C++ windows phone 8 components

Question

I'm new to windows phone development, and I need to create a control with C++ (basically it's a WebBrowser control) I would create with C# but the library I need to use for core is written in C++.

Conclusion: So the question is, Can I develop a control in C++ using external libraries and then compile it to use with any language of the CLR and use it in my windows phone 8 applications? If does, let me know about some resource any video, book, or whatever.

Answer 1

The general answer is "yes", although it comes with some caveats.

It's certainly possible to build a component in C++ using the Windows Phone Runtime APIs and then utilize it from another programming language, such as C#. The more "pure" the C++ code is in that it doesn't access native operating system features (that may not be present), the better off you'll be.

There's some general guidance on MSDN:

1. Native code for Windows Phone 8
2. Windows Phone Runtime API
3. Using Native C++ code in your Apps

That being said, if you're attempting to create an entirely new web browser for some reason, I'd strongly suggest you consider using the built in WebBrowser component. In Windows Phone 8, it's based on IE10, and in Windows Phone 8.1, it's IE 11. Those are both very capable browsers and designed to work well within the memory constraints of the platform.