Releasing HTML5 Games for Windows 8

Releasing HTML5 Games for Windows 8

Windows 8 presents an incredible opportunity for distributing and monetizing HTML5 games, and this guide shows how you can profit from it. You’ll learn everything you need to know about porting your original web-based JavaScript game to the new "touch-first" version of Windows, as well as several options for selling your game in Windows Store.

Windows 8 is a big leap forward for developers because it treats HTML5 as a first-class citizen, alongside C# and C++. Interactive development expert Jesse Freeman explains how Windows 8 works, gets you started with Visual Studio Express (it’s free!), and uses a case study to show you how to port an HTML5 game with ease.

• Learn which games and JavaScript libraries work best on Windows 8
• Adjust artwork for different screen resolutions and Windows 8 features
• Accommodate mouse, keyboard, touch, and other game controls
• Optimize your game to run well on any Windows 8 device
• Understand the steps for publishing your game to Windows Store
• Explore fixed price, trial mode, ad support, and in-app purchase options
• Use a web-first workflow to ensure your game runs on many other platforms

Start Here! Build Windows 8 Apps with HTML5 and JavaScript

Ready to learn Windows 8 programming? Start Here!™

Learn the fundamentals of Windows 8 programming—and begin creating apps for desktops, laptops, tablets, and other devices. If you have previous experience with HTML5 and JavaScript—simply start here! This book introduces must-know concepts and getting-started techniques through easy-to-follow explanations, examples, and exercises.

Here’s where you start learning Windows 8 app development

• Build on your knowledge of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript
• Create photo and media galleries with built-in HTML widgets
• Interact with the system through live tiles, contracts, and view state detection
• Store and access data on the local device and via the Internet
• Access webcam, GPS, and other sensors embedded in the device
• Create your first programs and publish them to the Windows Store

CSS for Windows 8 App Development

CSS for Windows 8 App Development is your learning guide for CSS – the language of great Windows 8-style apps. Learn the built-in styles that make the built-in controls shine, how to define them, and how to use CSS to give your custom app assets that beautiful Modern UI style.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is the clear standard for styling web applications, and with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript now powering apps on Windows 8, it’s the clear standard there as well. CSS is a powerful styling and layout language that greatly simplifies the selection of page elements and their visual display, layout, and animation. Additionally, Windows 8 apps appear on a large variety of screen formats, and CSS is the primary means for uniquely defining these layouts.

• Learn the language of great Windows 8-style apps
• Raise your knowledge of the CSS3 standard
• Use the styles built-in to Windows 8 style apps
• Apply CSS styles to your app

What you’ll learn

•  Master the use of powerful CSS selectors
• Learn new CSS3 functionality such as flex boxes, grids, animation, and transforms
• Control your styles from JavaScript for really powerful interactions
•  See the styles implemented by built-in controls like ListView and override them
•  Learn style rules that will help you implement good Windows 8 style
• See how to use LESS in your Windows 8-style app

Who this book is for

CSS for Windows 8 App Development is for software developers of all skill levels working with web applications. If you’re new, the foundational CSS examples will bring you up to speed quickly. If you’re more familiar with CSS, you’ll gain critical insight into its application in Windows 8 for creating a great Modern UI.

Table of Contents

1. Windows 8 Design
2. Introduction to Windows 8 Development
3. Selectors and Style Rules
4. Text Properties
5. Box Properties
6. Transforms, Transitions, and Animation Properties
7. Layout Properties
8. Global Styles
9. WinJS Control Styles 
10. Overriding and Defining Styles
11. CSS Libraries and Resources
12. Styling SVG

Free ebook: Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript

To help celebrate //build/, Kraig Brockschmidt is delighted to announce the completion of Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript! from Microsoft Press for FREE.

The ebook in PDF format can be downloaded here: http://go.microsoft.com/FWLink/?Linkid=270056 (17.9 MB)

(Note: EPUB and MOBI formats will be provided in the near future.)

The ebook’s companion content is here: http://go.microsoft.com/FWLink/?Linkid=270057 (60.0 MB)

Source: Microsoft Press blog

FREE eBook: Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (Second Preview)

The ebook "Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (Second Preview)" from Microsoft Press is available to download for FREE!

DOWNLOAD LINKS:

You can download the Second Preview (PDF only) here (13.5 MB).

And you can download the Second Preview’s companion content here (64.9 MB).

Free ebook download from Microsoft Press: Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (Second Preview)

The second preview edition of “Programming Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript” by Kraig Brockschmidt is available from Microsoft Press for free in pdf format. The book currently contains 12 chapters and it will be expanded and other ebook formats will be available with the complete book.  Sample code also can be downloaded.

Description
This book is about writing Metro style apps for Windows 8 using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Our primary focus will be on applying these web technologies within the Windows 8 platform, where there are unique considerations, and not on exploring the details of those web technologies themselves.

The new chapters cover collection controls (everything you wanted to know about ListView!), layout (especially view states), commanding UI (app bars, message dialogs, and their friends), the all-important topic of managing state, a close look at input and sensors (a form of input, really), media, animations, and contracts (share, search, the file pickers, and contacts). The earlier preview chapters (1-4) have also been updated and refined.

Table of Contents

• The Life Story of a Metro Style App: Platform Characteristics of Windows 8
• Quickstart
• App Anatomy and Page Navigation
• Controls, Control Styling, and Basic Data Binding
• Collections and Collection Controls
• Layout
• Commanding UI
• State, Settings, Files, and Documents
• Input and Sensors
• Media
• Purposeful Animations
• Contracts

Download Link: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/microsoft_press/archive/2012/08/20/free-ebook-programming-windows-8-apps-with-html-css-and-javascript-second-preview.aspx 

Introducing the Windows 8 platform

Windows 8 is Windows re-imagined. Join this session to learn about the new platform for building Windows 8 apps. Get an understanding of the platform design tenets, the programming language choices and the integration points with the operating system and with other apps.

Source: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Windows-Camp/Windows-8-Developer-Camp-Redmond/WIN8-CAMP-01

Windows 8 Release Preview

It's Windows reimagined and reinvented from a solid core of Windows 7 speed and reliability. It's an all-new touch interface. It's a new Windows for new devices. And it's easy to try now—whether you're installing it for the first time, or moving from Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Download Here.