Is the future of Windows Forms good? A question was posted on Career Advice forums of C# Corner. Windows Forms, also known as WinForms, is a part of Microsoft’s .NET Framework to build Windows-based client applications.
Bitter Truth: Not good.
There are still plenty of applications being developed using Windows Forms. Wait! Let me rephrase it. I should have used word “maintained” rather than developed. Yes, there are plenty of Windows Forms based applications that need resources to fix bugs, add new features, and to be supported. That work is not going away anytime soon. If you’re already working on a Windows Forms project and have enough work, you continue to do so.
Software development is very tricky field. Unless you’re working in a large corporation, you never know when a project may be called off. I’ve seen this several times in my professional life. I worked with a client on a 12-month contract and within 3-months, new CIO came and killed the project.
As a smart developer, you should be always learning. You should not be living in a comfort zone. You should always be learning. That is what C# Corner community is all about. C# Corner brings you latest news and happenings in software development world. I highly recommend going through the Career Advice on C# Corner and read in your free time what experts and veterans have to advice you.
In 2013, I wrote a blog, Future of Windows Forms, WPF, and ASP.NET that obviously is quite old in today’s perspective but still has good points. ASP.NET is now just being served as ASP.NET MVC and continue to evolve in this new form. So if you’re an ASP.NET developer, you should start exploring ASP.NET MVC. Besides that, the major focus is on HTML 5, CSS, and JavaScript (with many other JS libraries).
What Does Google Trends Say
Let’s look at Google Trends for past five years. The below chart is a Google Trends popularity of search keywords.
As you can see clearly from the above chart, Windows Forms are still there but just to be there. That kind of need will always be there to maintain and supporting existing applications. WPF trends are slowly going down but still, there is plenty of work. However, last year and this year, Windows 10 Apps (Windows Store Apps or Universal Windows Platform) popularity has grown and it will continue to grow as Windows 10 grows.
So what happens to Windows Forms developers?
I was a Windows Forms developer when it used to be WinForms. But years ago, I switched to WPF and that handed me ton of work. Now, WPF demand is slowing down, the natural migration for Windows Forms and WPF developers is, Universal Windows Platform (UWP). UWP may sound totally different to a Windows Forms developer but WPF developers will find it quite familiar. It uses XAML and C# for user interfaces and UWP apps run on all Windows 10 devices.
The UWP was introduced with Windows 10 and prior to that, there was Windows Store Apps. Check out What Is The Future Of Windows Store Apps to learn more about it.
To get started with UWP app development, you will need to know XAML, C# and UWP. XAML is a new scripting language that was introduced to build next generation Windows applications as a part of WPF.
Here is basic introductory book that will get you going with XAML.
If you’re new to C# language, you may want to get started with this book:
There is a free book dedicated on UWP app development:
Step Into Windows 10 UWP Development
Check out the following list to download more free books on C#, XAML, WPF and other technologies.
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/ebooks/
Here are hundreds of code samples and articles on UWP.
Good luck!
Steve BeginPosted May 24, 2018, 9:47 AM
• Question/s: So I am wondering: will these other Microsoft technologies be deprecated, and then finally my MVC experience will be guiding the way forward? From what I gather, it does not seem so. As it seems like - not only here, but anywhere – it is valuable to know more from Microsoft than MVC, do you know of a resource/school/reference etc. that you would suggest for helping me to bridge from what I do know in MVC to also learning these other technologies faster than learning them from scratch?• Details: Along with a little Javascript, CSS, and HTML, T-SQL, PL/SQL (and automation from my systems admin. past), I have learned to code moderately in ASP.NET MVC (begun while with a previous employer, then a bootcamp, and on-the-job training). However, two organizations I have been employed by since then (including where I have been these last 8 months), use .NET but only use ASP.NET MVC for a CRM they purchased; they generally do not yet use MVC for in-house coding (they're using Windows Forms, etc., with MS Access & Crystal Reports). • While they have expressed a desire to move toward ASP.NET MVC, and had me do a couple quicker survey applications in MVC, other maintenance/new feature coding and even new projects continue to be coded in other than my expertise and understanding of MVC. Unfortunately, as nobody else where I am yet knows MVC, there seems to be a mindset that since I can get around in MVC, I can already code and debug both these other Micorosft technologies and our non-open-source store-bought CRM simply because of my MVC knowledge. Not so as much as I wish that were the case for folks familiar with MVC. For example, they will tell me things like “just FTP up your your .aspx file here” so we can access your site; they do not yet grasp the complexity of MVC’s design pattern necessitating all the files in a project rather than one file.
Jefferson S. MottaPosted May 23, 2018, 8:02 PM
The end for Visual Basic 6.0 is near since 2000, but still have lots of apps running it. I kick off directly to C# 5.0, and abandoned millions of line code, and I think that the future 'll be a single developtment IDE for any kind of system (iOS, Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, Desktop, XBox, SmartTV, SmartCar, SmartAnyDomesticStuff, etc.). When I see at first time, in 2001, the Microsoft .NET Framework I told to my co-workers that in the future it would be running on Linux and Apple OS, it's not there yet, but we already have partialy the .NET Core and .NET Standard is a path to this vision, that must be the same of Microsoft. So I guess that the future o WinForms with be like the human kind, some ones on Space and others in the ancient age with no tech, thats mean that everything will exist for a long time together. I hope someoneelse share my thoughs, Thanks for reading.
Altex LansingPosted Dec 5, 2017, 9:43 AM
Wisej seems to be the easiest way to turn a winforms app into a modern web app.
Mohammed AshrafPosted May 17, 2016, 2:39 AM
Basically I am a C# windows Form Application developer. So this is very useful to me....Thank you for sharing
Ranjith MurthyPosted May 16, 2016, 5:44 PM
Actually i am working on Windows forms now but i felt tuff to adapt that WPF environment like binding etc ...i felt its looks complex but where has here i found winforms is good enuff interms datagridview etc ..
Hari ShankerPosted May 16, 2016, 2:53 AM
Thanks for the information sir
Prasham SabadraPosted May 16, 2016, 1:56 AM
Thanks sir! Actually one of my team is working on small product and they are developing it into Windows forms and very soon starting new product. For our new product we are planning to us WPF but now at least we will look at Universal Windows Platform. Thanks again.