NOTE: This book is based on Windows 8 Release Preview; its content and publication date will be updated for final Windows 8 software.

Reimagined for full-screen and touch-optimized apps, Windows 8 provides a platform for reaching new users in new ways. In response, programming legend Charles Petzold is rewriting his classic Programming Windows—one of the most popular programming books of all time—to show developers how to use existing skills and tools to build Windows 8 apps.

Programming Windows, Sixth Edition will focus on creating Windows 8 apps accessing the Windows Runtime with XAML and C#. The book will also provide C++ code samples. The Sixth Edition will be organized in three parts:

• Part I, “Elementals,” begins with the interrelationship between code and XAML, basic event handling, dynamic layout, controls, the application bar, control customization, and collections. You should emerge from Part I ready to create sophisticated page-oriented collection-based user interfaces using the powerful ListView and GridView controls.
• Part II, “Infrastructure,” examines the level underneath the UI. In these chapters, you’ll go deeper into Windows 8 with a complete exploration of the multitouch interface, asynchronous operations for working with files and web services, networking, security, and globalization. You’ll see particular emphasis on data sharing, and interfacing with the search panes and contract panes of Windows 8.
• Part III, “Specialties,” explores topics you might not need for every program but are essential to a well-rounded education in Windows 8. It includes working with the sensors (GPS and orientation), vector graphics, bitmap graphics, media, text, printing, and obtaining input from the stylus and handwriting recognizer.