Windows App SDK (formerly known as Project Reunion) is a
software development kit
A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific ...
(SDK) from
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
that targets the development of
native desktop applications on Windows 11 and Windows 10 back to version 1809.
Windows App SDK does not replace the
Windows SDK; it is designed to enhance native
Win32
The Windows API, informally WinAPI, is Microsoft's core set of application programming interfaces (APIs) available in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. The name Windows API collectively refers to several different platform implementations th ...
(
USER32/
GDI32) and
.NET 6 (
WPF/
WinForms) applications, and migrate existing
UWP apps to Win32 or .NET model by providing a common
application programming interface (API) based on
UWP/
WinRT
Windows Runtime (WinRT) is a platform-agnostic component and application architecture first introduced in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 in 2012. It is implemented in C++ and officially supports development in C++ (via C++/WinRT, C++/CX or W ...
and
WinMD metadata, to bridge the gap between low-level system access in Win32 APIs and high-level programming concepts in .NET and UWP. Version 1.0 has been released in November 2021 after several developer preview releases.
Features and components
As of version 1.0, SDK components include
WinUI 3
Windows UI Library (WinUI codenamed "Jupiter", and also known as UWP XAML and WinRT XAML) is a user interface API that is part of the Windows Runtime programming model that forms the backbone of Universal Windows Platform apps (formerly known a ...
,
WebView 2
Blink is a browser engine developed as part of the Chromium project with contributions from Google, Meta, Microsoft, Opera Software, Adobe, Intel, IBM, Samsung, and others. It was first announced in April 2013.
Naming
Blink's naming was inf ...
, MSIX-Core, and
C++/WinRT
C++/WinRT is a C++ library for Microsoft's Windows Runtime platform, designed to provide access to modern Windows APIs. C++/WinRT is provided as a standard C++17 header file library, unlike C++/CX, which is an extension to C++ and requires a recen ...
,
Rust
Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO( ...
/WinRT and
C#/WinRT language bindings. An API abstracting USER32/GDI32 primitives known as AppWindow was introduced to expose a unified set of windowing capabilities. The feature roadmap for version 1.1 includes "modern windowing" in WinUI 3, supporting multiple client windows and custom window controls. Additionally, enhancements for power management, push notifications, and app restart are planned.
There are plans to add to the Windows App SDK.
See also
*
DWriteCore DirectWrite is a text layout and glyph rendering API by Microsoft. It was designed to replace GDI/GDI+ and Uniscribe for screen-oriented rendering and was first shipped with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, as well as Windows Vista and Windo ...
*
Uno Platform
*
Windows Driver Kit
The Windows Driver Kit (WDK) is a software toolset from Microsoft that enables the development of device drivers for the Microsoft Windows platform. It includes documentation, samples, build environments, and tools for driver developers. A comp ...
(WDK)
References
External links
*
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Windows App SDK
Free and open-source software
Microsoft development tools
Microsoft free software
Software development kits
Windows APIs
Windows-only free software