Books by Matthew Macdonald

Focusing solely on Visual Basic, with no code samples duplicated in other languages, award winning author Matthew MacDonald introduces you to the very latest thinking and best practices for the ASP.NET 4.5 technology.Assuming no prior coding experience, you'll be taught everything you need to know from the ground up.

You can easily create a professional-looking website with nothing more than an ordinary computer and some raw ambition. Want to build a blog, sell products, create forums, or promote an event? No problem! This friendly, jargon-free book gives you the techniques, tools, and advice you need to build a site and get it up on the Web.

Expert advice guides readers through creating rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment they're most productive in - whatever the target platform. Full-color graphics and screenshots make this a must-have book for professional developers.

With step-by-step tutorials and real-world examples, HTML5: The Missing Manual shows you how to build web apps that include video tools, dynamic graphics, geolocation, offline features, and responsive layouts for mobile devices.

Unlock the secrets of Access 2013 and discover how to use your data in creative ways. With this book's easy step-by-step instructions, you'll learn how to build and maintain a full-featured database and even turn it into a web app.

The world's most popular spreadsheet program is now more powerful than ever, but it's also more complex. That's where this Missing Manual comes in. With crystal-clear explanations and hands-on examples, Excel 2013: The Missing Manual shows you how to master Excel so you can easily track, analyze, and chart your data.

Silverlight is a lightweight browser plug-in that frees your code from the traditional confines of the browser. It's a rules-changing, groundbreaking technology that allows you to run rich client applications right inside the browser. Even more impressively, it's able to host true .NET applications in non-Microsoft browsers (like Firefox) and on non-Microsoft platforms (like Mac OS X). Silverlight is still new and evolving fast, and you need a reliable guidebook to make sense of it.With four-color graphics and screenshots throughout, Pro Silverlight 2 in VB 2008 is the perfect reference: you'll learn about the features that put Silverlight in direct competition with Adobe Flash, such as rich support for 2D drawing, animations, and media playback, and best of all, you'll experience the plumbing of .NET and the design model of Windows Presentation Foundation through Silverlight-all of the same .NET technology that developers use to design next-generation Windows applications. Author Matthew MacDonald provides an expertly crafted tutorial written from professional developer to professional developer. You'll learn to create rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment you're most productive in-no matter what the target platform.

Silverlight 5 is the latest iteration of Microsoft''s cross-browser technology for creating rich user experiences on the Web. Like its predecessor, it rides atop the .NET Framework for maximum ease of use and coding efficiency. The new technology carries forward much of the work that has been done before and augments it in many important respects, including support for H.264 video, major improvements to the graphics engine (including true 3D rendering), and much richer data-binding options for interfacing with other applications.Pro Silverlight 5 in C# is an invaluable reference for professional developers who want to discover the new features of Silverlight. Author Matthew MacDonald''s expert advice guides you through creating rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment you''re most productive in—no matter what the target platform. As you learn about the features that put Silverlight in direct competition with Adobe Flash, such as rich support for 2D and 3D drawing, animations, and media playback, you''ll experience the plumbing of .NET and the design model of WPF through Silverlight—all of the same .NET technology that developers use to design next-generation Windows applications. Pro Silverlight 5 in C# is a comprehensive tutorial, written from professional developer to professional developer.Please note: the print version of this title is black & white; the eBook is full color.

Excel, the world's most popular spreadsheet program, has the muscle to analyze heaps of data. Beyond basic number-crunching, Excel 2010 has many impressive features that are hard to find, much less master -- especially from online help pages. This Missing Manual clearly explains how everything works with a unique and witty style to help you learn quickly.Navigate with ease. Master Excel's tabbed toolbar and its new backstage viewPerform a variety of calculations. Write formulas for rounding numbers, calculating mortgage payments, and moreOrganize your data. Search, sort, and filter huge amounts of informationIllustrate trends. Bring your data to life with charts and graphics -- including miniature charts called SparklinesExamine your data. Summarize information and find hidden patterns with pivot tables and slicersShare your spreadsheets. Use the Excel Web App to collaborate with colleagues onlineRescue lost data. Restore old versions of data and find spreadsheets you forgot to save

When .NET first appeared, it introduced a small avalanche of new technologies. There was a whole new way to write web applications (ASP.NET), a whole new way to connect to databases (ADO.NET), new typesafe languages (C# and VB .NET), and a managed runtime (the CLR). Not least among these new technologies was Windows Forms, a library of classes for building W- dows applications. Although Windows Forms is a mature and full-featured toolkit, it's hardwired to essential bits of Windows plumbing that haven't changed much in the past ten years. Most significantly, Windows Forms relies on the Windows API to create the visual appearance of standard user interface elements such as buttons, text boxes, check boxes, and so on. As a result, these ing- dients are essentially uncustomizable. For example, if you want to create a stylish glow button you need to create a custom c- trol and paint every aspect of the button (in all its different states) using a lower-level drawing model. Even worse, ordinary windows are carved up into distinct regions, with each control getting its own piece of real estate. As a result, there's no good way for the painting in one c- trol (for example, the glow effect behind a button) to spread into the area owned by another control. And don't even think about introducing animated effects such as spinning text, sh- mering buttons, shrinking windows, or live previews because you'll have to paint every detail by hand.

Silverlight is a lightweight browser plug–in that frees your code from the traditional confines of the browser. It’s a rules–changing, groundbreaking technology that allows you to run rich client applications right inside the browser. Even more impressively, it’s able to host true .NET applications in non–Microsoft browsers (like Firefox) and on non–Microsoft platforms (like Mac OS X). Silverlight is still evolving fast, and you need a reliable guidebook to make sense of it.With four–color graphics and screenshots throughout, Pro Silverlight 2 in C# 2008 is the perfect reference: you’ll learn about the features that put Silverlight in direct competition with Adobe Flash, such as rich support for 2D drawing, animations, and media playback, and best of all, you’ll experience the plumbing of .NET and the design model of WPF through Silverlight—all of the same .NET technology that developers use to design next–generation Windows applications. Author Matthew MacDonald provides an expertly crafted tutorial, written from professional developer to professional developer. You’ll learn to create rich media applications using Silverlight in the environment you’re most productive in, no matter what the target platform.

Written from the ground up for this redesigned application, this guide will help readers design and maintain complete databases, search for valuable nuggets of information, and build attractive forms for quick-and-easy data entry.

Helps you learn how to design databases, maintain them, search for valuable nuggets of information, and build attractive forms for data entry.

Microsoft Excel continues to grow in power, sophistication, and capability. This book explains how to build spreadsheets, add and format information, print reports, create charts and graphics, and use basic formulas and functions. It provides an overview of Excel with explanations, step-by-step instructions, and illustrations.

Aims to teach the basics of Excel 2007. This book helps the readers learn to build spreadsheets, add and format information, print reports, create charts and graphics, and use basic formulas and functions.

Looks at how to get the most out of your brain - how you can use it more effectively. Presenting a tour of several aspects of the brain, this book offers advice about: the right fuel for the brain and how the brain commands hunger; the sleep cycle and circadian rhythm, and how to get a good night's sleep; and techniques for improving your recall.