Professional Windows 8 Programming: Application Development with C# and XAML

Chapter 2

What Is XAML?

WHAT’S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• The history of XAML
• Understanding XAML basics
• How XAML works in Visual Studio 2012
• Understanding the various Windows 8 controls

WROX.COM CODE DOWNLOADS FOR THIS CHAPTER

You can find the wrox.com code downloads for this chapter in the code file 205709 C02.zip at www.wrox.com/remtitle.cgi?isbn=1118205707 on the Download Code tab.

You can develop Windows Store Apps in several different ways. Windows 8 enables you to use whatever programming language you may be the most familiar with to do your development. As stated in Chapter 1, “A Glimpse into the Future,” the WinRT API has been designed and built to work with HTML/JavaScript, XAML/VB.NET, XAML/C++, and XAML/C#. For the first time if you don’t have knowledge of Microsoft programming languages, you can still write apps for Windows 8 by making use of solely HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The API calls and User Interface controls used in Windows 8 development are available to all these language combinations with no major restrictions. This book focuses on development of Windows Store apps using XAML as the user interface language and C# for the application logic. This chapter offers a brief tutorial on XAML and how it is used to create dynamic user interfaces. The XAML language is a powerful markup language that you can use to create complex screens as well as fluid and dynamic Windows 8 user interfaces.

Now, if you have a background in Microsoft development and have been developing line-of-business ...