The Microsoft Windows 8 operating system has a user interface oriented toward mobile device users. The programs are now apps, developed with web techniques and tools such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), cascading style sheets (CSS), and JavaScript.

This book presents the use of CSS to program Windows 8 apps. It is intended for app developers.

The first chapter describes the new features of Windows 8. It shows the features of app design in Windows 8, including new navigation, user interaction, and layouts. This chapter also lists the Microsoft Design Principles, which include maxims such as, “Do more with less” and “Be fast and fluid.”

Chapter 2 is an introduction to the development of applications for Windows 8. The author presents the WinRT application programming interface (API) for designing apps, and shows readers how to build them using Visual Studio 2012.

The remaining eight chapters cover topics related to CSS3, the latest CSS standard. These topics include selectors, text, boxes, layouts, transforms, and animations. One of these chapters focuses on the Windows Library for JavaScript (WinJS).

Most of the book can be viewed as a technical reference on CSS features. Numerous code snippets and screen shots facilitate learning the CSS features for Windows 8. However, I expected more Windows 8 information since it is much more recent than CSS (and CSS details are available in many older books).

Overall, the book is well written, with a wealth of information presented in a format that is easy to read.

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