DirectX SDK / VS2013 SDK setup - directx

I am a beginning programmer university student and I want to apply myself outside of class with a side project. I wanted to start programming some simple directX stuff in C++ for practice and preparation for future classes.
However, I have Visual Studios 2013 installed and the DirectX SDK June version installed, and I can't seem to find any directX templates in visual studios. In tutorials I have watched, when a person goes into visual studios 2013 and clicks on "Visual C++", they have a lot more templates show up, including DirectX ones.
What step am I missing to be able to see these things in my Visual Studios 2013 professional?
Thank you in advance for the help!

There is no built-in templates for desktop DirectX, since you have installed the DirectX SDK, I recommend you use the Samples/Demos from the SDK(you can find it from DirectX Sample Browser), there is a sample called Empty Project, you can install that sample and write your code based on it.

There are only templates for DirectX Windows Store Apps. I cannot remember if it ever was DirectX Desktop templates in Visual Studio.
On a picture here you can see two default DirectX Windows Store Apps templates and new templates which you can to download.
Probably, in your tutorial there are some home made templates, or those which can be fond on a web. You can easily make your own template too.
If you really want to learn program for Desktop (and as you are trying to use DirectX SDK it is probably what you want), just follow the code that you can find in books and tutorials. Also it is a good idea not to copy any code, but to start your own projects(s) which will develop as long as you will develop your knowledge.
Note, that DirectX SDK was deprecated a while ago (latest version is dating June 2010). You must use Windows SDK for any new code. Though, you can compile old samples (which requires stuff not present in new SDK) with DirectX SDK. You could find interesting some of Q&A on that topic:
DirectX SDK vs Windows SDK: which one to use?
Working with Direct X and VS2012
and this blog on MSDN by Chuck Walbourn - MSFT :
Where is the DirectX SDK?
Where is the DirectX SDK (2013 Edition)?
Living without D3DX
Happy coding! ;)

Related

DXUT GetVersionEx error

I'm learning dx11 and I have been trying to import 3D models into my little game, I have been trying to copy the import method from the DX11 HLSL sample, so I copied the DXUT folder into my project, but for some reason It's giving me an that 'GetVersionEx' is depraciated. I am a begginer programmer, I looked into the problem and apparentl I should be using 'VerifyVersionInfo' I looked at examples but I don't know how to use them to fix it using that.
And I'm wondering why is this error is not coming up when I try to run the Sample.
The first thing to know is that the venerable DirectX SDK has been deprecated, and as you are using VS 2013 or VS 2015 based on the warning you are getting, you already have the Windows 8 SDK which has most of what you need to get started. See MSDN for more information, and take a look at this post and this post.
The warning you are getting from VS 2013/2015 about GetVersionEx is an unrelated but important issue. The fact that you are seeing it when building DXUT from the legacy DirectX SDK is because that code hasn't been updated since VS 2010 was shipped. See MSDN and this post.
You have a number of options for getting utility code for Direct3D 11.
The latest version of DXUT can be found at GitHub. This version does not require the legacy DirectX SDK to build and works with VS 2013 and VS 2015. For more on why you might or might not want to use DXUT can be found here.
Similarly the latest version of Effects for Direct3D 11 is on GitHub, and again works on VS 2013 / 2015. More information and a number of important disclaimers can be found here.
If you are starting fresh, I recommend you avoid using DXUT or FX11, and instead focus on using the DirectX Tool Kit. See the tutorials for it including the Rendering a model lesson.
For model and texture processing, you should see the DirectXMesh, DirectXTex, and Content Exporter projects.

How is Microsoft's iOS bridge IslandWood implemented?

Microsoft's newly announced Project Islandwood is interesting, as it allows Objective-C code written for iOS to be repurposed into a Universal Windows app.
I couldn't find any information on the details, so:
Has Microsoft effectively implemented an iOS subsystem in Windows 10?
Is it built on existing software (e.g. the old OpenStep source code) or built from scratch?
Are all the various iOS frameworks - Core Data, Core Text, Core Graphics, OpenGl, etc - implemented?
It allows writing Universal Windows Apps in Objective-C using the normal Windows Runtime along with an iOS API compat layer.
Visual Studio 2015 has a language projection for Objective-C so that you can compile Objective-C into a Windows app. The most common iOS API (CoreGraphics, CoreText, OpenGL, etc.) are provided .
You can import an Xcode project into Visual Studio and then compile it as a Windows app.
See the Project Islandwood site at http://aka.ms/islandwood and the Build talk Compiling Objective-C Using the Visual Studio 2015 C++ Code Generation that Builds Windows, SQL, .Net, and Office for details. Jim Radigan talks about the Objective C code generation in the first half. Salmaan Ahmed starts talking specifically about Project Islandwood about 33 minutes in.

How can I get started with Xamarin from Visual Studio 2013?

I want to port a Compact Framework/Windows CE app to Xamarin to create Android and IOS (and possibly Windows Phone) "versions." I reckon I need Windows 8 for Windows Phone (8) but for now I thought I could get started with Android and IOS in moving this prehistoric app into the 21st century.
According to this article, I first need "Project linker" and can NuGet it, but searching for it via Tools > Extensions and Updates in VS 2013 returns no search results.
That article says you need VS 2012 or better; the direct link to "Project Linker," though, says it supports VS 2010.
Where do I go from here?
UPDATE
I went here, and am in the processing of downloading.
UPDATE 2
Here, it says, "Modern Integrated Development Environment (IDE) – Xamarin uses Xamarin Studio on Mac OS X, and also Xamarin Studio or Visual Studio 2010 on Windows."
Yet in VS 2013, I do have project types now for Android and IOS*, so I reckon that's just a typo (hasn't been updated)?
although I don't have a Mac, so that is not possible for me right now; also, since I'm still on Windows 7 at work, Windows 8 Phone apps are not yet a possibility, either. So at present, Xamarin within Visual Studio is simply a replacement for Eclipse/Java in the creation of Android apps.
UPDATE 3
I've been waiting for something better than PhoneGap, and I think maybe I've found it. If MS were to buy this company and bake Xamarin into Visual Studio -- voila!/yowza/wow! The cats in Cupertino will have to reach for the Pepto-Bismol!
That's a bit outdated and there's a much better approach available today.
You can use Portable Class Libraries (PCL) to share code across project spanning iOS, Android, Windows (Phones) and even OSX.
See this article (and where it leads) for more details.
I certainly agree with #poupou that PCL's are the way to go (if possible). I would recommend James Montemagno's app on github. He just created this for channel9 using VS 2013. I just created a cross-platform app based off of this and it worked out well. I would only use the file-linking for the platform specific implementations with compiler directives. This can be seen in his ServiceRegistrar class in said app.
This SO answer actually explains how to get the 2012 Project Linker to work with 2013 if you still want to go that route and gives a link to the extension.
Also, you may want to check out MvvmCross. It is open-source, has a large user-base and following, and really helps with maximum code re-use. Best part, it uses PCLs and all of it's features (plugins) are available via nuget.
I would recommend reading the article #poupou posted, watching James' channel9 videos on his github page, and (if you want to check out mvvmcross) watch #slodge's N+1 videos on mvvmcross.

IDE for Corona SDK for Mac

I am Just started with Corona SDK and could not find any IDE with proper Corona SDK. Can any one list out the IDE for the Corona SDK for Mac.
The Corona SDK IDE's are
sublime text. source1
coronaprojectmanager source2
Lua Glider source3
ZeroBrane Studio source4
Lua Glider is the best, Am using it since a year am master in that and can help you in that please ask if want any help.
I would highly recommend sublime text 2 due to the fact that Corona Labs now officially supports it. Plus just yesterday, Corona updated and has this cool snippets that allow sample code to be added via a GUI.
Check it out: http://coronalabs.com/blog/2013/12/11/corona-editor-is-now-1-0/
Check out Visual Studio Code – a free text editor from Microsoft
https://code.visualstudio.com/
It runs on OS X
While the full Visual Studio IDE is a Windows-based tool, Visual Studio Code has a native version for OS X. If you’re comfortable with the IDE in Windows, you’ll feel right at home when working in OS X.
It supports Corona SDK
Code highlighting is part of the standard Visual Studio Code editor, and an optional extension called Corona Tools brings Corona’s documentation to the editor. Installing the extension gives you keyboard shortcuts to either open or search Corona Labs’ documentation. While this is currently a new extension with limited functionality, feel free to reach out to the developer, Tobiah Zarlez, to request additional features.

Development frameworks in C#

When I look for development in C#, I get the following terms/frameworks/libraries:
Xamarin
Mono
Monotouch
Monogame(for games)
Are there more?
My first doubt is that are Xamarin, Mono and Monotouch same? If no, what is the difference?
Secondly Monogame is open-source implementation of Microsoft XNA. What is the meaning of open-source implementation? And if it is XNA-like, then why cant we just use XNA and why is XNA being made obsolete?
For questions like this why not visit http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev who are generally happy to help with these kind of questions.
So Xamarin are the company that develop monogame which mentioned above is a clone of the now obsolete XNA framework which for some unknown reason MS have ditched. There isn't much work needed to port your XNA game to monogame. Developing for PC is free and always will be. You can pay for the tools required to develop on ios and android.
It really is a great cross platform choice especially if you have experience with XNA. For another C# alternative check out Unity.

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