August 2014

Volume 29 Number 8

Windows Store - Integrating OneDrive into Your Windows Store Apps

Windows Store - Integrating OneDrive into Your Windows Store Apps

Tony Champion

If you’re building an app that involves user files, integrating OneDrive into that app should be an important feature. Learn how to implement the OneDrive API in a Windows Store app and see some of the opportunities this API presents.

Cutting Edge - Documents, Databases and Eventual ConsistencyColumn

Cutting Edge - Documents, Databases and Eventual Consistency

Dino Esposito

The decision to use relational SQL stores or NoSQL stores to hold disparate types of data will depend on the data and the application. Ultimately, it might not even be necessary to rely on one or the other, says Dino Esposito.

Windows Phone - Build MVVM Apps with Xamarin and MvvmCross

Windows Phone - Build MVVM Apps with Xamarin and MvvmCross

Thomas LeBrun

MVVM is a powerful pattern to develop Windows Phone and Windows Store apps, allowing developers to easily unit test applications and separate concerns between the view and the code. This article shows how to do the same thing on iOS and Android using Xamarin and MvvmCross.

Windows with C++ - DirectComposition: A Retained-Mode API to Rule Them AllColumn

Windows with C++ - DirectComposition: A Retained-Mode API to Rule Them All

Kenny Kerr

Kenny Kerr shows how you can use retained-mode APIs to manipulate visuals drawn with Direct2D in a way that’s very appealing to experienced developers.

Unity - Developing Your First Game with Unity and C\#

Unity - Developing Your First Game with Unity and C#

Adam Tuliper

Get started with cross-platform game development with the Unity framework. In the first article in a four-part series, Adam Tuliper explores the interface and architecture of Unity.

Data Points - Cool (and Free) Tools for Entity FrameworkColumn

Data Points - Cool (and Free) Tools for Entity Framework

Julie Lerman

Julie Lerman highlights some handy, community-based tools that can enhance your productivity with Entity Framework.

Microsoft Azure - Microsoft Azure Media Services

Microsoft Azure - Microsoft Azure Media Services

Gregory Prentice

Hosting live video events at scale can be a daunting task. This article explores Windows Azure Media Services Live and how it can be used to enable streaming video of a live event.

Microsoft Azure - Use Distributed Cache in Microsoft Azure

Microsoft Azure - Use Distributed Cache in Microsoft Azure

Iqbal Khan

This article explains how ASP.NET application developers can use a distributed cache in their ASP.NET or WCF Web services applications running in Windows Azure. It details how distributed caching can also handle special requirements if the application is deployed in multiple data centers, either in an active/passive or active/active scenario.

Test Run - Solving Sudoku Puzzles Using the MSF LibraryColumn

Test Run - Solving Sudoku Puzzles Using the MSF Library

James McCaffrey

James McCaffrey explains how to use the Microsoft Solver Foundation (MSF) library to solve Soduku puzzles programmatically.

Don't Get Me Started - Unwritten RulesColumn

Don't Get Me Started - Unwritten Rules

David Platt

Knowing when to follow the written rules, and when to ignore them in favor of the unwritten ones, is what software engineering is all about.

Editor's Note - Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Bloom CountyColumn

Editor's Note - Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Bloom County

Michael Desmond

Back in March, Michael Desmond wrote about the lessons the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes has to offer working developers. This month, Desmond seeks wisdom in Berkely Breathed's comic strip, Bloom County.