Getting the Basics Right

Abstract

There are certain basic developer workflows to which you have to become accustomed if you intend to build Windows 8 apps, regardless of the technology stack you choose to use. At a fundamental level, having a good understanding of how to access the exposed file system is, if not critical, quite important to development in a given system. This chapter introduces you to these key areas by exposing you to the APIs used to work with them. Detailed examples are provided to help you work through how these APIs function. In this chapter you explore file-system access as well as some important elements of Windows 8 development new to the ecosystem. By the end of this chapter, you should understand how to do file access, how to interact with the lock screen, how to prompt the user with file dialogs, and how to use splash screens to keep the user engaged while the application continues to load in the background, and subsequently notify the user.