The Microsoft journal for developers	AUGUST 2013 VOL 28 NO 8

Bringing RESTful Services to C++ Developers
Learn how to use the C++ REST SDK to build a simple Windows-based client application that uploads a file to Dropbox, along with a standard C++ class that supports OAuth.
Sridhar Poduri

DirectX Factor: Finger Painting with Direct2D Geometries
In a multi-touch environment like Windows 8, one kind of program every developer should know how to code is a finger painting app, which involves tracking individual fingers to draw lines on the screen. Charles Petzold explores how to do this using DirectX.
Charles Petzold

Features

DirectX:   Real-Time, Realistic Page Curling with DirectX, C++ and XAML
Project Austin is a digital note-taking app for Windows 8 that’s written in C++ and uses DirectX and XAML. Eric Brumer explores the geometry and programming that underlie pages that visually curl and uncurl like real paper.
Eric Brumer

.NET Web Services:   Building Cross-Platform Web Services with ServiceStack
ServiceStack is an open source Mono Web service framework that's gaining popularity. Learn how it can enable .NET developers to deploy Web services in cross-platform scenarios.
Ngan Le

SQL Server:   Unit and Integration Testing of SSIS Packages
Pavle Gudurić explains how to use his SSISTester library to perform unit and integration testing of SSIS packages to automate testing of SSIS projects and improve the quality of SSIS-based ETL processes.
Pavle Guduric

WPF:   Architecture for Hosting Third-Party .NET Plug-Ins
This article presents a general-purpose architecture for hosting third-party “untrusted” .NET applications, with a sample plugin demonstrating use of the Bloomberg API.
Gennady Slobodsky
Levi Haskell

Columns

Windows with C++
The Windows Runtime Application Model
Kenny Kerr explains how the best way to understand the Windows Runtime abstraction is to get down to the basics, eschewing language projections in favor of standard C++ and classic COM.
Kenny Kerr

Cutting Edge
Creating Mobile-Optimized Views in ASP.NET MVC 4, Part 2: Using WURFL
Dino Esposito follows up on how to serve up ad hoc Web site markup to different classes of devices by using server-side device and feature detection with the Wireless Universal Resource File.
Dino Esposito

Data Points
Coding for Domain-Driven Design: Tips for Data-Focused Devs
Domain Driven Design can help handle complex behaviors when building software. But for data-driven devs, the change in perspective isn’t always easy. Julie Lerman shares some pointers that helped her get comfortable with DDD.
Julie Lerman

Test Run
Converting Numeric Data to Categorical Data
There are many scenarios where you need to discretize data—convert numeric data to categories—but few resources exist to tell you how. James McCaffrey presents a powerful discretization algorithm and discusses how and why you’d use it.
James McCaffrey

The Working Programmer
Going Dynamic with the Gemini Library
The open source Gemini library builds on the dynamic keyword/type functionality of C# and provides the option of using traditional static type definitions or new flexible type definitions.
Ted Neward

Modern Apps
Navigation Essentials in Windows Store Apps
Learn how to properly use different navigation techniques, including some new ones in the Windows 8.1 update.
Rachel Appel

Don't Get Me Started
The Decade of UX
Not only do companies need to increase their UX efforts, but every developer now needs to know UX, even if it’s not his primary job, just as every soldier needs to know battlefield first aid.
David Platt

Editor's Note
A Better Windows 8
Microsoft has a long history of investing in strategic technologies, even in the face of early struggles. Which is why the Windows 8.1 Preview release at the Build 2013 conference was so very important.
Michael Desmond