Beginning Web Development, Silverlight, and ASP.NET AJAX: From Novice to Professional aims to give you the skills you need to start building web applications with Microsofts nextgeneration technology as quickly as possible. Whether youre interested in ASP.NET AJAX, Silverlight, or the technologies that support them (WPF, WCF, WF, etc.), this book is the starting point that you need. It adopts a zero to hero approach that concentrates on achieving practical results you can use in real projects rather than presenting a deep academic treatment that cant be immediately applied. The aim is to give you, the reader, the knowledge you need to achieve the results you want with the minimum of fuss. When youve read this book, youll have a solid understand of all the techniques that are available, when to use them, and their relative strengths and weaknesses. What youll learn Create nextgeneration web applications quickly and easily! Manipulate data, display information, and communicate with other services using the latest ASP.NET techniques and best practices Discover how the .NET 3.0 extensions (WPF, WCF, and WF) can make your web applications faster, more efficient, and easier to code than ever Understand how ASP.NET AJAX and Silverlight can be integrated into your ASP.NET websites in order to provide a cuttingedge user interface for your applications and the implications that such interfaces can have Who this book is forThis book is for anyone with an interest in using Microsofts web development technologies. A basic familiarity with the .NET platform is useful, but anyone with an understanding of a web development language will benefit from the book, as all the key topics are presented from first principles.