Coding4Fun

Book excerpt: How would you like to build an Xbox game, use your Nintendo Wiimote to create an electronic whiteboard, or build your own peer-to-peer application? Coding4Fun helps you tackle some cool software and hardware projects using a range of languages and free Microsoft software. Now you can code for fun with C#, VB, ASP.NET, WPF, XNA Game Studio, Popfly, as well as the Lua programming language. If you love to tinker, but don't have time to figure it all out, this book gives you clear, step-by-step instructions for building ten creative projects, including: Alien Attack: Create a 2D clone of Space Invaders with XNA for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune LEGO Soldier: Create an action game using Popfly with a custom-built virtual LEGO character World of Warcraft RSS Feed Reader: Use WoW's customizable interface to have feeds pop up while you're gaming InnerTube: Download YouTube videos automatically and convert them to a file format for off-line viewing PeerCast: Stream video files from any PC TwitterVote: Create custom online polls on Twitter WHSMail: Build a website with ASP.NET for Windows Home Server that lets you view the messages stored on a computer with Outlook "Wiimote" Controlled Car: Steer your remote-controlled car by tilting the Wii Remote controller left and right Wiimote Whiteboard: Create an interactive whiteboard using a Wii Remote Holiday Lights: Synchronize your holiday light display with music to create your own light show The perfect gift for any developer, Coding4Fun shows you how to use your programming skills in new and fun ways. "This book is amazing! The scope is so wonderfully broad that anyone who has an interest in designing games at any level should read this book." -- Alex Albrecht, Creator of Diggnation / Totally Rad Show / Project Lore