The WinRT API
Part of the Windows 8 Application Development with HTML5 For Dummies Cheat Sheet
WinRT is the way to get to devices running Windows Store apps programmatically. It is an object-oriented, well-structured application programming interface (API) that gives Windows 8 developers access to everything the operating system has to offer from C++, C#, VB.NET and JavaScript.
| Namespace | What It Does |
|---|---|
| Windows.ApplicationModel | Gives apps insight into their own existence. Package information and IDE information can be found here. |
| Windows.Data | No SQL Connections in Windows Store apps! Windows.Data gives you HTML, XML, and JSON parsing. |
| Windows.Devices | Camera, compass, speakers, GPS, accelerometer . . . you know, all the cool stuff. |
| Windows.Foundation | This is where the async stuff hides, as well as URI parsing and images. |
| Windows.Globalization | Everything you might need to make sure your app works everywhere in the known universe. Klingon, anyone? |
| Windows.Graphics | Handles how things that are not part of DirectX look on the screen. Printing is also handled here. |
| Windows.Management | Handles the management of the app itself. You can deal with the data behind the configuration of your app and deployment. |
| Windows.Media | Pictures, video, and sound parsing are here, as well as all of the various format libraries, and ways to handle new ones. |
| Windows.Networking | You don't have to worry about network sockets with Windows Store apps, but you still need to call Web Services. |
| Windows.Security | Authentication, authorization, encryption, and hashing, and logging into Facebook. (Not kidding.) |
| Windows.Storage | Handles not only file access, but also the picker contracts and searching, streaming, and compression. Everything about files. |
| Windows.System | Think "your" machine — threading, display, and profile. Stuff specific to this machine. |
| Windows.UI | The biggest namespace in WinRT. All of the touch-enabled UI controls are found here, along with XAML specifics and widgets like the Start screen. |
| Windows.Web | Handles all of the web stuff that Windows needs, like publishing to RSS and ATOM. |
