Start Here! Build Windows 8 Apps with HTML5 and JavaScript

388 Pages·2013·3.71 MB·English

by  Dino Esposito

Build Windows 8
Apps with HTML5 and
JavaScript
Dino Esposito
Francesco Esposito
Published with the authorization of Microsoft Corporation by:
O’Reilly Media, Inc.
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Copyright © 2013 by Dino Esposito
All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means without the written permission of the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-7356-7594-0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LSI 8 7 6 5 4 3
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To Michela and Silvia, who are stronger and smarter than they
think.
—Dino
To Grandma Concetta, for providing free calories through
amazing quantities of unbeatable homemade prosciutto.
—Francesco

Contents at a glance
Introduction xiii
CHApTer 1 Using Visual Studio 2012 express edition for Windows 8 1
CHApTer 2 Making sense of HTML5 23
CHApTer 3 Making sense of CSS 47
CHApTer 4 Making sense of JavaScript 73
CHApTer 5 First steps with Windows 8 development 97
CHApTer 6 The user interface of Windows Store applications 121
CHApTer 7 Navigating through multimedia content 147
CHApTer 8 States of a Windows 8 application 177
CHApTer 9 Integrating with the Windows 8 environment 201
CHApTer 10 Adding persistent data to applications 235
CHApTer 11 Working with remote data 265
CHApTer 12 Accessing devices and sensors 291
CHApTer 13 Adding Live tiles 319
CHApTer 14 publishing an application 335
Index 351

Contents
Introduction ....................................................xiii
Chapter 1 Using Visual Studio 2012 Express edition
for Windows 8 1
Getting ready for development .....................................2
The software you need .......................................2
Configuring Visual Studio 2012 ................................5
Start playing with Windows 8 apps ............................9
The “Hello Windows 8” application ...........................10
Adding a bit more action ....................................16
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Chapter 2 Making sense of HTML5 23
Elements of a webpage ...........................................24
Building the page layout with HTML5 .........................24
Miscellany of other new elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Collecting data ..................................................34
Adjusting input fields .......................................35
Form submission ...........................................38
Multimedia elements .............................................41
The audio element ..........................................41
The video element ..........................................42
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
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vii
Chapter 3 Making sense of CSS 47
Styling a webpage ...............................................47
Adding CSS information to pages .............................48
Selecting elements to style ..................................51
Basic style commands ............................................55
Setting colors ..............................................55
Controlling text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
HTML display modes ........................................60
Spacing and the boxing model ...............................63
Advanced CSS scenarios ..........................................66
CSS pseudo-classes .........................................66
Media Queries .............................................70
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Chapter 4 Making sense of JavaScript 73
Language basics .................................................74
The JavaScript type system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Dealing with variables .......................................77
Dealing with objects ........................................79
Dealing with functions ......................................81
Organizing your own JavaScript code ...............................89
Linking JavaScript code to pages .............................89
Practices and habits .........................................92
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
Chapter 5 First steps with Windows 8 development 97
The Windows 8 Runtime (WinRT) ..................................98
Windows Store apps and other apps ..........................98
An overview of the WinRT API ...............................100
The Windows Store app user interface ............................102
Aspects of the Windows 8 UI ................................102
Inspiring principles of the Windows 8 UI ......................104
viii Contents