you'll learn how to acquire, install, and run Mono on Linux, Windows, or Mac OS X. You'll work with the various Mono components: Gtk#, the Common Language Runtime, the class libraries (both .NET and Mono-provided class libraries), IKVM and the Mono C# compiler. No other resource will take you so deeply into Mono so quickly or show you as effectively what Mono is capable of.The new Developer's Notebooks series from O'Reilly covers important new tools for software developers. Emphasizing example over explanation and practice over theory, they focus on learning by doing--you'll get the goods straight from the masters, in an informal and code-intensive style that suits developers. If you've been curious about Mono, but haven't known where to start, this no-fluff, lab-style guide is the solution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781449343699
Publisher:	O'Reilly Media, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/20/2004
Series:	Developer's Notebook
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Edd Wilder-James is Managing Editor of XML.com. He also writes free software, and packages Bluetooth-related software for the Debian GNU/Linux distribution. Edd is the creator of XMLhack and WriteTheWeb, and has a weblog called Behind the Times.

Niel M. Bornstein , with over ten years' experience in software development, has worked in diverse areas such as corporate information systems, client-server application development, and web-hosted applications. Clear and engaging, Niel wrote .NET & XML and co-authored Mono: A Developer's Notebook.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	ix
	The Developer's Notebook Series	xi
	Preface	xv
Chapter 1.	Getting Mono Running	1
	Install Mono	1
	Explore Mono	5
	Run the MonoDevelop IDE	8
	Fit Mono into Your World	13
	Join the Mono Community	18
Chapter 2.	Getting Started with C#	22
	Say "Hello" to the World	22
	Model the Behavior of Real-World Things	26
	Avoid Overhead While Passing Data	29
	Handle Unexpected Errors	32
	Define Function Pointers	36
	Add Metadata to Your Types	39
	Call External Libraries	41
	Package Related Classes with Assemblies	44
Chapter 3.	Core .NET	49
	Work with Files	49
	Manage String Data	53
	Search Text with Regular Expressions	56
	Manage Collections of Data	59
	Work with Assemblies	63
	Start and Examine Processes	68
	Multitask with Threads	70
	Test Your C# Code	74
Chapter 4.	Gtk#	79
	Write a Basic Gtk# Program and Handle Events	79
	Arrange Widgets Using Boxes	82
	Make Widgets Interact	86
	Make Dialogs by Subclassing	90
	Draw Graphics	95
	Create Menus	100
	Organize Data with TreeView	106
	Exchange Data with Drag and Drop	113
Chapter 5.	Advanced Gtk#	119
	Write a Gnome Application	119
	Design Interfaces with Glade	123
	Store Configuration with GConf	130
	Guide the User with Druids	137
	Perform Asynchronous Operations	143
	Render HTML	150
	Provide Help Files	153
	Translate Your Programs	159
Chapter 6.	Processing XML	166
	Read and Write XML	166
	Manipulate XML in Memory	172
	Navigate XML Documents	175
	Transform XML	178
	Constrain XML Documents	181
	Constrain XML Another Way	187
	Serialize Objects to XML	192
Chapter 7.	Networking, Remoting, and Web Services	195
	Set Up ASP .NET	195
	Run Web Applications	198
	Deploy Web Services	203
	Communicate with Other Networked Systems	206
	Access Remote Objects	210
	Invoke Remote Procedures with XML	215
	Secure Data from Prying Eyes	220
	Talk to Databases	225
Chapter 8.	Cutting Edge Mono	232
	Maintain Your Sources with the Autotools	232
	Write Cross-Platform Compatible Programs	241
	Run Java in Mono	245
	Run a Development Version of Mono	250
	Use Generics	253
	Write Mono Programs in Basic	258
	Index	263

Editorial Reviews

If you are a developer with previous experience in object-oriented programming, Mono: A Developer's Notebook will provide you with an excellent introduction into many of the aspects of working with Mono, its associated libraries and programs.

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