Review of Building Windows 8 Apps with C# and XAML
During the holiday season, I received the Building Windows 8 Apps with C# and XAML by Jeremy Likness. Holidays are the perfect time to read books! Before starting the book, I was curious to know if it would be useful to me, since I created my first Windows 8 app (Canadian Developer Connection) earlier this year where I included a lot of Windows 8 features. It turned out that I was very satisfied with the number of things I learned.
The reader should have extreme confidence in the content of the book, given the author’s solid experience and background.
The book starts with a simple app that is more than just a “Hello World” app. After the first app, a beginner would be happy to read and learn more.
The author took the time to explain some “under the cover” mechanisms of the new Windows 8 Store app world. Yes, the Registry is still present more than ever. This information is very much appreciated.
Reading about the controls, the application lifecycle, the way to save data, the charms, the packaging, the deploying and more, the reader will get a complete picture of how to take advantage of Windows 8 features.
One of the most important aspects about programming is testing. Even though this aspect is not only related to Windows 8 development, the author dedicates a whole chapter to testing and the high importance of doing unit tests. The experiences that he wrote about proved that even more. For all levels of developers, this chapter is a good reminder of one of the aspects we tend to push aside.
Throughout the book, there is code that is available open-source. The book is a great companion to the provided code and some of the code can even be used in your own apps.
As for the physical aspects of the book, the font size is easy on the eyes. The book could have been a bit better if there were colors in the diagrams, but undoubtedly the price would have then been higher. The current price of the book on Amazon USA is $28.99 and $32.59 on Amazon Canada. At this price, it is really worth buying.
In conclusion, the book covers all the new cool features of the Windows 8 Store apps. If you know C# and you want a quick start on Windows 8 App development, I recommend this excellent book.