Chapter 3. Enhancing the User Interface
Armed with the knowledge from the previous chapter, we will continue to dive deep into the user interface layer of Silverlight. While the previous chapter dealt with the core concepts of laying a user interface in Silverlight, in this chapter we are going to discuss some of the more 'fun' features of Silverlight, such as templates, animations, and behaviors. Just like before, we have a lot to cover, so let's get started!
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
Creating or modifying the control styles
Creating control templates
Creating or modifying data templates
Manipulating visuals
Animating visuals
Implementing behaviors
Managing the visual state
Creating or modifying the control styles
Just like in real life, first impressions mean a lot. When your users need to fill out a form for example, which is more likely to get their attention, the plain old vanilla form or a customized styled form? The answer in most cases is a customized one.
Take...