About the Windows®api Code Pack for Microsoft®.net Framework

Window 7 (or Vista) offers many new features compared to previous operating systems, which we can use to enhance the user experience in application implementations.

These features mainly include the following aspects:

• Shell Enhancements
• DirectX Technologies
• Application Restart and Recovery
• Extended Linguistics Services (ELS)
• Sensor Platform
• Aero Glass

These native Windows features need to be implemented in managed applications based on COM interop technology, so Microsoft developed the Windows API Code Pack to provide the necessary COM interop code to complement the. NET Framework feature set, Provides the operating interface for the native Windows API for managed code.

In the latest version of the. NET framework design, Microsoft has included in WPF some of the features previously implemented in the Windows API Code pack, such as shell-related features, and for other parts of the rest it is recommended to be based on native C/+ + language calls. The official package is no longer available to support managed program development and the Windows API Code Pack project is canceled.

So now we open the official link and we'll see "The Archive Gallery has been retired." Tip, you cannot download the code to the Windows API in the Codes pack. But you can also find a third-party version of the 1.1 backup, such as GitHub (note 3).

Here is a description of the Windows API Code Pack's previous life (note 2), because I need to develop three-dimensional applications in managed code with the latest DirectX.

The wrapper used in developing a three-dimensional program using managed code (note 1) has the following options:

• Managed Direct3D (Microsoft Official)
• XNA (Microsoft Official)
• Windows API Code Pack (DirectX) (Microsoft Official)
• SLIMDX (third Party)
• SHARPDX (third Party)

In these options, MDX has been eliminated, XNA has some advantages in game development, but there are also many shortcomings in the new version D3D support, and SLIMDX and SHARPDX are provided for third parties.

The benefits of Windows API Code Pack (DirectX) compared to the other options above are mainly in the following areas:

1/Less dependencies, easy to use: simply reference a 1M-size DLL in your application;

2/Support DX11: Package target is based on Windows 7 and is particularly appealing for applications that need to upgrade DirectX and take advantage of new features;

3/Stable, efficient: Microsoft official quality;

Reference:

1/Using DirectX in. Net

Http://blogs.msdn.com/b/chuckw/archive/2010/12/09/directx-and-net.aspx

2/windows API Code Pack v1_1

Http://www.cnblogs.com/gnielee/archive/2010/12/29/windows-api-code-pack-v1_1.html

3/

Https://github.com/dbarros/WindowsAPICodePack or use NuGet

About the Windows®api Code Pack for Microsoft®.net Framework