“Jeremy builds real apps for real customers. That’s why I can heartily recommend this book. Go out and write some great apps…and keep this book handy.” —From the Foreword by Jeff Prosise Build Exceptionally Immersive and Responsive Touch-Based Windows Store Apps for Windows 8 with C# and XAML This is the first practical guide to building breakthrough applications for Windows 8 from project templates through publication to the new Windows Store. Microsoft “MVP of the Year” Jeremy Likness helps you combine your existing developer skills with new Visual Studio 2012 tools and best practices to create apps that are intuitive and innovative. His guidance and insight will help you dive into Windows 8 development—and gain a powerful competitive advantage for years to come. Likness illuminates the entire apps lifecycle, from planning and Model-View-View Model (MVVM) based design through coding, testing, packaging, and deployment. He covers both business and consumer apps, showing how Windows 8/WinRT development builds upon and contrasts with older WPF and Silverlight approaches. Using carefully crafted downloadable code examples and sample projects, Likness shows how to make the most of new platform features, including integrated social networking, search, contracts, charms, and tiles. Throughout, he addresses crucial development challenges that have only been discussed on MSDN, blog posts, and Twitter feeds—and never with this depth and clarity before. Coverage includes • Mastering real-world Windows 8 development for all devices and form factors • Understanding the new WinRT framework and the unique characteristics of Windows 8 apps • Designing apps that are faster, more responsive, do more with less, and maximize battery life • Creating exceptionally fluid interfaces with VS 2012 templates, built-in animations, and XAML • Building apps that respond consistently to multiple forms of input, including complex touch manipulations • Using contracts and charms to expose services or enable users to do so • Providing information to users through Live Tiles even when your app isn’t running • Connecting your app seamlessly to multiple data sources, including social networks and cloud storage • Syndicating rich, network-based content • Using Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) • Securing Windows 8 apps through authentication and authorization • Efficiently testing, debugging, packaging, and deploying apps

Table of Contents:
   Foreword   xv    Preface   xix Chapter 1  The New Windows Runtime   1 Looking Back: Win32 and .NET   2 Looking Forward: Rise of the NUI   8 Introducing the Windows Store Application   12    Windows 8 Design   14    Fast and Fluid   15    Snap and Scale   15    Use of Right Contracts   16    Great Tiles   17    Connected and Alive   19    Embrace Windows 8 Design Principles   19 Windows 8 Tools of the Trade   19    Blend for Visual Studio   20    HTML5 and JavaScript   21    C++ and XAML   23    VB/C# and XAML   24 Behind the Scenes of WinRT   25 WPF, Silverlight, and the Blue Stack   26 Summary   28 Chapter 2  Getting Started   29 Setting Up Your Environment   30    Windows 8   30    Visual Studio 2012   35    Blend   36 Hello, Windows 8   37    Creating Your First Windows 8 Application   37    Templates   37 The ImageHelper Application   42    Under the Covers   53 Summary   60 Chapter 3  Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)   61 Declaring the UI   62    The Visual Tree   64    Dependency Properties   67    Attached Properties   70 Data-Binding   73    Value Converters   78 Storyboards   80 Styles and Resources   85 Layout   88    Canvas   88    Grid   89    StackPanel   91    VirtualizingPanel and VirtualizingStackPanel   93    WrapGrid   94    VariableSizedWrapGrid   96    ContentControl   97    ItemsControl   99    ScrollViewer   99    ViewBox   100    GridView   102    ListView   105    FlipView   106    ListBox   106 Common Controls   107 Summary   109 Chapter 4  Windows 8 Applications   111 Layouts and Views   111    The Simulator   112    The Visual State Manager   115    Semantic Zoom   119 Handling User Input   122    Pointer Events   124    Manipulation Events   126    Mouse Support   128    Keyboard Support   129    Visual Feedback   131    Targeting   132    Context Menus   134 The Application Bar   136 Icons and Splash Screens   143 About Page   145 Sensors   148    Accelerometer   149    Compass   149    Geolocation   150    Gyrometer   151    Inclinometer   151    Light Sensor   152    Orientation Sensor   153 Summary   154 Chapter 5  Application Lifecycle   157 Process Lifetime Management   160    Activation   161    Suspension   163    Termination   166    Resume   166    Navigation   168    Application Data API   172 Connected and Alive   176 Custom Splash Screen   177 Summary   179 Chapter 6  Data   181 Application Settings   181 Accessing and Saving Data   183    The Need for Speed and Threading   189    Understanding async and await   191    Lambda Expressions   194    IO Helpers   195    Embedded Resources   196 Collections   199    Language Integrated Query (LINQ)   200 Web Content   203 Syndicated Content   205 Streams, Buffers, and Byte Arrays   207 Compressing Data   208 Encrypting and Signing Data   211 Web Services   214    OData Support   217 Summary   219 Chapter 7  Tiles and Toasts   221 Basic Tiles   221 Live Tiles   222 Badges   229 Secondary Tiles   231 Toast Notifications   236 Windows Notification Service   242 Summary   250 Chapter 8  Giving Your Application Charm   253 Searching   256 Sharing   266    Sourcing Content for Sharing   267    Receiving Content as a Share Target   274 Settings   280 Summary   283 Chapter 9  MVVM and Testing   285 UI Design Patterns   286    The Model   292    The View   293    The View Model   295 The Portable Class Library   296 Why Test?   301    Testing Eliminates Assumptions   302    Testing Kills Bugs at the Source   302    Testing Helps Document Code   303    Testing Makes Extending and Maintaining Applications Easier   304    Testing Improves Architecture and Design   305    Testing Makes Better Developers   305    Conclusion: Write Those Unit Tests!   306 Unit Tests   306    Windows Store Unit Testing Framework   307    Mocks and Stubs   311 Summary   315 Chapter 10  Packaging and Deploying   317 The Windows Store   317    Discovery   318    Reach   322    Business Models   323    Advertising   328    Preparing Your App for the Store   329    The Process   331    The App Certification Kit   332    What to Expect   335 Side-Loading   337 Summary   339 Index   341