Universal Windows Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed

Full Color: Figures and code appear as they do in Visual Studio.

Universal Windows apps are a total game-changer. You can now write once and deploy your app to any modern PC, tablet, phone, or other Windows device. Suddenly, it's quick and easy to serve new devices and form factors, sharing unified assets ranging from code to styles to user controls. It has never been easier to reach multiple-device markets

Now, the world's #1 expert on Microsoft XAML brings together all the knowledge Windows developers need to build universal apps that adapt smoothly for any device running Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, or their successors. Drawing on his unsurpassed personal experience and direct input from Microsoft's Windows and Visual Studio teams, Adam Nathan illuminates core development concepts, answers your most important questions, and candidly assesses the technology's strengths and limitations.

This full-color guide walks you through every key task involved in building a universal Windows app: layout and input, working with the app model, using advanced controls, leveraging XAML's powerful rich media features, and much more.

Detailed information on how to...

• Quickly build universal, localized apps that exploit the vast global scale of the Windows Store
• Size, position, and transform elements within layouts that gracefully adapt to different devices
• Handle input from touch, mouse, pen, keyboard, and any sensor
• Monetize apps with Windows Store sales, in-app purchases, and advertising
• Make the most of controls for managing content, items, text, images, media, speech, and more
• Create efficient 2D vector graphics and animations
• Use styles, templates, and visual states to redesign controls without losing functionality
• Bind data sources to simplify data presentation and updates
• Easily integrate data from apps, users, and networks
• Support Windows app commands: Search, Share, Print, Play, Project, Settings
• Use contracts to build apps that cooperate to perform complex tasks
• Improve the user experience even when your app isn't running

Adam Nathan is a principal software architect for Microsoft, a best-selling technical author, and a prolific developer of apps for Windows. He introduced XAML to countless developers through his books on a variety of Microsoft technologies. Currently a part of Microsoft’s Windows division, Adam has previously worked on Visual Studio and the Common Language Runtime. He was the founding developer and architect of Popfly, Microsoft’s first Silverlight-based product, named by PCWorld as one of its year’s most innovative products. He is also the founder of PINVOKE.NET, the online resource for .NET developers who need to access Win32. His apps have been featured on Lifehacker, Gizmodo, ZDNet, ParentMap, and other enthusiast sites.

Adam’s books are considered required reading by many inside Microsoft and throughout the industry. Adam is the author of Windows 8.1 Apps with XAML and C# Unleashed (Sams, 2013), 101 Windows Phone 7 Apps (Sams, 2011), WPF 4.5 Unleashed (Sams, 2013), .NET and COM: The Complete Interoperability Guide (Sams, 2002), and several other books. You can find Adam online at www.adamnathan.net, or @adamnathan on Twitter.