Chapter 1. Hello, Modern Windows
This chapter covers
- Building your first Windows 8 app
- Getting a developer license
- Using the Simulator
- Remotely debugging apps
Welcome to the brave new world of Windows Store app development! Getting into a new platform as it first emerges is always exciting. I love learning new things and targeting new platforms. I like being an early adopter. Sure, not everything is quite as fleshed out as you may want when you get in early, and it sometimes feels like the Wild West, but the satisfaction you get from that head start almost always makes it worth it.
Plus, quite frankly, it’s much easier to learn something new while it’s still small enough to be digestible. Looking back at Silverlight, I learned it at version 1.1a when it was just a baby. Had I picked it up at version 4 or 5 when the API surface area was 10 times as large, it would have taken me forever to learn all its ins and outs. Platforms invariably grow in scope and capability. The earlier you learn them, the less you have to take in all at once.
Because XAML and C# are one of the combinations of technologies you can use to develop for the Windows Store, if you’ve developed applications for the Windows Phone or desktop using Silverlight, you’ll find yourself well positioned to quickly learn Windows app development. The Windows Runtime XAML stack and C#/.NET side of things were both developed by many of the same people who worked on Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).