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sak-venom1997

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2013
928
415
Lucknow
Windows 8 Store App Development
being fresh and a new ecosystem lacks apps a Microsoft is trying ever bi the can to get developers into it and offering some great opportunities.


Why windows 8?????

#1 Its free:
Unlike other platforms which require you to pay to publish applications on there stores Windows on the other hand doesn't ask you a cent to publish your apps

#2 Multilingual(Script Wise) Support:
If you know web development technologies, you can develop a Windows Store app using HTML5, Cascading Style Sheets, Level 3 (CSS3), and JavaScript.
If you have developed .NET, Windows Presentation Foundation, or Microsoft Silverlight applications, you can develop a Windows Store app using XAML, with code-behind in C++, C#, or Visual Basic.
If you know DirectX, you can develop a DirectX Windows Store app using native C++ and HLSL to take full advantage of graphics hardware.

Lets get started:

Windows 8 introduces a new type of application: the Windows Store app. Windows Store apps have a brand new look and feel, run on a variety of devices, and you sell them on the Windows Store.



You can develop Windows Store apps in a variety of languages as mentioned above.

This guide tells you why you want to develop Windows Store apps, where to get the tools you need, and how to build your first app

Note: Windows Store Apps can only be developed on windows 8

Get The Tools:

To develop Windows Store apps, you need to install Windows 8 and some developer tools. They are available for free #GenrousMicrosoft

1. Download Windows 8
Important as windows 8 apps only run on windows 8

2. Download Developer Tools
These a the only tools required to build store apps #win8+1
Not to mention the need no setup just installation is need and NO ADDITIONAL CONFIGURATION.
This download gives you Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8, Blend for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8, the Windows 8 software development kit (SDK), and project templates for creating new Windows Store apps.
Visual Studio gives you everything you need to create code, debug, localize, package, and deploy a Windows Store app.
Blend is another tool you can use to create Windows Store apps. It provides effective support for designing a great-looking user interface for your Windows Store app.
Visual Studio and Blend were designed to work together. You can move seamlessly back and forth between them to develop your app.

Getting a developer license
Microsoft was smart enough and to prevent illicit acts it does not allows sideloading apps with exception to developers who will find handy:good:.

To get your self approved as a developer you need to get a free developer licence which can be done via following methods.

Through Visual Studio

When you run Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 on your local machine for the first time, you are prompted to obtain a developer license. Read the license terms, and then click I Agree. In the User Account Control (UAC) dialog box, click Yes to continue.
After you install a license on a local machine, you won’t be prompted again on that machine unless the license expires (or you remove it) and you try to run an uncertified Windows Store app or create a project. You can run uncertified Windows Store apps on your local machine by pressing the F5 key in Microsoft Visual Studio or Blend for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8.
Note If you choose not to acquire or renew a developer license, you'll receive an error (DEP0100) when you attempt to build or deploy a Windows Store app in Visual Studio.{Courtesy MSDN}

Getting a developer license at a command prompt

If you aren’t using Visual Studio 2012, you can get and manage developer licenses at a command prompt by running these commands in

Windows PowerShell:

Show-WindowsDeveloperLicenseRegistration. This command opens a dialog box from which you can get a developer license and install it on the local machine. To run this command, you must have a valid Microsoft account. You also must run this command in a command prompt with elevated permissions.

Get-WindowsDeveloperLicense. This command returns an object that has two properties: ExpirationTime and IsValid. ExpirationTime is a System.DateTime structure that contains the date and time when the license expires. IsValid is a System.Boolean that indicates whether the license is valid. You can run this command from either a non-elevated command prompt or a command prompt with elevated permissions.

Unregister-WindowsDeveloperLicense. This command warns you that some Windows Store apps will stop working if you remove the developer
license from the local machine. If you choose "Yes" (the default) to confirm that you want to remove the license, the license is removed from the local machine. You must run this command in a command prompt with elevated permissions.

Code:
C:\PS> Show-WindowsDeveloperLicenseRegistration
C:\PS> Get-WindowsDeveloperLicense
C:\PS> Unregister-WindowsDeveloperLicense

Read full detaild artile @MSDN also for TNC
 
Last edited:

sak-venom1997

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2013
928
415
Lucknow
Build Your First app!

Time to say hello to HELLO WORLD!

Using Javascript and HTML with CSS

Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN JavaScript and HTML

Using C# or with XAMLVisual Basic

For Android or Java Developer I prefer C#
Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN C# or Visual Basic and XAML

Using C++ with XAML

My favorite preference.
Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN C++ with XAML

Using C++ and DirectX

DirectX :eek: i dont know anything about it :confused:
Dont expect support on this by me altopgh others might be able to help.
Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN C++ with DirectX
 
Last edited:

sak-venom1997

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2013
928
415
Lucknow
Creating a project and choosing a template

When you create an app, the first thing you need to do is decide which language to use. You can choose JavaScript, Visual Basic, Visual C#, or Visual C++.

To create a project for a Windows Store app, click File > New Project (or press Ctrl+Shift+N).

13655059821.png


You'll see the New Project dialog box.

13655059822.png



Click one of the language nodes in the left pane. You'll see various app templates in the center pane. Some important templates, like Blank App, Grid App, and Split App, are shared between all four programming languages. A few templates are language-specific.When you create a project for a Windows Store app, Visual Studio creates a solution, which is a way of managing the various source elements of your project (code files, images, style sheets, settings, and so on). A solution container can contain multiple projects, and a project container typically contains multiple items that represent the references, folders, and files that you need to create your app.

Solution Explorer displays solutions, their projects, and the items in those projects. In Solution Explorer, you can open files for editing, add new files to a project, and view solution, project, and item properties. Here's what Solution Explorer looks like for a JavaScript project: courtesy MSDN

IC594689.png


In addition to source code files appropriate to the language, each project also includes the package.appxmanifest file, which describes the app package for Windows. Each project also includes several image files, like splashscreen.png for the splash screen image and storelogo.png, which is used for Windows Store. A project source certificate (.pfx) file that's required for signing the package is also included in each project.

Designing a UI

When you plan your user interface, it's important to select the most appropriate Visual Studio project template for a starting point, and to learn about adding re-usable item templates such as Search contracts. You can develop your UI by writing code or by using a visual designer. A visual designer provides a designer-oriented interface for app design that includes a drag-and-drop interface for building the UI.

For Windows Store apps, you can use the visual designer provided in Blend for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8. You can open a Visual Studio project in Blend by right-clicking the project in Solution Explorer and clicking Open in Blend. Alternatively, open the solution file (.sln) from within Blend.

image courtesy MSDN:
IC600572.png


Updating the app manifest

unlike android working on mainfest of win 8 apps is a breeze

You can use the Manifest Designer in Visual Studio to edit the app manifest file that describes your app package. The app manifest file is present in Windows Store apps written in all languages.
The Manifest Designer has five tabs:

Application UI. Configure UI settings, including the logo, splash screen, and initial orientation.

Capabilities. Specify system features or devices that your app can use, such as Internet access, current location, and music library access.

Declarations. Add declarations for app contracts, like search and share target contracts, and specify their properties.

Content URIs. Specify URIs that your app either can or can't access. This tab appears only for JavaScript projects.

Packaging. Set properties that identify and describe your package when it is deployed.

To open the Manifest Designer, double-click the package.appxmanifest file in Solution Explorer, or right-click the file and click View Designer. The Capabilities tab of the Manifest Designer is shown here:

image courtesy MSDN:

IC594690.png


Writing code

Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 includes full-featured editors for the following languages: JavaScript, HTML/XML/XAML, CSS, C#, Visual Basic, C++, HLSL. The editors provide many language-specific features that you can customize to help create your app:


IntelliSense, which provides features such as statement completion and parameter Help as you type code. This illustration shows a member list in the C# Code Editor. Note that the list also displays a Quick Info box for the selected item.

image courtesy MSDN:

IC600941.png



Using inellisense:

Code snippet insertion, available by right-clicking in a code file and clicking Insert Snippet.

Navigation aids like Go To Definition, Bookmarks, and Navigate To.

The Go To Definition command enables you to find the definition of a class or function by right-clicking the identifier and clicking Go To Definition. (Visual Basic and Visual C++ use the Object Browser to display information about Windows Runtime types.)
This illustration shows options like Go To Definition and Insert Snippet in the JavaScript Code Editor:

IC594691.png


You can customize the behavior of the Code Editors, and enable or disable features like indentation, word wrap, and statement completion. To customize the behavior of the Code Editors, click Tools > Options, expand Text Editor, expand the appropriate Code Editor to configure, and then select the appropriate category of options.

Building an app

To build an app, click Build Solution (or press F7) or Rebuild Solution (or press Ctrl+Alt+F7) on the Build menu. You'll see the results of the build process in the Output window.

IC600573.png


Debugging

Read The MSDN article
 
Last edited:
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Reactions: drei666

sak-venom1997

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2013
928
415
Lucknow
Design Using Blend for VisualStudio 2012

Blend for Visual Studio 2012 helps you design and build user interfaces by providing you with an accurate design surface and tools that let you visually create and edit Windows Store applications. These new design tools take advantage of Windows 8 technologies to create dynamic applications that run on a wide variety of Windows-based hardware. You can choose to design your user interface using HTML or XAML.

image courtesy MSDN:

IC592898.png


Designing in HTML

A Windows Store app built using HTML uses the same technology that a web site uses. However, a Windows Store app is not deployed page-by-page from a web server. Instead, it is installed locally on the user's computer. Like any native Windows application, a Windows Store app built using HTML has direct access to the underlying platform and is able to share information with other applications.

Visual design Visually edit HTML, CSS, and Microsoft design style controls. What you see in Blend is what users will see in Windows 8.
Interactive Mode Design your app in states that would otherwise be available only at run time, without having to endlessly compile and run.

App building Drag and drop Windows app controls onto the design surface, set their properties, and style them.

Powerful code generation When you add a new style or element to an app, Blend takes care of all the syntax and generates concise, reliable, and predictable code.

Debugging Visual Studio can debug JavaScript, but only Blend lets you visually debug HTML and CSS. The Winning Properties virtual rule shows you the CSS cascade for any element. The Computed Values virtual rule shows you how Windows 8 will compute CSS property values for each element. The Live DOM panel updates to display run-time changes.

learn more @MSDN


Designing in XAML

A Windows Store app built using XAML gives you more control over the styling and animating of controls. Visual Studio also provides a XAML Designer. Much like Blend, the XAML Designer in Visual Studio provides a main design surface and a toolbox to drag-and-drop controls.

Animation Use the Objects and Timeline and States panels to create complex animations for your app. The visual state design features in Blend also enable you to work with the new Windows 8 theme animations.

Visual States Use the States and Device panels to create a Windows app UI that takes advantage of view states and orientations supported in Windows 8.

Transitions Add pre-defined or create custom transitions for your app by using the States panel.

Styles and GroupStyles Customize the default control styles by the comprehensive styling and editing features available in Blend. You can also customize Windows 8 GroupStyles.

Template editing Edit control templates by using the Objects and Timeline panel or the Breadcrumb bar. While in template editing mode, you can add Windows 8 theme animations by using the States panel.

Data Binding Data binding tools support the following binding types: DataContext, DataSource, ElementName, RelativeSource Self, RelativeSource TemplatedParent, and StaticResource.

Layout Create Windows app layouts using built-in layout containers such as GridView, ListView, StackPanel, WrapGrid, and more, all of which can be customized to suit your needs.

Control creation Create controls on the artboard quickly and easily by using the Tools and Assets panels.

Property editing Modify and edit objects quickly and easily by using the Properties panel.

learn more @MSDN
 
Last edited:
  • Like
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sak-venom1997

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2013
928
415
Lucknow
Last edited:

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  • 10
    Windows 8 Store App Development
    being fresh and a new ecosystem lacks apps a Microsoft is trying ever bi the can to get developers into it and offering some great opportunities.


    Why windows 8?????

    #1 Its free:
    Unlike other platforms which require you to pay to publish applications on there stores Windows on the other hand doesn't ask you a cent to publish your apps

    #2 Multilingual(Script Wise) Support:
    If you know web development technologies, you can develop a Windows Store app using HTML5, Cascading Style Sheets, Level 3 (CSS3), and JavaScript.
    If you have developed .NET, Windows Presentation Foundation, or Microsoft Silverlight applications, you can develop a Windows Store app using XAML, with code-behind in C++, C#, or Visual Basic.
    If you know DirectX, you can develop a DirectX Windows Store app using native C++ and HLSL to take full advantage of graphics hardware.

    Lets get started:

    Windows 8 introduces a new type of application: the Windows Store app. Windows Store apps have a brand new look and feel, run on a variety of devices, and you sell them on the Windows Store.



    You can develop Windows Store apps in a variety of languages as mentioned above.

    This guide tells you why you want to develop Windows Store apps, where to get the tools you need, and how to build your first app

    Note: Windows Store Apps can only be developed on windows 8

    Get The Tools:

    To develop Windows Store apps, you need to install Windows 8 and some developer tools. They are available for free #GenrousMicrosoft

    1. Download Windows 8
    Important as windows 8 apps only run on windows 8

    2. Download Developer Tools
    These a the only tools required to build store apps #win8+1
    Not to mention the need no setup just installation is need and NO ADDITIONAL CONFIGURATION.
    This download gives you Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8, Blend for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8, the Windows 8 software development kit (SDK), and project templates for creating new Windows Store apps.
    Visual Studio gives you everything you need to create code, debug, localize, package, and deploy a Windows Store app.
    Blend is another tool you can use to create Windows Store apps. It provides effective support for designing a great-looking user interface for your Windows Store app.
    Visual Studio and Blend were designed to work together. You can move seamlessly back and forth between them to develop your app.

    Getting a developer license
    Microsoft was smart enough and to prevent illicit acts it does not allows sideloading apps with exception to developers who will find handy:good:.

    To get your self approved as a developer you need to get a free developer licence which can be done via following methods.

    Through Visual Studio

    When you run Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 on your local machine for the first time, you are prompted to obtain a developer license. Read the license terms, and then click I Agree. In the User Account Control (UAC) dialog box, click Yes to continue.
    After you install a license on a local machine, you won’t be prompted again on that machine unless the license expires (or you remove it) and you try to run an uncertified Windows Store app or create a project. You can run uncertified Windows Store apps on your local machine by pressing the F5 key in Microsoft Visual Studio or Blend for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8.
    Note If you choose not to acquire or renew a developer license, you'll receive an error (DEP0100) when you attempt to build or deploy a Windows Store app in Visual Studio.{Courtesy MSDN}

    Getting a developer license at a command prompt

    If you aren’t using Visual Studio 2012, you can get and manage developer licenses at a command prompt by running these commands in

    Windows PowerShell:

    Show-WindowsDeveloperLicenseRegistration. This command opens a dialog box from which you can get a developer license and install it on the local machine. To run this command, you must have a valid Microsoft account. You also must run this command in a command prompt with elevated permissions.

    Get-WindowsDeveloperLicense. This command returns an object that has two properties: ExpirationTime and IsValid. ExpirationTime is a System.DateTime structure that contains the date and time when the license expires. IsValid is a System.Boolean that indicates whether the license is valid. You can run this command from either a non-elevated command prompt or a command prompt with elevated permissions.

    Unregister-WindowsDeveloperLicense. This command warns you that some Windows Store apps will stop working if you remove the developer
    license from the local machine. If you choose "Yes" (the default) to confirm that you want to remove the license, the license is removed from the local machine. You must run this command in a command prompt with elevated permissions.

    Code:
    C:\PS> Show-WindowsDeveloperLicenseRegistration
    C:\PS> Get-WindowsDeveloperLicense
    C:\PS> Unregister-WindowsDeveloperLicense

    Read full detaild artile @MSDN also for TNC
    4
    Build Your First app!

    Time to say hello to HELLO WORLD!

    Using Javascript and HTML with CSS

    Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN JavaScript and HTML

    Using C# or with XAMLVisual Basic

    For Android or Java Developer I prefer C#
    Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN C# or Visual Basic and XAML

    Using C++ with XAML

    My favorite preference.
    Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN C++ with XAML

    Using C++ and DirectX

    DirectX :eek: i dont know anything about it :confused:
    Dont expect support on this by me altopgh others might be able to help.
    Follow These Great Tutorials On MSDN C++ with DirectX
    2
    Design Using Blend for VisualStudio 2012

    Blend for Visual Studio 2012 helps you design and build user interfaces by providing you with an accurate design surface and tools that let you visually create and edit Windows Store applications. These new design tools take advantage of Windows 8 technologies to create dynamic applications that run on a wide variety of Windows-based hardware. You can choose to design your user interface using HTML or XAML.

    image courtesy MSDN:

    IC592898.png


    Designing in HTML

    A Windows Store app built using HTML uses the same technology that a web site uses. However, a Windows Store app is not deployed page-by-page from a web server. Instead, it is installed locally on the user's computer. Like any native Windows application, a Windows Store app built using HTML has direct access to the underlying platform and is able to share information with other applications.

    Visual design Visually edit HTML, CSS, and Microsoft design style controls. What you see in Blend is what users will see in Windows 8.
    Interactive Mode Design your app in states that would otherwise be available only at run time, without having to endlessly compile and run.

    App building Drag and drop Windows app controls onto the design surface, set their properties, and style them.

    Powerful code generation When you add a new style or element to an app, Blend takes care of all the syntax and generates concise, reliable, and predictable code.

    Debugging Visual Studio can debug JavaScript, but only Blend lets you visually debug HTML and CSS. The Winning Properties virtual rule shows you the CSS cascade for any element. The Computed Values virtual rule shows you how Windows 8 will compute CSS property values for each element. The Live DOM panel updates to display run-time changes.

    learn more @MSDN


    Designing in XAML

    A Windows Store app built using XAML gives you more control over the styling and animating of controls. Visual Studio also provides a XAML Designer. Much like Blend, the XAML Designer in Visual Studio provides a main design surface and a toolbox to drag-and-drop controls.

    Animation Use the Objects and Timeline and States panels to create complex animations for your app. The visual state design features in Blend also enable you to work with the new Windows 8 theme animations.

    Visual States Use the States and Device panels to create a Windows app UI that takes advantage of view states and orientations supported in Windows 8.

    Transitions Add pre-defined or create custom transitions for your app by using the States panel.

    Styles and GroupStyles Customize the default control styles by the comprehensive styling and editing features available in Blend. You can also customize Windows 8 GroupStyles.

    Template editing Edit control templates by using the Objects and Timeline panel or the Breadcrumb bar. While in template editing mode, you can add Windows 8 theme animations by using the States panel.

    Data Binding Data binding tools support the following binding types: DataContext, DataSource, ElementName, RelativeSource Self, RelativeSource TemplatedParent, and StaticResource.

    Layout Create Windows app layouts using built-in layout containers such as GridView, ListView, StackPanel, WrapGrid, and more, all of which can be customized to suit your needs.

    Control creation Create controls on the artboard quickly and easily by using the Tools and Assets panels.

    Property editing Modify and edit objects quickly and easily by using the Properties panel.

    learn more @MSDN
    2
    The Last Word

    A few Handy Links:


    *Selling Apps
    *Concepts and Architecture
    *API Reference
    *Language Reference
    *Samples


    Credits:
    MSDN For amazing article and helping me to dev on win8.
    Microsoft for their beautiful OS
    Visual Studio Amazing IDE

    Support My work:

    Hit the thanks button in the op and/or all the posts you find useful.
    Rate give 5* rating to this thread

    1
    Creating a project and choosing a template

    When you create an app, the first thing you need to do is decide which language to use. You can choose JavaScript, Visual Basic, Visual C#, or Visual C++.

    To create a project for a Windows Store app, click File > New Project (or press Ctrl+Shift+N).

    13655059821.png


    You'll see the New Project dialog box.

    13655059822.png



    Click one of the language nodes in the left pane. You'll see various app templates in the center pane. Some important templates, like Blank App, Grid App, and Split App, are shared between all four programming languages. A few templates are language-specific.When you create a project for a Windows Store app, Visual Studio creates a solution, which is a way of managing the various source elements of your project (code files, images, style sheets, settings, and so on). A solution container can contain multiple projects, and a project container typically contains multiple items that represent the references, folders, and files that you need to create your app.

    Solution Explorer displays solutions, their projects, and the items in those projects. In Solution Explorer, you can open files for editing, add new files to a project, and view solution, project, and item properties. Here's what Solution Explorer looks like for a JavaScript project: courtesy MSDN

    IC594689.png


    In addition to source code files appropriate to the language, each project also includes the package.appxmanifest file, which describes the app package for Windows. Each project also includes several image files, like splashscreen.png for the splash screen image and storelogo.png, which is used for Windows Store. A project source certificate (.pfx) file that's required for signing the package is also included in each project.

    Designing a UI

    When you plan your user interface, it's important to select the most appropriate Visual Studio project template for a starting point, and to learn about adding re-usable item templates such as Search contracts. You can develop your UI by writing code or by using a visual designer. A visual designer provides a designer-oriented interface for app design that includes a drag-and-drop interface for building the UI.

    For Windows Store apps, you can use the visual designer provided in Blend for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 for Windows 8. You can open a Visual Studio project in Blend by right-clicking the project in Solution Explorer and clicking Open in Blend. Alternatively, open the solution file (.sln) from within Blend.

    image courtesy MSDN:
    IC600572.png


    Updating the app manifest

    unlike android working on mainfest of win 8 apps is a breeze

    You can use the Manifest Designer in Visual Studio to edit the app manifest file that describes your app package. The app manifest file is present in Windows Store apps written in all languages.
    The Manifest Designer has five tabs:

    Application UI. Configure UI settings, including the logo, splash screen, and initial orientation.

    Capabilities. Specify system features or devices that your app can use, such as Internet access, current location, and music library access.

    Declarations. Add declarations for app contracts, like search and share target contracts, and specify their properties.

    Content URIs. Specify URIs that your app either can or can't access. This tab appears only for JavaScript projects.

    Packaging. Set properties that identify and describe your package when it is deployed.

    To open the Manifest Designer, double-click the package.appxmanifest file in Solution Explorer, or right-click the file and click View Designer. The Capabilities tab of the Manifest Designer is shown here:

    image courtesy MSDN:

    IC594690.png


    Writing code

    Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 includes full-featured editors for the following languages: JavaScript, HTML/XML/XAML, CSS, C#, Visual Basic, C++, HLSL. The editors provide many language-specific features that you can customize to help create your app:


    IntelliSense, which provides features such as statement completion and parameter Help as you type code. This illustration shows a member list in the C# Code Editor. Note that the list also displays a Quick Info box for the selected item.

    image courtesy MSDN:

    IC600941.png



    Using inellisense:

    Code snippet insertion, available by right-clicking in a code file and clicking Insert Snippet.

    Navigation aids like Go To Definition, Bookmarks, and Navigate To.

    The Go To Definition command enables you to find the definition of a class or function by right-clicking the identifier and clicking Go To Definition. (Visual Basic and Visual C++ use the Object Browser to display information about Windows Runtime types.)
    This illustration shows options like Go To Definition and Insert Snippet in the JavaScript Code Editor:

    IC594691.png


    You can customize the behavior of the Code Editors, and enable or disable features like indentation, word wrap, and statement completion. To customize the behavior of the Code Editors, click Tools > Options, expand Text Editor, expand the appropriate Code Editor to configure, and then select the appropriate category of options.

    Building an app

    To build an app, click Build Solution (or press F7) or Rebuild Solution (or press Ctrl+Alt+F7) on the Build menu. You'll see the results of the build process in the Output window.

    IC600573.png


    Debugging

    Read The MSDN article