Book Review – Mastering Windows 8 C++ App Development

Recently I got a chance to read the book – “Mastering Windows 8 C++ App Development“, written by Paul Yosifovich and published by Packt, a leading publishing website. This book explains the basics and advanced concepts of writing a Windows Store App using C++ and XAML. If you are a C++ developer and are willing to try Windows 8 Store apps, this book is for you to get a headstart and build some great apps and make money. This post details my thoughts about the book.

Summary

It is a well written book covering aspects in a logical manner. The book starts with explaining various essential features of Windows 8 and then moves on to explaining new concepts in C++ 11. The book explains each functionality and capability assuming you are a beginner at developing Windows 8 Apps, but do have knowledge of C++. As you progress with reading the book, you will learn more and more exciting features of Windows 8 development like Windows RT elements, Push notifications, Background Tasks, Contracts, Extensions and packaging to allow the world to see your App. The book comprises 9 chapters with each chapter focusing on one specific functionality regarding development. Few topics covered in the book are as below:

• Basics of Windows 8 Operating system from the Windows Store app perspective
• Concepts around Windows Store apps and the Windows Runtime
• Important features from C++ 11 and the new language extensions, C++/CX, that allow easier access to the Windows Runtime types. Also know about other classic technologies and where (if at all) they fit in the Windows Store apps model
• Know XAML declarations and data binding using MVVM model
• Building reusable WinRT components that can be used by other languages as well as custom controls
• Working with Tiles, Push notifications in C++ Windows Store App
• Finally, packaging a Windows 8 Store App written using C++

About the Author

Pavel Yosifovich is a Microsoft MVP and a frequent speaker at national events apart from being CTO of a software development, consulting, and training company, based in Israel. He is also the author of “Windows Presentation Foundation 4.5 Cookbook, Packt Publishing, 2012“. He writes, develops, consults, and trains developers on various software development topics, from Windows internals, to .NET enterprise systems, and almost everything in between. In the past, he co-founded the start-up company Quiksee that was acquired by Google in September 2010.

Who Is This Book For?

This book is aimed at any C++ developer who wants to learn developing Windows Store apps using his/her existing knowledge of C++.

Conclusion

To conclude, I will suggest this book to any C++ developer interested in learning the new features in C++ 11 and also building Windows 8 Apps using the same. The book comes with perfect examples and screenshots wherever required. The language is easy to understand and entertaining as well. After reading this book, I am confident to write a Windows 8 Store app using C++ with some cool features.

Hope you like reading the book.