When Written: Oct 2014
So what does Windows 10 mean for a developer? If you have been keeping up with the trends for windows application development is seems that Windows 10 is more an evolvement rather than any large changes. True, DirectX 12 will appear for the gamers and API’s like “Continuum” will provide ways for an app to support two-in-one devices where items like keyboards can be removed whilst the application is running and the UI will change accordingly. But the way to write applications for Windows 10 will be by using the Universal App method, introduced earlier this year in Visual Studio 2013 Update 3.
This is where you write a base set of code that is common for all devices and then write any specific code for each device that requires it into one of several ‘heads’. When your app is then built for a particular device the correct code segments are used to generate the final app. For the end user this will mean very little but for the developer it means that there is one project to manage for all devices and the core code is re-used, hopefully making debugging and updates much easier.
For some time Microsoft have been trying to achieve the ‘write once run anywhere’ and with HTML5 and Universal Apps and Windows 10 they may finally have got there.
Article by: Mark Newton
Published in: Mark Newton