Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is the code-name of the presentation (user-interfaces) sub system in Windows programming model and is used to create user interfaces. This blog talks about WPF.
If you have been programming .NET, you must be familiar with Windows Forms and ASP.NET. Windows Forms are used to build Windows client application and ASP.NET is used to build Web applications.
Well, WPF is a new technology that may be used instead of both Windows Forms and ASP.NET.
What is WPF?
WPF is the engine that is responsible for creating, displaying, and manipulating user-interfaces, documents, images, movies, and media in Windows Vista.
Physically, WPF is a set of libraries that have all functionality you need to build, run, execute, and manage Windows Vista applications.
What is XAML?
XAML is a new descriptive programming language developed by Microsoft to write user interfaces for next generation managed applications.
How XAML is related to WPF?
XAML is a new descriptive programming language developed by Microsoft to write user interfaces for next generation managed applications. XAML is used in WPF to represent the controls and code with the help of C#, Visual Basic, and other .NET Framework languages.
XAML can be think as ASP.NET and/or Windows Forms in Windows Vista. For example, to write a Web application in .NET 1.0, 1.1, or 2.0, you use ASP.NET and to write Windows Applications, you use Windows Forms. Now in Windows Vista and .NET 3.0, you will use XAML instead of Windows Forms and ASP.NET.
Does that mean XAML will replace ASP.NET and Windows Forms? YES and NO. Both ASP.NET and Windows Forms will also be supported on .NET 3.0 but you don't have to use them if you don't want.
What Operating Systems does WPF support?
Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2003 Server.
How do I build WPF Applicaitons?
To build WPF application, you must install .NET 3.5 SDK. You can also also Visual Studio 2010 and 2008. These two comes with WPF. If you are a student or beginner, you may want to try free version of Visual C# Express 2008 here.
Alternatively, you can download other versions on MSDN.
What do I need to run WPF Applications?
To run WPF applications, you must install .NET 3.5 or 4.0 SDK redistributable. It can be found on MSDN downloads sites.
Get Started with WPF