Roadmap for Windows Runtime apps using C# or Visual Basic
[ This article is for Windows 8.x and Windows Phone 8.x developers writing Windows Runtime apps. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation ]
Here are key resources to help you get started developing Windows Runtime apps using C# or Visual Basic. This is not a comprehensive list of all the features or available resources. The fundamentals are listed first, and it's a good idea to start there. But this topic is also designed so that you can skip around and learn about features you're interested in. Bookmark this page and come back to it again when you need to learn how to add another feature to your app.
If you'd rather use another programming language, see:
Get started
| Essential downloads | Download Windows evaluation copies and Microsoft Visual Studio. |
| Category ideas | Here are examples of good design for a few categories of apps (e.g. games, productivity apps, news apps, etc.). Naturally, this is a tiny subset of what's possible; nevertheless, these articles can provide you with a flavor of Windows Store app look and behavior. |
What kind of app should you make? How do you plan for different devices? How should you monetize your app? Make the right decisions during the planning phase to simplify deployment and maximize your app's potential. |
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Migrating Silverlight or WPF XAML/code to a Windows Store app |
This migration topic is useful if you have experience with other XAML-based UI frameworks like Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) or Microsoft Silverlight, particularly if you have an app to migrate. |
Create your first Windows Store app using C# or Visual Basic |
Get started with the tools and create your first Windows Store app. |
Get started with the tools and create your first Windows Phone Store app. |
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You need to select a template when you start developing your Windows Runtime app. Use this topic to learn what templates to use and what comes with them. |
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This is a simple casual game (Reversi) sample. If you prefer to dive into an end-to-end sample to see how everything is put together, this sample is a great resource. It's extensively commented and has real-world patterns and practices guidance built-in to how the code is written and presented. |
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Browse a variety of Windows Store app samples and filter by language. |
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Browse a variety of Windows Phone Store app samples and filter by language. |
Basic features and concepts for Windows Runtime apps
Create controls and connect them to code. |
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See what controls are available. |
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See what controls are available in various functional categories. |
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In the XAML framework for Windows Store apps, you create a control template when you want to customize a control's visual structure and visual behavior. |
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Add an app bar (needed by mostWindows Runtime apps). |
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Use styles to customize the appearance of your app, and reuse your appearance settings across your app. |
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Display text and provide controls for entering and editing text. |
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Position controls and text where you want them. |
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Make your app work with touch. |
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Make your app work with the keyboard. |
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| Responding to mouse interactions | Make your app work with the mouse. |
Work with pointer capture and pointer events. |
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Enable app capabilities like Internet access or document-library access for running in the security sandbox. |
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Navigate between pages and pass data between them. |
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This section explains how you can activate, suspend, and resume your Windows Runtime app in response to the normal app lifecycle events, file and protocol associations, and AutoPlay events. This is a must for most apps. |
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At the very least you need a tile to allow users to open your Windows Runtime app. In addition, you can increase the utility and visibility of your app by using notifications and creating "live tiles". |
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Print from your app. |
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Accessibility for Windows Runtime apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML |
Make your app accessible. A Windows Runtime app with a XAML UI can provide app-specific information that is reported to any Microsoft UI Automation client. This includes common assistive technologies such as screen readers. |
Windows is used worldwide and so it is important for you to design your Windows Runtime app to appeal to an international audience in order to get maximum distribution. |
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Add a splash screen to provide your users with immediate feedback as your app loads its resources. |
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The Windows Store lets you reach the millions of customers who use Windows. |
The programming model for Windows Runtime apps using C#/VB/C++
This topic provides a full overview on the XAML markup language as it is used by the Windows Runtime, and links to related reference and conceptual material such as how to use each XAML markup extension, and how to use XAML names. |
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The Windows Runtime includes many asynchronous APIs, for example methods of MediaCapture and StorageFile, so that your app remains responsive when it accesses functionality that might take an extended amount of time. Your app can remain responsive because large operations can complete asynchronously while the main thread execution continues. Most of the asynchronous APIs don't have synchronous counterparts, so you need to be sure to understand how to use the asynchronous APIs with C# or Microsoft Visual Basic in your Windows Runtime app. |
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Your Windows Runtime app uses dependency properties. Dependency properties are a Windows Runtime concept that supports other common features such as animation, styles and data binding. |
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Wire your app's event handlers in XAML. Learn about the routed event concept, which is relevant to many UI-related events of the UIElement class. |
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A resource dictionary is a way you can declare a resource item in XAML markup, which you can then access as a shared value for other XAML-defined properties by using a StaticResource markup extension. |
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Define your own custom property that can participate in data binding, styles, animations, and callbacks for real-time value changes. |
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Storyboarded animations are custom animations that target dependency property values and change them over time. This isn't just for traditional visually oriented animations, it's also a way to implement app states and add run-time behavior. |
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Key-frame animations are type of storyboarded animation that can set intermediate values along a timeline using a key-frame metaphor. Easing functions are a way to change the interpolation of values while the animation runs. These are both useful for defining a more advanced style of animation than is possible with either a simple storyboarded animation or the animation library. |
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Visual states are a technique for applying sets of property changes that are in response to a known state of a control, page, or other part of your app. You use storyboarded animations to define visual states, and there are best practices you should follow when you use storyboarded animations for a visual state. |
Rich visuals and media
An introduction to how animation works in XAML. |
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Animations are built into many of the controls you use; however, you can add the same library of animations that the controls use and apply the transition animations and theme animations to other components of your UI. |
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Integrate media into your app. |
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Draw scalable vector graphics shapes, such as ellipses, rectangles, polygons, and paths. |
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Draw to a UI surface with colors, gradients, and image sources. |
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You can apply 3-D effects to content in your Windows Runtime app using perspective transforms. For example, you can create the illusion that an object is rotated toward or away from you. |
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Create a media player app by using the MediaElement API and defining your own transport control UI in XAML. |
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Create a basic media player app by using the MediaElement control and setting AreTransportControlsEnabled to true. |
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Learn how to include images into your Windows Runtime app UI. |
Working with data
Bind a control to a single item or bind a list control to a collection of items. This can be used for displaying data, such as stock prices or headlines, in controls. |
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Read from and write to a file. |
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Use the file picker to let the user open or save a file. |
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How to continue your Windows Phone app after calling a file picker |
Use the file picker in a Windows Phone Store app. |
Use data binding features in a XAML UI, including features such as change notification, binding to collections, incremental loading, grouping, and per-binding data conversions. |
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Learn how Windows Runtime apps can store data and about the scenarios where the various app data techniques work best. |
Sensors
Use motion and orientation sensors. |
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Use an ambient light sensor. |
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Use location services. |
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Provide maps and directions in Windows Phone Store apps. |
Searching, sharing, and connecting
You can help users pick files from one app directly within another app. Users gain freedom and flexibility. Apps increase their popularity by supporting the File Open Picker contract. |
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Great apps make it easy for users to share what they are doing with their friends and family. Apps that support the Share contract can automatically share content to and from any other app that also supports the Share contract. |
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You can use the association launching API to launch the user's default app for a file type or protocol. You can also enable your app to be the default app for a file type or protocol. |
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Use proximity to connect computers with a simple tap gesture. If two computers are near each other, or are tapped together, the operating system becomes aware of the nearby computer. |
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Use the Play To contract to let users stream audio, video, or images from their computer to devices in their home network. |
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Use the AutoPlay events to make your app do the right thing automatically when a device is connected to the PC, or a camera memory card, thumb drive, or DVD is inserted into the PC. |
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Learn how to how to set network capabilities required for network access, how to handle network connections as background tasks, and how to secure and troubleshoot network connections for a Windows Runtime app. |
Guidelines and best practices
Use this resource to find best practices for a variety of specific design implementations and features like file pickers, SemanticZoom, cross-slide, and so on. |
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Windows provides a concise set of touch interactions that are used throughout the system. Applying this touch language consistently makes your app feel familiar to what users already know. |
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Here are some concepts and guidelines to consider to ensure that your app performs well. |
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Describes the guidelines that you should follow if you want to declare that your app is accessible, as part of the Windows Store submission process. |
API reference
Here are the key APIs supported in your Windows Runtime apps using C# or Visual Basic.
If you are familiar with UI frameworks like Silverlight, many of these APIs will look familiar (they have "XAML" in the namespace name). These APIs provide access to all core platform features. |
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| .NET for Windows Store apps — supported APIs | The subset of the Microsoft .NET API that you can use in a Windows Store app using C# or Visual Basic. |