Related
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/27589/GDC_Microsoft_Announces_XNA_Game_Studio_40.php
^it's only a matter of time before you l337 ha><ors will find a way to customize EVERYTHING on WP7S. i got a lot of confidence in all of you cookers.
personally i'm really excited to see what you guys will come up with, not just the standard offerings that OEMs will give us.
if you thinking cooking ROMs now is l337... just wait til you start truly diving into VB and using real powerhouse computer languages to bring a new look to the new phones.
i am already requesting this:
please, som1 'cook' up a LCARs star trek TNG UI complete w/sound fx =). i think the "tricorder" is no longer sci-fi. it's REAL and it's ON
I must have missed the memo when VB became "1337"
it's a mean to an end =P. a tool. ultimately it's l337 ha><ors on here will figure a way around the restrictions and put in their own UI designs =). i don't doubt it. it'll simply be a matter of time and figuring out the BIOS portions. these phones have like a BIOS type stuff like PCs don't they?:
JediFonger said:
if you thinking cooking ROMs now is l337... just wait til you start truly diving into VB and using real powerhouse computer languages to bring a new look to the new phones.
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Sorry, is this VB as in "VisualBasic" or something else that is abbreviated to "VB"? Because I'm really not recognising that as a description of VisualBasic.
JediFonger said:
it's a mean to an end =P. a tool. ultimately it's l337 ha><ors on here will figure a way around the restrictions and put in their own UI designs =). i don't doubt it. it'll simply be a matter of time and figuring out the BIOS portions. these phones have like a BIOS type stuff like PCs don't they?:
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Ah, cool, so you're just giving us textual diarrhea and don't really have a clue what you're on about?
Cheers for the link, anyway.
Shasarak said:
Sorry, is this VB as in "VisualBasic" or something else that is abbreviated to "VB"? Because I'm really not recognising that as a description of VisualBasic.
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may be typo,
I think is VS (Visual studio )
But why XNA don't support VB.net?
elyl, every1 asks me all the time the same question IRL . muhahaha
i think i'm referring to the whole software development package in general. i still use 'old terms' like VisualBasic to refer to the whole 2008 .net C#, etc.etc.etc. and all new languages that are used =P
WP7 is going to support .NET and Silverlight. All managed code so they'll limitations to what you can do. On the brightside that also means they'll be limitations to how much a program can mess up your device lol.
XNA 3.1 doesn't support VB through VS.NET, but you logically, you should be able to use VB for XNA in some fasion, considering it all goes to CLR anyways.
This post is retarded though. WM6.5 had already had access to .NET CF which is alot more complex than the .NET Framework they are exposing to WM7. Where WM7 wins is with Silverlight and XNA. But then again, even both of those frameworks rely on exactly what pieces of the .NET Framework they make available.
If WM7 programming is anything like the Zune HD, expect pure failure. Zune HD SDK is nothing but an embarssment to Microsoft and developers who even want to code with it. I can't imagine Microsoft would make a similar move with WM7, but if they do, Android and iPhone, hell even Palm will have a lead.
Only time can tell, and that time is in a few day. The Beta SDK will be released to MIX Attendees, TAP Members and MSDN Subscribers come monday/tuesday. Expect next week to be a huge week in the development and potential for success of WM7.
cohowap said:
Only time can tell, and that time is in a few day. The Beta SDK will be released to MIX Attendees, TAP Members and MSDN Subscribers come monday/tuesday. Expect next week to be a huge week in the development and potential for success of WM7.
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Not that I don't believe you (it makes sense) but where'd you hear that?
JediFonger said:
i still use 'old terms' like VisualBasic to refer to the whole 2008 .net C#, etc.etc.etc. and all new languages that are used =P
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..Don't
Hey there, thanks for reading.
I decided that I want to learn how to program apps and possibly games for WP7.
Because my holidays are almost starting, now's the time for me to do so.
I already have Visual Studio for Windows Phone up and running, and I encountered the getting started pages on the official silverlight website.
However, it kinda feels like being thrown into the deep and having to do everything in one big leap, instead of being able to start with basics and then move on in smaller steps.
Does any of you have advice for me on what would be good ways to get started? Any advice is appreciated.
I do have vast experience with PHP, but I believe that the syntax is completely different from SL.
Thanks in advance!
My advice would be to learn the basics of c# first. Any previous online tutorials for c# apply to windows phone 7. There are some minor differences but the basics are the same.
Check out http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/windowsphone7series/threads which is the official forums for Windows Phone 7 and there's a lot of good info there.
The code samples at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff431744(VS.92).aspx are also worth playing around with.
Ideally you want to know C# for a starters. There's plenty of tutorials on MSDN or the web, but I can also recommend buying the book: Pro C# 2010 and the .NET Platform from Apress.
It's learns you the language, and also goes over XAML related technologies, and even though it's mostly WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) the core principles apply for Silverlight as well.
After you learned C#, it's time to learn Sivlerlight in dept, and by this I mean XAML, and the limitations in the .NET subset used for Silverlight.
For tools you wish to get Visual Studio 2010 Express, and Expression Blend 4. You can get the Release Candidate free for now, to try out development.
Make a note of that your computer need to support hardware-visualization to run the emulator without a incredible amount of lag!
If you're used to programming you might quickly learn Visual Studio, but Expression Blend requires a good amount of time to get used to. I'll recommend setting off a weekend where you use 2x8 hours to learn it.
You'll be using both Visual Studio and Expression Blend at the same time, C# for application-logic (ie. C# code) and Blend for design.
Designing in Blend is really simple, see for example expressionblend.png.
One of the articles I want to recommend you to read once you got into this entire XAML thing, is this article explaining how to do paging, as it's one of the core concepts, but also provides a good exercise in using Expression Blend.
Also, to get a handle of the basics, Microsoft has put together a site to encourage people to get involved with WP7 and Silverlight. The website is: http://www.microsoft.com/design/toolbox/
Its a real beginners course to all the programming one will be involved in on the WP7 platform. This won't get you very far in programming, but will teach you the absolute basics. From there you can always get assistance from the great members of XDA (me excluded)
Pretty cool site. Now we just need them to release a free-WP7 version of Expression Blend.
The current process to get started is way to messy, but I guess they already know that
Allright, thanks for these replies
My holidays are (unofficialy) starting in three days, so I'll have plenty of time available.
Luckily my rig runs the emulator buttersmooth (I ran the unlocked WP7 rom with it, to try the OS in it's current state) so that won't be an issue.
These links should get me going in the right direction (H)
Another must-have link is the unofficial Pivot and Panorama controls: http://phone.codeplex.com/
im ready for this!!!
Wow this looks like an interesting journey. Holidays? If you are a student, you can get a waiver on the $99 startup fee to post 5 applications on the windows marketplace. Check out www.dreamspark.com for more student resources.
Thanks for the information provided! I was stepping into WP7 app programming too.
Yea, thanks for telling me but I already knew about dreamspark
I've checked and I can enter by signing up with the e-mail my school provided.
However, since it's valid just one year im not using the key untill I actually own a WP7-device.
enadiz said:
Wow this looks like an interesting journey. Holidays? If you are a student, you can get a waiver on the $99 startup fee to post 5 applications on the windows marketplace. Check out www.dreamspark.com for more student resources.
Thanks for the information provided! I was stepping into WP7 app programming too.
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Sounds quite awesome. I only had MSDNAA access so far, but I believe I should have Dreamspark access when I start on my bachelor of engineering, after the summer holidays.
Btw. I made a compilation of tools and blogs that'll help developers getting started, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=711629
Windcape said:
Sounds quite awesome. I only had MSDNAA access so far, but I believe I should have Dreamspark access when I start on my bachelor of engineering, after the summer holidays.
Btw. I made a compilation of tools and blogs that'll help developers getting started, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=711629
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Yumm. I'll get down to learning.
The key needs to be renewed every year .. as long as you have your student email, you'll be fine
My first post on xda-developers... +_+!
Yes, as you were told C sharp learning is important so try hard to learn it then go on learning VS 2010 express and expression blend 4. I am new to WP7 dev too and like you ... am dreaming of building a good application indeed - Games are so tough and complex to build and needs teamwork I think-. I just strated leaning C# and have found a lot of good websites trough google search (Windcape compiled most of them in a useful thread you may bookmark)
However, there are a lot of ressources and books about C# and WP7 programming there in torrents world. you can search them by yourself.
Here is a small cd from lynda.com I just uploaded to demonoid.me.
Lynda Windows Phone 7 App Development
I can post links but you can search demonoid website for it.
If anyone needs invitation to demonoid he may PM me here
Also, for a good intorduction to WP7DT just search google for this series : Windows Phone 7 Jump Start
NB: I wish if we can found or make a small teams of biginners wm7 programmers;
hexham said:
NB: I wish if we can found or make a small teams of biginners wm7 programmers;
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I'm currently studying Computer Science and i am very interested in developing to WP7. I don't have vast knowledge of C# but in other languages i'm good. Let me know if there is an opening for me . Besti wishes...
Do think about the Trial Version - my version was to short - so people were complaining about it...
I haven't read through the replies yet so apologies if I'm repeating anything, but I've been a .Net Developer for around five years now so I feel like this is something that I can actually comment on.
I didn't train in anything to do with computers I just fell into this programming lark, I actually trained as an Actor believe it or not. Through needing to design a database in order to record my Acting Accounts I eventually got into V.B.A. and after ending up with a part time job using V.B.A. was finally forced to learn .Net through requirement changes at work.
I only mention this, so as you know that I wasn't born to this sort of thing and had to struggle to get my head round it.
I started with vb.net as that was almost the same as using v.b.a. but last year decided to teach myself C#. I've not used PHP so can't comment on any similarities or otherwise but I do know this.
C# was a huge shock to my system, absolutely huge. I almost gave up after a week of trying to translate my existing code, but managed to persevere and I'd say that after about two months of forcing myself to do C# only, I felt comfortable with it. A year later and I'm completely fluent and happy with C#.
It's a bugger to look at, I don't find it elegant at all, but once you get your head round the syntax then it all starts to make sense.
Get a good C# book, I'm not sure of any good ones, I've not used any, and go with the lessons in there, but don't let that stop you trying to develop your own experimental stuff in the meantime.
Syntax basics
Curly Brackets {} tend to indicate a routine block
E.g. A Function/Method/Void called Test would look like this
public void Test()
{
... Your code goes here
}
This is also the case with an If statement
E.g.
if(A==B)
{
... Your code goes here
}
Scoping/Dimming/Creating an object requires the Object type first followed by it's name
E.g. TextBox _textbox
The object being created is a TextBox and it's name is _textbox
A semi colon ; indicates the end of a block of code. If you have a particularly long line of code then you can use multiple lines but will
only need to insert the ; at the end of that particularly block of code
E.g. A=1; (This is the standard way of doing this)
A=
1; (This is not the way that I would actually do this but is just an example of what is permissable.)
I always found it useful to find C# code on the web and try to read and understand it.
The most important thing is though, don't give up. Visual Studio is widely considered one of the best coding tools in the industry and C# itself, once you get past the first impressions is a really easy language to pick up.
Thanks for the detailed explanation - the use of accolades ('{}'), multiple lines and the semicolon and the syntaxt for statements looks pretty similar to PHP.
That might just be enough motivation for me to finally get started.
yes, even though I asked about advice over halve a year ago, I never got quite to it... Maybe these similarities plus the fact that I have a Microsoft Dreamspark developer account plus the fact that in March I might have a device will be of help. If that's not enough motivation, I don't know what will be :#
Go for it!
You can always ask questions here or on somewhere like StackOverflow.com if you get stuck.
Object Orientation takes some getting used to, but atleast the garbage collector should look after your memory for you
Dave
Interesting, I hope you will get something.
Just adding my two cents here...
I thoroughly recommend that anyone getting into WP7 programming takes a very good look at the MVVM pattern (see here - it's WPF based but the difference is really only in the objects available, most silverlight code can be directly ported to WPF and vice versa). Using this pattern not only enables you to easily swp the UI for your app, it also makes debugging a whole lot easier due to the lack of UI code in the classes that actually do the work (the view models).
Another thing to try and get your head around is asynchronous programming with services, but that is not really something you want to start out with Sorry, forgot we were dealing with silverlight for a minute this is something you're going to have to learn right from the start, along with using background threads for processing data.
For anyone that needs any specific advice feel free to PM me. I'm new to the WP7 thing, but looking at the classes available which aren't available in silverlight it shouldn't be too hard to get into. And the design patterns will be the same.
Hi all,
Has anyone come across an easy way to port games from Windows Phone 7 to iPhone/iPad devices?
If you are looking for an alternative, you might want to check out the XNATouch ( xnatouch-dot-codeplex-dot-com ) Open Source project. It currently supports XNA 3.1 API, but 4.0 API support and Android support will eventually be added. It is all C# code so libraries etc should port fairly easily.
Anyway just a bit of FYI.
hmm, considering WP7 phones are only out tomorrow, i doubt there will be any porting any time soon. we'll need a good access to the actual phone OS core as well as the filesystem to get all the relevant game inwards out, and then who knows
would be good to see how long will it take to reverse engineer the OS and adapt it to what we want.
Question is though, why would you want to run an Android or iOS when you have WP7
I didn't mean to install a new OS on the WP7 device, but to port your actual games/apps from WP7 to iPhone/Android. So effectively recompiling the C# code onto the iPhone and Android devices.
Why on Earth would you take from WP7 and give to those nasty iThings?
anthonyp37 said:
Why on Earth would you take from WP7 and give to those nasty iThings?
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Well one reason is that there are currently over 7 million active iPhone/iPod devices in the US alone and world wide over 40 million iThingies. How many WP-Thingies are out there at the moment?
There is no doubt it is more crowded market, but there are still opportunities to makes some serious money there. Just this week, the makers of Angry Birds were bought for $20million by EA. Angry Birds could have been written in XNA and is hardly a really difficult game ( technically ) to write.
Hey, you don't HAVE to write for iPhones if you don't want a slice of that cake.
I just think since developer's C# can be ported from WP7 to iPhone and eventually Android, it makes developing for multiple platforms more affordable as you can leverage existing codebase without learning a new language.
Each to their own I suppose.
CartBlanche said:
Hi all,
Has anyone come across an easy way to port games from Windows Phone 7 to iPhone/iPad devices?
If you are looking for an alternative, you might want to check out the XNATouch ( xnatouch-dot-codeplex-dot-com ) Open Source project. It currently supports XNA 3.1 API, but 4.0 API support and Android support will eventually be added. It is all C# code so libraries etc should port fairly easily.
Anyway just a bit of FYI.
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Click to collapse
why would you want to do that?!
iphone games and apps are perfect why would you want wp7 ones on there...
How about a iPhone to Windows Phone 7 converter so we can have a million farting apps....
I do hope there will be no such beast as a WP7 to iPhone converter....the other way around, maybe...
From what I know it is impossible,but I think at this stage Palm webOS do pretty well with their SDK...which is a tool called (PhoneGap),which allow easy cross platform porting...anyway,I see the potential of webOS...
have a look at here,for developers only...
http://www.phonegap.com/
Can some some one point me to the right way and what do I need to know in term of computer language.?
Sent from my HTC-HD2 using Board Express
Check out http://create.msdn.com - it has everything you'll need to get started.
As for knowledge, it really depends on the app you're wanting to develop. If you can get away with using data already available on the net, with little to no processing needed, you can really build the UI in Blend without any programming experience what so ever. Sure, you'll need to wire up some events for buttons and what not, but even this is almost automatic.
If you do need to process the data before using it you should have at least a minimum knowledge of programming though. It really doesn't matter what language, but C# is what's used for WP7 (you can also use VB, but I don't think many do).
Just to point out that C# is almost identical to Java.
You can download WP7 SDK and free Visual Studio editions from Microsoft to start making WP7 apps. Normal apps are written using .NET (you can pick C#, VB.NET or Managed C++) as SilverLight app. Games are also written in .NET but on XNA framework. There maybe additional charges for XNA framework.
The SDK should come with a WP7 emulator software. That's where you spend your time debug and play with your app. In order to load the app to your phone, you will need to pay Microsoft $99/year to open a dev account so that you can pushlish the app to market or setup your phone as a dev phone so that you can load your own apps directly to the phone.
Or you can go jailbreak route and sideload apps that way.
Thanks, m a rookie when it comes to this. i just started to take c++. anyways everyone start with no knowledge right.
brummiesteven said:
Just to point out that C# is almost identical to Java.
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I maybe should have elaborated on this, at least I intended to
Anyways, Java is generally a learners language, you'll find it quite easy to learn as there are lots of tutorials etc on the internet. If you were to ever study computer science you'd also do java
So yeah, Java might be a good thing to start learning then when you get good enough C# will be a breese.
brummiesteven said:
So yeah, Java might be a good thing to start learning then when you get good enough C# will be a breese.
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Not sure I agree, as a complete novice you're better off going directly for C# (if that's the end goal) rather than using java as a stepping stone. It may end up confusing the hell out of you if you've done things in java a certain way only to find that C# does them completely different.
That said, I still think the choice of language is secondary - first and foremost you have to get into the right mindset, i.e. you have to learn programming, not a programming language. Of course, for WP7 development (at least for now) it very much depends on the type of app you're doing as a lot (too much?) can be done without ever touching code.
programming has a lot of similarities once you've done enough (same as learning languages in general), however, the beginning learn curve is HUGE. Understanding things from variables to classes to object orientation... and that's just the starters. I wouldn't worry about what language is better/easier, both java and C# are some of the easiest and most powerful around, but it's wrapping your head around the basics in general that is a real challenge.
i asked what language because i started my c++ programming this semester and i wanted to know if this the right path on making apps for the phones. as a right now im doing allot of read and watching allot of videos before i try of making a app, since i never have made one.
to be honest, focus on uni first. learn the principles of programming which you'll definitely cover in C++. get them down pat. once your semester is up and you ace the course, then move to another platform. early on it's not good to jump between many languages. it stuffs up your understanding pretty quickly. if you focus on 1, get it solid, it makes it easier to move to the next, and following.
eventually they'll just feel like 1 language... but focus on 1 to begin with, and that should be your studies, not a phone app.
@emigrating great post. That site has started my journey on App Development for WP7. For any other absolute n00b such as me, check out this series of short videos. It explains everything as clear as day and seems to go at a reasonable pace for a beginner like me. THere are 64 vid's in total, i'm currently on the 5th and am loving it
Thanks , I'm going to check them out right now.
Audio said:
@emigrating great post. That site has started my journey on App Development for WP7. For any other absolute n00b such as me, check out this series of short videos. It explains everything as clear as day and seems to go at a reasonable pace for a beginner like me. THere are 64 vid's in total, i'm currently on the 5th and am loving it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone that can help.
I made I calculator app like many have started with, but I have a problem, it only calculate 2 terms. How can i fix this?. Plus I'm trying to to a tip calculator now, I have don't a simple one in c++ can I use the same code?
Sent from my HTC-HD2 using Board Express
I am starting from scratch. I've taken an introductory Visual Basic course in college thus far, as far as any sort of "programming" might go. So, pretty much scratch.
I've read around that learning Java and C++ is a good way to begin.
But, how should I go about that? I'd prefer not to take courses, as those cost money, which I'm a bit lacking in.
Any websites anyone recommends for tutorials on either?
Any recommended books?
If using old books, do those work just fine? Say, using a book based on Java 5. Are there that many new features implemented in Java 6 that I should make sure I seek out a Java 6 book instead of an older, yet at the library, Java 5 book?
Really, any helpful information that anyone can provide about how to go about it. Yes, I could just go out and blindly learn either topic, but I do trust the seasoned developers that are here, especially in the Evo forum!
Thanks for any and all help ahead of time.
Java's what you need to know. Unless you're getting into lower level development (apps using the NDK, or kernels/system level stuff), you won't need C++. Regular android development is done using Java. It gets compiled a little differently than Java, but the language itself is Java.
Once you've got a core understanding of Java, developer.android.com has articles and the SDK documentation.