Developing for Microsoft Surface

produced by nsquared

Dr. Neil & Maridee O'Day

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Chapter Synopses

Labs

Microsoft Surface Development

nsquared presents the first comprehensive Microsoft Surface book for developers and designers!

Developing for Microsoft Surface: Crafting Exceptional Experiences will give you everything you need to start creating great software for the magical platform that is Microsoft Surface. You'll learn about the vision for Surface, and understand how to design Surface applications that will inspire your users. The book includes both theory and hands-on labs for practice, with lessons appropriate for everyone from beginners to skilled WPF programmers.

Developing for Microsoft Surface is truly one of a kind. It will change your views toward developing software experiences, and provides skills and knowledge that will help you increase the value of all of your software creations.

Read the first 10 pages

Chapter Synopses

Chapter 0: The Vision
Learn why Surface was created, the principles of Surface design, and what Surface can do for you.
Chapter 1: Setting Up the Hardware
Learn about the Microsoft Surface hardware and read tips for when you first unpack your Surface unit. Discover the importance and methods of calibration, and explore Microsoft's demo Surface applications.
Chapter 2: Hello Surface World
Examine some of the unique capabilities of Surface to better understand how to showcase them with applications. Learn how Surface applications are architected, and take a first look at some development techniques.
Chapter 3: Working with the SDK and Simulator
Engage with Microsoft Surface without having access to a Surface device. In this chapter you will learn about the SDK and how to turn your everyday PC into a mock Surface unit.
Chapter 4: Presenting Your Application
Learn about the Surface shell, and how Microsoft has ingeniously integrated it with Windows for the optimal Surface experience. See the differences between Administrator and user modes, and discover how to install your applications on Surface.
Chapter 5: The Controls
This chapter describes the common Surface controls along with sample code. Learn how easy it is to develop for Surface; see how the controls can be styled and the templates used in the same way as with other WPF controls. Discover data binding and element composition for even greater efficiency and increased functionality.
Chapter 6: Designing Experiences
This chapter provides an introduction to Surface user experiences guidelines, points out some of the current insights and challenges facing Surface developers, and shows how to validate design decisions.
Chapter 7: Vision Recognition
It is easy to forget that the sensory power of Surface actually comes from the vision system; this realisation can open up new worlds of possibilities. This chapter contains code samples which will aid in customising the device to recognise specific objects through the Surface vision system.
Chapter 8: Building User Controls
Expanding the world of NUI requires knowledge, originality and innovation. The exciting and essential task of building custom controls lies before you, and this chapter will get you started.
Chapter 9: Surface Presentations
Surface can be used to do anything a computer can do, and more! This chapter covers a basic lab explaining how to show a PowerPoint presentation on a Surface unit.