Introduction
xAP development really isn't that difficult, once you get started, and hopefully the information here will help kick off the process. People sometimes find it hard to adjust to the de-coupled, broadcast nature of xAP at first (especially if they have a background in "conventional" computing), but whilst the ideas may seem a bit alien in the beginning, it is worth persevering!
It absolutely isn't necessary to understand all the nitty-gritty details in the specification before you start - although the more advanced features will come in useful later as your xAP environment evolves.
The quickest way to learn is by hands-on experience. I thoroughly recommend choosing a platform you're already familiar with, downloading a sample app or two, and getting something simple going - even if it's just sending a simple "hello world" message across your network.
From there, it's a small step is to tweak an existing application - extending or modifying its behaviour - so that you get a feel for how the library framework that I use fits together and how xAP works under the covers.
Once you know how to build, and send a xAP message, and how to receive and decode the contents at the other end, you have mastered the basics of xAP. Composing your own messages allows you to take control of any other xAP enabled application or device, and make it behave in any way you want. Similarly, once your application is able to process incoming messages, other devices are able to interact with it. What you do with the messages your application receives is then entirely up to you!
From there, it's downhill - as I said before, whilst xAP really is simple, it's also extraordinarily powerful, allowing systems to be plugged together in much the same way as lego bricks, allowing a complex and flexible Home Automation environment to be built up piece by piece
Good luck. If you get stuck, there is plenty of friendly help and advice on hand on the xAP Automation mailing list.
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