Summary

This chapter brings to a conclusion the process of designing, creating, and deploying custom controls. There's a saying that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. With the number of vendors providing custom UI elements to mimic those found in the latest Microsoft products, there must be something to that old saying. To expand your own knowledge of building custom controls, it's often helpful to pick a particular control and try implementing your own control that looks and feels like the original. Examples for controls can be found on codeguru.com, on codeproject.com, and in any application that offers some UI element you find interesting. As with all endeavors in life, practice makes perfect.

This is the last chapter, but the following appendix, “Extender Providers,” offers an interesting look at dynamically extending controls. Extenders can be used with your newly created custom controls or to extend common controls.