Windows 8 Apps Using JavaScript

Although I decided in the end to write my Windows 8 Apps in C++, you can write them in JavaScript. There is a Windows Library for JavaScript. It is called WinJS. It gives you a bunch of controls and a toolkit of sorts. There is an app host, which is an executable like a browser. It is really Internet Explorer 10 behind the scenes.

You launched your apps using a URI. You cannot use interprocess communication with other apps. That is blocked. The app splash screeen is the fisr thing that is displayed. There are a few view states that an app can be in such as full screen or snapped. The minimum screen resolution for using apps is 1024 x 768.

There is no close command in an app. Your app has to save its state when it is being suspended. The state will later be reloaded. The app settings can be done per user. You need a development account to create apps. To get into the Windows 8 Store, the app needs to pass some tests. Those tests will be conducted with the Windows App Certification Kit. It checks for things like malware and such.

The Windows 8 Store

You can write a Windows RT project in either the C++, C#, Visual BASIC, or JavaScript programming languages. Yeah. There are a lot of options. Initially I leaned toward JavaScript since I learned it recently. However I fell back onto C++ when I actually wrote my apps.

Windows 8 Apps are sold in the Windows 8 Store. You use Visual Studio to upload your app package to the store. The package file has an appx extension. It needs a manifest. The appx file is really just a zip (compressed) file.

When you start out, you should reserve your app name in the Windows Store. The app will then get licensed to the user when they purchase it through the Windows 8 Store. Kind of reminds you of the Apple store for apps, right? Microsoft is coming a bit late to the game. Let's hope they can catch up.

Windows RT

Been through some Windows 8 App Store development this summer. Did not do too much blogging about it because I was super busy. Now I got six apps in the Windows 8 Store. Still need to do some marketing for them. But the initial development for them is done. Time to reflect back on what I learned in a bunch of blog posts.

I first read a book that taught you how to write Windows 8 apps using HTML/CSS/JavaScript. Sounded good as I have been learning these technologies for the last few years. Just recently finished up an advanced Javascript course. Windows RT is a new API. It stands for the Windows Runtime API. This supports this like touch screens running on tablets and phones.

You need a couple things to start writing Windows 8 apps. Need a tool like Visual Studio 2012 express for Windows. Or you could use something called Blend. I recommend VS 2012. The express version is free. You also have to be actually running the Window 8 operating system to develop for Windows 8.

Windows 8

I am a little late to the party. But I got a copy of Windows 8 installed on my laptop. Why? I wanted to develop apps for Windows 8. And guess what? You need to have Windows 8 to develop on Windows 8. Fair enough. I had an extra laptop laying around. The install was not too hard. Getting used to the new version of Windows was harder.

The main user interface that comes up by default with Windows 8 is a screen that itself launches apps. You can spin up a normal looking Windows desktop. But there is no start menu (at least until Windows 8). I guess I need to create a lot of icons on the desktop.

Many common Windows activities are changed in Windows. For example, I had a hard time figuring out how to shut down the computer. It has been a while developing a bunch of apps. I still do not feel comfortable with the Windows 8 interface. I prefer Windows 7. I plan to give it some time.

Windows Start Button

A developer I work with was worried about the state of affairs in the Windows 8 operating system. Things seemed to be drastically changing. He worried that the new tablet style interface would be accepted by Microsoft, and mark the demise of desktop application development. Well another big change with Windows 8 was supposed to be the removal of the Windows start button.

Yeah the start button has been around since what, Windows 95? Microsoft likes shaking things up. You have seen the craziness in the Microsoft Office 2007 menus. Now they are getting rid of the start button? Turns out that was too bold a move. Guess there was an outcry from the people. Because I just read in BBC News that Microsoft is back pedaling this decisions. The start button is back. About time.

Code Digger

Microsoft has announced the release of Code Digger. It is an extension to Visual Studio 2012. Code Digger analyzes your code and determines an interesting set of inputs which stimulates the paths in your code. The set of inputs is presented in a table that also shows the outputs from your code.

You need to have at least the Professional version of the Visual Studio. You can find the tool in the Visual Studio Gallery. It relies on the PEX engine to do its work. That's because it was created by the PEX team, which is essentially two dudes from Microsoft Research.

There are some other limitations. Your code must be .NET. And it only works on portable class libraries. When you set up your Visual Studio project, choose portable class library as the type. That will enable you to use Code Digger.

Office 365

The most interesting thing I have heard out of Redmond is the new licensing model for Microsoft Office. The latest version is called Office 365. This is a yearly subscription model. Looks like you download the software over the Internet. You get charged a yearly fee to get access to the latest version of the Office suite.

The real kicker is the pricing, especially when compared to the old style product. The cost structure almost forces you to go the subscription way. The retail shrink wrapped one-time product purchase is becoming a bad value compared to the subscription costs. Ouch.

I might just sit this one out. My current version of Office is good enough. However the low cost subscription offer is a hard one to pass up. I think this is the Microsoft plan.