Windows 8 Application Development with HTML5 For Dummies

Chapter 15

Going to the Cloud

In This Chapter

Supporting your app with services

Using Azure to bring more value to your users

Making up for the lack of database support in WinRT

Throughout this book, I have mentioned that one of the strangest changes for .NET developers is the lack of database support in WinRT. It’s not that Microsoft doesn’t like databases (they make one, after all), but the network access required by a database connection is costly and insecure.

In Chapters 10 and 12, I cover a lot of options to work around the database issue. Local data is a possibility, as is using SQLite and the remote settings. The best option, however, is to wrap your database in a structured service layer and use WinJS.xhr to get what you need.

Unfortunately, for many of us, firing up a full-blown Windows Communication Services project with a SQL Server backend is just not within the realm of possibility. You could use Ruby on Rails and AppHarbor and MySQL, but those might not be in your technology set. It can be a difficult problem.

Fortunately, Windows Azure, the cloud platform from Microsoft, has come to the rescue with an inexpensive, preconfigured, easy-to-use-and-manage service platform. ...