If you’ve done any app or game development in the last 10 years, you certainly recognize the criticality and power of third party components. With these components you can add all sorts of amazing functionality to your app with little to no additional coding. For example,
• If you’ve created any type of app that consumes data from a web service, you’ve probably heard of Json.NET, a popular framework that gives you powerful JSON serialization/deserialization functionality with high performance that is available for commercial use.
• If you are a C#/XAML developer who is a fan of architectural patterns, you’ve probably heard of the MVVM Light Toolkit, a set of components that make it easier to implement an architecturally pure separation of logic from presentation in your application, thus potentially enhancing supportability, testability, and the lifespan of your code.
• Finally, if you’ve done any game development recently, you are likely aware of Unity, a popular set of tools and runtimes that make it easier to develop outstanding games and deliver them to multiple computing platforms.
This is but a small sampling of the kinds of middleware out there. There’s middleware to help you build and deploy mobile web services of your own, to help you instrument your app so that you can get telemetry on what your users are doing, as well as middleware to let you leverage rich monetization models and payment methods. It’s not an exaggeration to state that middleware is perhaps one of the most enabling components of any app platform.
Microsoft is well aware of the criticality of offering a rich set of middleware solutions. From the very beginning, we’ve strived to encourage and incent third-party middleware providers to deliver offerings for the Windows platform. This week, we’re taking our support to the next level with the announcement of our Windows Dev Center Partner Program. This program will give middleware providers devices, software, co-marketing, event support, and more. If you are a developer of middleware offerings, apply today to qualify for these benefits.
If you are a developer looking for third party middleware available to accelerate your app or game development for Windows, check out our new partner directory, where you’ll find an extensive and growing list of some of the most compelling middleware partners targeting Windows today.
At Microsoft we’re more focused than ever on creating the most compelling, accessible, powerful, and overall enjoyable app development platform, and we recognize the critical role middleware plays in such an ecosystem. This new program is designed to promote that goal. Check it out today.