Building Desktop Apps with C# and WinUI 3: The Complete Guide: Learn from the Ground Up to Distribution by Building a To-Do App (C#/.NET in Practice Book 1)

WinUI 3 knowledge is scattered across reference docs and half-finished blog posts. This book draws one straight line — from an empty project to Microsoft Store submission.

Started with WinUI 3 but stalled somewhere between your first window and a shippable app? That gap is exactly what this book fills.

You build one to-do app. Starting from an empty project, you add features to the same codebase — so you are never stitching disconnected snippets together.

What you build - XAML and MVVM, CommunityToolkit.Mvvm, and compile-time-checked x:Bind

- Data persistence with EF Core + SQLite, DI, Code First migrations, and NLog

- NavigationView, dialogs, a settings screen, custom controls, and .resw localization

- MSTest and Moq, MSIX packaging, code signing, GitHub Actions, and Microsoft Store submission

From the basics of XAML to Store distribution, you build one app all the way through.

Who this is for - Developers who know the basics of C# (classes, properties, async/await)

- WPF or WinForms developers moving to WinUI 3

- Anyone who started with WinUI 3 but stalled between the first window and shipping

C#/.NET in Practice series This book is part of the C#/.NET in Practice series. Companion volumes include Entity Framework Core in Practice (data access in depth) and Building WinUI Apps with Claude Code (AI-driven development). Each volume stands on its own.

The complete source is on GitHub.