Windows Phone 8 Development

chrislad

I've decided to do something in WP8 for my FYP, mainly because it uses C++. However, it's quite new and there's nothing really out, book wise, at the moment.

Does anyone know of any good websites for tutorials etcs. I've had a quick search but I just seem to be finding articles rather than laid out tutorials and guides. I have the SDK working, and I can deploy one or two of the samples.

RedXIV

chrislad wrote: »

I've decided to do something in WP8 for my FYP, mainly because it uses C++. However, it's quite new and there's nothing really out, book wise, at the moment.

Does anyone know of any good websites for tutorials etcs. I've had a quick search but I just seem to be finding articles rather than laid out tutorials and guides. I have the SDK working, and I can deploy one or two of the samples.

I signed up a competition with Microsoft and can't move for emails around all aspects of win 8 development. They appear to have a dedicated team to assist people, might be worth investigating?

chrislad

Cheers. It's rather difficult to find information. It seems that you can only create a C++ app with Direct3D (which I don't think I will need) or just go for a C# with XAML (but I don't want to use C# as it's too close to Java, and this is about learning more than anything)

awec

pluralsight.com

Not free, but if watching in depth tutorial videos is your thing then there's nowhere better.

There might be something on channel9.msdn.com too.

chrislad

Thanks! Doesn't seem to be too much there with Windows Phone 8 as of yet, but I'll keep an eye. I actually just discovered that site a minute ago and there seems to be a bit on there. I was looking through Microsoft Virtual Academy too, but that seems to be mainly C#

awec

Is there a particular reason why you want C++ ?

chrislad

awec wrote: »

Is there a particular reason why you want C++ ?

Employability essentially.

stevenmu

The Windows Phone Dev Centre has great tutorials, though I think they're mostly C#/Xaml based. The Nokia Developer site has good tutorials too, including some C++ ones.

There is a new project type with the WP8 SDK for combined XAML and Direct3D apps. I don't know a lot about it but it could be worth a look.

If that doesn't suit, you may need to reconsider your options. Phone platforms (including iOS and Android) tend to be restricted in terms of what you can use to develop with so either you use the tools they allow, or use a different platform. So you might have to either go the C#/Xaml route on WP8 or if you really want to do C++/Xaml you could do a Windows 8 app instead.

There's plenty of C# jobs out there btw

Colonel Panic

My understanding is that native code for Window Phone 8 is similar to native code on Android. You are basically using an interop layer to access native code from the phone's runtime environment.

So I think you'd need a pretty good reason to use C++ on Windows Phone 8 beyond just for the sake of learning. Good uses would be for ports of existing iOS and Android apps that use C++, or perhaps writing an app that uses some interesting C++ library.

Here's an interesting talk from last year about C++ on Windows Phone 8.

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-049

srsly78

chrislad wrote: »

Employability essentially.

Well then learn c# or java. C++ roles are definitely less common these days, and tend to be filled by experienced specialists.

chrislad

I know Java (somewhat). I'm really just messing around at the moment. Current idea is a password manager with a mobile and desktop interface, with cloud synchronization. I could use C#, and consensus from my peers, as well as here, seem to recommend it. It's just not on any modules here, but there's a lot of documentation for it.

awec

chrislad wrote: »

Employability essentially.

I'd go with the C# in that case.

I'm not sure if the C++ on windows phones etc is actual unmanaged c++ or if it is that Microsoft Visual C++ semi-managed type. Someone on here might know.

Colonel Panic

It's native C++.