One of my most widely-read blog posts had to do with creating a Login Windows in WPF that I wrote several years ago. I thought I would revisit this login screen with an updated version in Visual Studio 2012 and with an updated look and feel.)
One of the navigation mechanisms used in Windows 8 and Windows Phone is a Tile. A tile is a large rectangle that can have words and pictures that a user can click on. You can build your own version of a Tile in your WPF or Silverlight applications using a User Control. With just a little bit of XAML and a little bit of code-behind you can create a navigation system.)
In any application, you want to keep the coupling between any two or more objects as loose as possible. Coupling happens when one class contains a property that is used in another class, or uses another class in one of its methods. If you have this situation, then this is called strong or tight coupling. One popular design pattern to help with keeping objects loosely coupled is called the Mediator design pattern. The basics of this pattern are very simple; avoid one object directly talking to another object, and instead use another class to mediate between the two. As with most of my blog posts, the purpose is to introduce you to a simple approach to using a message broker, not all of the fine details.)