Beginning Windows 8 Application Development

Chapter 7

Using XAML to Create Windows 8 Style User Interfaces

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER:

• Understanding what XAML is and how it can be used to describe the user interface
• Understanding the layout management mechanism
• Understanding what resources are and how to share them in the application
• Getting to know basic controls you can use in Windows 8 style applications
• Getting acquainted with the powerful data-binding engine in Windows 8 style applications

WROX.COM CODE DOWNLOADS FOR THIS CHAPTER

You can find the wrox.com code downloads for this chapter on the Download Code tab at www.wrox.com/remtitle.cgi?isbn=012680. The code is in the Chapter7.zip download and individually named, as described in the corresponding exercises.

In this chapter, you learn about the basics of developing Windows 8 style applications using eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML). This chapter begins with a look at how the layout management works, and how to create reusable components with resources, followed by an introduction to basic controls and the animation and media framework supported by Windows 8 style applications. By the end of this chapter, you’ll have learned how to restyle the user interface (UI) with styles and templates, and will become familiar with data-handling scenarios.

Describing the User Interface Using XAML

A couple of years ago, functionality was all that mattered. People were content with completing a task simply by using a favorite tool. Even if the tool was not ...