I've written a book: Windows Mobile Game Development - Windows Mobile Software Development

Hello XDA Developers,
Hope this post is OK here -- please let me know if not.
Just wanted to make a quick post to let you know that I've just finished writing a new book, entitled Windows Mobile Game Development, to be published by Apress within the next month or two.
I've spent a lot of time putting it together to ensure that it provides as much information as possible to allow C# and VB.NET developers to write games for the Windows Mobile platform, allowing them to target the widest possible range of hardware (from WM2003SE right up to WM6.5, smartphones, different screen resolutions, etc.).
The book takes the developer from setting up the Visual Studio IDE for WM development, through graphics programming, consistent game timing, flexible object manipulation, control mechanisms and ends with a guide to programming OpenGL ES on capable devices.
If you'd like to read more, you can find lots of details on my web site at www.adamdawes.com. I'd be very interested in any feedback anyone has.
Hope you like it!
Adam.

good job.

Related

Wanting to learn the basics of programming

Hi guys, now I know this is a BIG request, but I was hoping someone might be interested in helping me begin to learn the different aspects of programming.
Now I know I cant just "hop on the band waggon" I need lots of training before hand in different programing languages, but the one I really want to understand is c# (thats what most windows mobile apps are built on right?)
So are there any really good recomended beginners guide you guys could suggest to me to get me started.
Sorry I must sound like I dont have a clue xD
(well I dont)
Thanks in advance
Hop on the band waggon? I guess you'd rather have to jump in cold water!
I suggest buy a book. If you actually spend the money on it then it's bigger motivation to make something out of it. There's even a book about Windows Mobile .NET programming. What else could you ask for? I don't have the link at hand but you should easily find it on Amazon.
RAMMANN said:
Hop on the band waggon? I guess you'd rather have to jump in cold water!
I suggest buy a book. If you actually spend the money on it then it's bigger motivation to make something out of it. There's even a book about Windows Mobile .NET programming. What else could you ask for? I don't have the link at hand but you should easily find it on Amazon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks for the speedy response,
are you refering to this?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Programming...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264201954&sr=8-1
It looks pretty nice, and will it teach me the basics?
yes, for example. or this one:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft®-NET-Compact-Framework-Reference/dp/0735617252/ref=pd_sim_b_5
If you are really looking to learn programming, I would suggest against starting with Windows Mobile development. .NET framework for Windows Mobile is very lacking, and in order to do even simplest things you end up using Interops (way of calling native libraries written in C++) or searching/writing libraries on your own.
.NET (and C# by extension) is a multi-platform framework. Start with simple Windows or Web development. Read up on OOP development, find some simple examples online and start a very small, easy to write project.
Once you can write some simple applications for Windows or Web, then you might want to start looking into Windows Mobile development.
Before you start spending money on books try Microsoft's Beginner Developer Learning Centre a go. There are lots of video tutorials which will help you get the basics down http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/dd435692.aspx.
It's not specifically for windows mobile development, but most of what you will learn is transferable.
Once on the website, click "Windows Track" and then "Tier 1", tutorials are available for both C# and VB.NET.
The guy that made the BDLC tutorials for Microsoft also runs http://www.learnvisualstudio.net/, there are a few more free tutorials there too on more advanced topics, a subscription to the site will let you get all the videos.
And look for open source applications like "ReRemind", "Freda" or "RemoteTracker". If you debug these you can learn alot.
ajhvdb said:
And look for open source applications like ... "Freda" ... If you debug these you can learn alot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No No No please don't use Freda as an educational example It's the first .NetCF app I wrote and I really am not very proud of some parts of it. In particular, I only figured out the right pattern to use for 'settings' forms after I had written several already. Some day I will go back and tidy up the code and document it properly. But right now I am still adding features ...
Jim
dont worry, if i look at my old code it's bad too but still works

Advice please

Greetings all
I'm an XDA veteran, and have had an idea for an application I'd like to develop. I have programming skills, mainly in VB6.
So my question is, what application/language is best/simplest for developing my app on WIndows Mobile? The main criteria I have is that I want to be able to read data from and write data to a remote windows based pc - I'm assuming that I'm going to do that via wifi or bluetooth networking.
I'm "between jobs" at the moment, so looking for a development platform that won't cost me much, if anything. I intend to make my application initially as free/donateware - it's something I need, but may be useful to others, but I don't want the hassle of trying to make it secure, serial numbers etc, for it to end up cracked on a warez site!
So what's the best development tool for PC/Windows Mobile development?
Thanks in advance
TangerineTractor said:
Greetings all
I'm an XDA veteran, and have had an idea for an application I'd like to develop. I have programming skills, mainly in VB6.
So my question is, what application/language is best/simplest for developing my app on WIndows Mobile? The main criteria I have is that I want to be able to read data from and write data to a remote windows based pc - I'm assuming that I'm going to do that via wifi or bluetooth networking.
I'm "between jobs" at the moment, so looking for a development platform that won't cost me much, if anything. I intend to make my application initially as free/donateware - it's something I need, but may be useful to others, but I don't want the hassle of trying to make it secure, serial numbers etc, for it to end up cracked on a warez site!
So what's the best development tool for PC/Windows Mobile development?
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best is quite subjective
I, personally see it this way:
C# (The language I mainly use) is a powerful, relatively simple one. Maybe equal to VB.net, however I feel that it is a step ahead of that.
C++ Extremely powerful, but hard to use (unless you know how to use it already).
C# will provide you with a lot of pre-built functions that are easy to use, but you compromise some speed and size (more RAM usage generally)...while C++ will require some thinking and referring to many API's , but in doing this you can get a much faster, leaner program.
Since you know VB already, I would either stay with that, or shift to C#...if you want a challenge, go learn C++!
I hope this was of some help...
Thanks. My app will have a PC based management module, which I've just started writing in Visual Basic Express, no Problems. I still need to identify the best platform to write the WM application, which is basically going to read a datafile, display some buttons, and write another datafile...

[REQ] Beginning WP7 Coding - Need some help

I have been coding on WM 6.x and the CE lineup for years. Done it on VB.NET. Now, with the iteration of WP7, I have migrated to the refreshing OS. But, I got the shock of my life when I opened VS2010 WP7 project...
XAML, Binding item, etc. I have never touched them before. Coding for the WM 6 was as easy as Windows Forms. If you get me. I gave up WPF because of the confusing stuff esp XAML. Borrowing a WP7 coding book frm the library didn't help. So now.. If there's any member who's willing to devote a small time to answer some of the coding difficulties (thru PM) as I code along, it will be great. Can't offer you much, though ...
Went through the same thing. I found the documentation on MSDN really useful. Also if you have a look on codeplex there are some samples and apps around that could be useful for you to look over. I would say don't be too scared by XAML its really good once you get used to it.
Also you might want to look at the new mango dev tools as they support developing in vb so you won't have to move to c sharp
arikyeo said:
I have been coding on WM 6.x and the CE lineup for years. Done it on VB.NET. Now, with the iteration of WP7, I have migrated to the refreshing OS. But, I got the shock of my life when I opened VS2010 WP7 project...
XAML, Binding item, etc. I have never touched them before. Coding for the WM 6 was as easy as Windows Forms. If you get me. I gave up WPF because of the confusing stuff esp XAML. Borrowing a WP7 coding book frm the library didn't help. So now.. If there's any member who's willing to devote a small time to answer some of the coding difficulties (thru PM) as I code along, it will be great. Can't offer you much, though ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, although i don't have any programming skills at all.
Any help/advice would be appreciated.
I can understand how going from WinForms to XAML/Silverlight would be a shock.
Strangely, my ASP.NET experience helped me to adapt to XAML - the concept of defining UI declaratively in the markup and having the code in a code-behind file is exactly the same in both.
If you've done any desktop WPF, it's the same concept as well.
In order to adapt from WinForms, think of it this way:
1) the design canvas - works similarly between either WinForms, WPF, Silverlight.
2) the declarative markup - similar in concept to HTML. In WinForms, the auto-generated InitializeComponent () in *.designer.cs is responsible for creating, initializing, and building the UI - in WPF/Silverlight the XAML serves this purpose, but is much easier to modify than the InitializeComponent method (which they tell you you shouldn't be doing).
3) the code behind - In WinForms, you have to open up your WinForms class in the code view, and you can code all the event handlers and whatnot. In WPF/Silverlight, this is in the *.xaml.cs, and is very similar to the WinForms codebehind.
I'd recommend going to create.msdn.com and start going through the tutorials.
Check this site Getting Started with Windows Phone.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/wp7trainingcourse_wp7gettingstarted_unit
Yes, MSDN, they have a on-line training to get your started, even your first "Hello World" app to try. I figure I will be going this route to get an idea of the tools then go deeper into reading coding just to get the fundamentals down.
It's the only way I could get started...
These videos are helpful
http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Windows-Phone-7-Development-for-Absolute-Beginners
is there a german version too??
i need German language
styles89 said:
is there a german version too??
i need German language
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't look like it, and besides nearly all programming is done in English.
Personally I can't stand using a Norwegian version of Windows, and others can't live without it.

[Q] Where to start the development from basics?

I just got the WP7 SDK, was looking to make some very simply and basic apps. Can anyone link me to some website or forum where I can get some coding help or some tutorial which guides from the very basics? I found a few articles but those weren't from the basics at all, I got stuck at a number of places while following it.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff431744.aspx#BKMK_GettingStarted
Here ya go
I’d recommend just trying to write a really simple app first – just something that has a bit of text, maybe some pictures, on screen and lets you tap some things. If you haven’t chosen between using Visual Basic or C# as the language to learn yet I would choose C# as it’s more popular, and also used more in industry.
This seems to be a good link for beginners as it has lots of videos – don’t know whether it’s the right level for you though but give it a go. It’s not the latest version of wp7, but the techniques haven’t changed much – just a few new things added.
http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Windows-Phone-7-Development-for-Absolute-Beginners
I found this that’s an example of a complete ‘first’ application for wp7 mango
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg680270(v=pandp.11).aspx
This is a fantastic link once you’ve written your first simple app as it has an example of how to do everything on windows phone (tiles, photos, play music, etc. etc.…)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff431744(v=vs.92).aspx
There’s lots of tutorials out on the web if you search. You also need to know this link if you don’t already as it’s the kind of front page for wp7 development:
http://create.msdn.com/
Here’s lot of videos for using the software expression blend. You don’t need to learn expression blend at first as visual studio does everything – but if you do you can make your apps looks beautiful really easily, and it make some parts of wp7 development (the ‘XAML’) a lot easier to write than using Visual Studio.
http://expression.microsoft.com/en-us/cc197141
Hope that helps,
Ian

commercial app maker / studio software??

hi am looking for a good commercial windows software package which allows the design and creation of android apps with a minimum amount of coding knowledge required and is drag n drop / templates/ friendly ui / graphical based. After searching a found a number of websites which allowed this however did not allow exclusive rights to the app. also there where many strings attached. If there is a good, user friendly, commercial studio app creator much like serif web plus for making web sites, can you please recommend me. i don't mind whatever the price is. Am looking to slowly expand my knowledge and build apps for fun. so if you know of any software please let me know!
i am familiar with web design, photoshop, android rom development, windows os development and many other things and as a full time law student, have no time to learn app coding. so please advise tell me to learn how to code in android.
thank you kind regarrds
Build an app without coding
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