Microsoft Open Sources UWP Dev Toolkit for App Development
Microsost CEO Satya Nadella (shown) is staying friendly to open source. In addition to proclaiming that he "loves Linux" and reporting that much of Microsoft's Azure cloud is already Linux-based, he has also given his blessing to open sourcing some previously untouchable code from the Redmond giant. MSBuild, the development platform for Microsoft's Visual Studio tools and .Net Platform, is officially open source, for example. The code is available on GitHub.
Also on the development front, Microsoft has just released a new open-source UWP Community Toolkit that eases app development by streamlining new capabilities (helper functions, custom controls and app services) that simplify common developer tasks. Microsoft claims that some developers will be able to get started with just one line of code.
According to a Microsoft post:
"The toolkit can be used to build UWP apps for any Windows 10 device, including PC, Mobile, XBOX, IoT and HoloLens. You can also use the toolkit with an existing desktop app converted to UWP using the Desktop Bridge....
We designed the toolkit with these goals in mind:
1. Simplified app development: The toolkit includes new capabilities (helper functions, custom controls and app services) that simplify or demonstrate common developer tasks. Where possible, our goal is to allow app developers to get started with just one line of code.
2. Open-Source: The toolkit (source code, issues and roadmap) will be developed as an open-source project. We welcome contributions from the .NET developer community.
3. Alignment with SDK: The feedback from the community on this project will be reflected in future versions of the Windows SDK for Windows 10.
Microsoft has also shown how a sample app might work with the toolkit in an example that you can find here.
Additonally, Microsoft has targeted simplicity for developers with the way in which notifications are handled in Windows 10 - allowing deployed applications to notify just specific users. Instead of spamming all users with notifications, the new methods will allow improved targeting and relevance.