Book Image

Modernizing Your Windows Applications with the Windows App SDK and WinUI

By : Matteo Pagani, Marc Plogas
5 (1)
Book Image

Modernizing Your Windows Applications with the Windows App SDK and WinUI

5 (1)
By: Matteo Pagani, Marc Plogas

Overview of this book

If you're a developer looking to improve and modernize your existing LOB applications to leverage modern Windows features without having to rewrite the entire application from scratch, this book is for you. You’ll learn how to modernize your existing Windows Forms, WPF, and UWP applications and enrich them with the latest Windows features. Starting with sample LOB applications that cover common scenarios, you'll learn the differences between various components and then focus on design features for improved visual aspects like accessibility and responsive layouts. The book shows you how to enhance your existing applications using Windows App SDK components and various Windows APIs, resulting in deeper integration with the operating system. You’ll be taking a closer look at WinML, which enables Windows applications to evaluate machine learning models offline and leverage the power of your machine, or notifications, to engage with your users in a more effective way. You’ll also learn how to make your application deployment-ready by distributing it using various platforms like the Microsoft Store or websites. By the end of this Windows book, you'll be able to create a migration plan for your existing Windows applications and put your knowledge to work by enhancing your application with new features and integrating them with the Windows ecosystem.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
1
Section 1: Basic Concepts
3
Section 2: Modernization Journey
9
Section 3: Integrating Your App with the Windows Ecosystem
14
Section 4: Distributing Your Application

Summary

In this chapter, we have explored many ways in which Windows isn't just a host for our applications, but can provide many features that can really make the difference between a native application and a web one. We have learned how .NET makes it easy to integrate APIs from the UWP, something that in the past was available only if you wanted to start building a new application from scratch. The UWP unlocks endless opportunities, and, in this chapter, we have only touched on a few of them, such as location services, Windows Hello, the sharing contract, and the new filesystem capabilities.

Another thing we have learned in this chapter is that yes, it's true, this book is dedicated to building desktop applications but, as developers, we can't deny the impact of the web ecosystem. Therefore, Microsoft started from scratch with a new engine to build the new Microsoft Edge, which enables developers to get the best out of the web, thanks to the latest HTML, CSS, and...