[serious] .Net Compact conversion?

[timeshifter]

So I've decided that my next phone will be a Windows Mobile phone... mainly so I can make games to entertain myself with. But it may be a while before I get it... and I wanna start coding now. If I were to build my little app for .Net, is there an easy way to (attempt to) convert it to .Net CF and fix issues from there?

[mendhak]

From what I've seen, (it also depends on what code you're using), a lot of it can be ported over easily, but that isn't necessarily the best way. You'll still need to copy-paste into a new project that uses the Mobile SDK and then start fixing away. Some features simply won't exist and you'll need to make your own.

[petevick]

Hi,
you will be able to test it in the emulator - and provided your app doesn't use all the desktop options, it SHOULDN'T be too bad.

[Ivenesco]

Just download SDK for WM 6, and write application using emulator. Newest version is really fast, and you will be sure, that you application will work on new phone too.
In case of converting... You should write application dedicated to WM, because there are many differences. You can copy/paste the most "universal" code, and write new for parts which WM doesn't support.

[timeshifter]

Perhaps I just poorly worded it.. yes, it's a fresh app, so I'll be building it from scratch anyway. I know there was a CF emulator for VS 2005, but it was kinda sluggish, so I never bothered with it... knowing the one for WM6 and VS2008 is faster is nice. Maybe I'll just use that instead.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Ya, if you don't have hardware, use the emulator. Writing a desktop-type app for testing is also possible, but gets a bit iffy. If you are using panels rather than forms for display, as I always tend to recommend, then you could emulate the panel swapping in a desktop app, which would be good enough for debugging, but you'd have to be very careful to only stick to items that are supported by the CF. The actual emulator would be a safer way to go about it, even if it is sluggish.