Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML

Course Overview
Hello. My name is Andras Velvart, and this is my course, Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML. You may know me from apps like the SurfCube 3D Browser or the music game, SongArc with over 2 million downloads. I'm also doing consultancy and architecture work on various XAML-based enterprise projects. Windows 10 has introduced universal apps, which has or will make its way to PCs, tablets, phones, IoT devices, Xbox and HoloLens. With Microsoft on its way to 1 billion devices running Windows 10, the universal Windows platform represents a tremendous developer opportunity. While we build an entire app from scratch, you will learn about layout, data binding, Cortana integration, live tiles and notifications, and spicing up the app using styles, templates, and animations. By the end of this course, you will be able to get started creating your first app. Before beginning the course, you should be at least somewhat familiar with C# development.

Hello UWP!
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the second module, Hello UWP! In this module, I will introduce you to the most important tool you need for XAML development, Visual Studio 2015. Before picking up pace in the next module, we'll go through installing Visual Studio and creating a Hello World, I mean a Hello UWP project that I will use to show you the ropes. Ready?

Let's Lay Out the Layout!
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the third module, Let's Lay out the Layout! There's a lot more to placing controls on the app than just dragging them on the design surface. In fact, XAML offers an extremely powerful layout engine. This layout engine is flexible enough to allow the same app to run on all kinds of different devices with different screen sizes and you'll see scenarios and also to adapt to the content. Of course, all of this power and flexibility doesn't come for free. The layout system of XAML is more on the complex side, but it does have its inner logic, which I'll try to convey to you. Mastering the layout system is key to creating amazing applications to look and work great on all Windows 10 devices.

Bind That Data!
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the fourth module, Bind that Data! In this module, I'll show you how to connect your UI to data in your business logic through a process called data binding. Data binding enables data to flow in both directions from the UI to your business logic or models and vice versa. The data itself is stored as common CLR objects, for example, instantiated C# classes with properties. Data binding along with styling and templating allows you to have an architecture where the presentation can be edited and fine-tuned while the data and the business logic remains untouched. For example, here are a couple of different ways to present the same data without changing a single line of C# code. The difference is all in XAML. As you can see, data binding is another one of the powerful and extremely flexible pillars of XAML. So, let's dive into it!

To the Cloud!
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight, and you are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the fifth module, To the Cloud! In the nameday app, we can now list and filter the namedays. However, we have only worked with fake data thus far. It is time to start working with real data, a real Hungarian nameday calendar downloaded directly from the cloud. Okay, okay, cloud is just a fancy name for a web server. So in this module, I'll introduce you to how to download and parse JSON data from a web server. We'll talk about asynchronous programming in the Universal Windows Platform apps. In fact, why don't we start with this. What is asynchronous programming and how does C# and the Universal Windows Platform help with it?

More Features!
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the sixth module, More Features! In the previous modules, our little nameday app managed to download a JSON file from a web server, parse the nameday calendar data in it, and display the entire calendar and the greeting text. We have also added a search capability. During this process, I introduced XAML, data binding, and asynchronous development in Universal Windows Projects. Now it is time to add more features. This is going to be a pretty packed module, so hang on tight! I'll show you how to integrate with some Windows 10 features. We'll list the contacts that have one of the names on the selected day and offer the user the option to send congratulations in email and to add the calendar reminder. We'll also add settings and an About page with navigation and examine some more advanced data binding scenarios such as commanding and a much more convenient way of implementing INotifyPropertyChanged.

Meanwhile in the Background...
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the seventh module, Meanwhile in the Background. This module will introduce you to background tasks in the Universal Windows Platform. Background tasks run at specified intervals and can do things like access a server, update the live tile, display notifications, and a lot of other things. In this module, I'll also teach Cortana about namedays. Let's get to it!

Templating in Style
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the eighth module, Templating in Style. So far, we haven't devoted too much attention to how the Nameday app actually looks. Now that it is more or less feature complete, it is time to change that. After all, look and feel is an important part of user experience and most users decide whether to even install an app based on the screenshots or videos. So this module will introduce you to achieving a consistent visual style and changing the look and feel of controls. In the next module, we'll bring the app to life and work with animations, but first, styles!

Animated Behavior
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is module nine, Animated Behavior. This module will introduce you to animations in the Universal Windows Platform. We'll talk about storyboard animations, animations with visual states, and the built-in animations of the platform. You will also learn about behaviors, an excellent concept of reusable code that the designer can apply and customize to tweak the UI.

Universe and Continuum
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is module 10, Universe and Continuum. In this module, we will put universal into the Universal app platform by examining how the same application can work on a wide range of different devices with different screens, input capabilities, and so on. And I'll also admit that I've been lying to you during the previous modules of the course.

To Infinity and Beyond!
Hello. This is Andras Velvart for Pluralsight. You are watching Introduction to Universal Windows Platform Development with XAML, and this is the last module, module 11, To Infinity and Beyond! Wow, so this is the last module of the course. We'll talk about some advanced topics and I'll give you some pointers on where to go next. I'll tell you about application lifecycle, the Model-View-ViewModel pattern, and finally I'll show you how the Nameday app will get submitted to the store. Oh and before we forget, I'll uncover a huge conspiracy and surprise I've been doing throughout this course. Exciting, isn't it?