It is now easier than ever for C# programmers / developers to create Universal Windows Platform applications in Visual Studio 2017 thanks to the new Windows Template Studio. For more information on this exciting new extension, read this article titled “Announcing Windows Template Studio” by Michael Crump and Clint Rutkas.
The Windows Template Studio is open source that will allow developers to enhance the capabilities of the Windows Template Studio. A developer friendly wizard is used to guide you through a four step process to create your new app with the added advantage of writing code using current best practices.
For more information and to install Windows Template Studio, visit the “Microsoft / Windows Template Studio” page on github. To install the Windows Template Studio extension, click on the download button. Follow the prompts as directed by the installation wizard. Note that you can select which products you want to install the extension to.
I just happen to have a new application to write in C# and will be using the new Windows Template Studio as my starting point.
Open Visual Studio 2017 and start a new C# project. From the Universal Window pane, you should now see a “Universal Window Studio” option. After entering your project information the Windows Template Studio will load where you can select from one of 3 project types – Navigation Pane, Blank, or Pivot and Tabs – and from one of 3 frameworks – Code Behind, MVVM Light, or MVVM Basic.
When you click the Next button the “Select pages and features” window appears where you can select multiple pages and features that you want to use in your application:
- Pages: Blank, Map, Master/Detail, Settings, Tabbed, and Web View
- Features:
- Application Lifecycle: Settings Storage, Suspend and Resume,
- Background Work: Background Task, and
- User Interaction: Azure Notification Hub, Live Tile, and Toast Notifications.
Once you are satisfied with your selections, click the Create button on the lower right corner of the window to generate the code for your application. After a short period of time, your project is created and ready for programming.
Until Next Time,
