Smart Client Deployment with ClickOnce

Author: Brian Noyes
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN-10: 0321197690
ISBN-13: 978-0321197696
Retail Price: $44.99 US, $55.99 CDN
Publication Date: January 2007
Softcover: 298 pages
Online information: Table of Contents, Sample chapter
URL: http://www.awprofessional.com/bookstore/product.asp?isbn=0321197690&rl=1

Source code available from the author's Website
URL: http://www.softinsight.com/clickoncebook

When Microsoft released .NET in 2002, most enterprises switched their development platform from VB6 Windows applications to ASP.NET Web applications.  Why?  I guess that they had suffered enough in DLL Hell, deploying and maintaining COM applications.  Sure, deploying Web applications is a lot easier then deploying a “fat/smart client” on hundred of desktops but the fact is that “fat/smart clients” a more feature rich then their Web counterparts.

Microsoft realizing that, introduced a new concept in Visual Studio 2005: ClickOnce.  The concept behind ClickOnce is to make smart client deployment as easy as deploying Web applications.  With this, you get the best of both worlds.

Smart Client Deployment with ClickOnce is a book targeted at developers and architects wanting to learn more about ClickOnce.  Since a ClickOnce deployment is so easy to create, I was first intrigued that there would be enough material to fill a book.  Well, I was wrong because there are a lot of hidden capabilities in ClickOnce.  In the first part of the book, Brian Noyes explains the concepts behind Smart clients and step you thru you first ClickOnce deployment.  He then goes deeper by explaining how you can you the ClickOnce API to manage the updates yourself.  You’ll also see techniques on how to update files like databases without overwriting them.  Security is very important and a whole chapter is devoted to this.  Finally, you’ll read about deploying prerequites with the Bootstrapper and advanced topics like how to deploy COM and WPF applications with ClickOnce.

While I was evaluating if ClickOnce would fill the needs of a client of mine, this book helped me get a better understanding of ClickOnce, helped me ask the right questions and helped me do a correct proof of concept.  If you’re thinking of using ClickOnce, look no further, this is a great resource.  High praises for Smart Client Deployment with ClickOnce.