[Windows Live; Windows Vista] Resources & Design Practices for Gadget Developers

Last week, Jean-Luc hinted at an "offer" in his blog post on Windows Live and Vista gadgets. A deeper explanation on what Jean-Luc was referring to is coming soon! (Stay tuned to this blog for more information.) As part of his post, he also provided some links for you to reference when building these gadgets. This week, I'd like to provide some additional information for you to check out when building a gadget (or two).

In addition to these resources, you should also brush up on your Web development skills since gadgets are based on Web technologies like CSS, JavaScript, and HTML.

If you've already got a good idea for a gadget, please also try to follow some best practices:

Design your gadget to be visually appealing
Don't try to over-engineer your gadget; keep it simple
Enable script debugging to see if your gadget is operating properly
Gadgets should serve, at most, one purpose and do it very well
Incorporate the event model provided for Windows Vista Sidebar Gadgets (i.e. flyout)
Leverage the network through the APIs provided
Utilize the available APIs to persist gadget settings

Finally, the success of your gadget will depend largely on how great the need for your gadget is amongst members of the gadget community. Try to design a gadget and addresses a pressing need! Say, a gadget on the success of the Calgary Flames? ;-)