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WinForms vs WPF

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  • 03-12-2013 8:37pm
    #1
    Stainless_Steel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,155 ✭✭✭


    Hi all,

    Just wondering if many .NET devs use WPF?

    I have read about some of the benefits online, but they don't seem to make me want to put in the time to learn xaml.

    Is WinForms now seen as outdated tech?


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    #2
    ChRoMe
    Registered Users Posts: 2,021 ✭✭✭ChRoMe


    Stainless_Steel wrote: »
    Hi all,

    Just wondering if many .NET devs use WPF?

    I have read about some of the benefits online, but they don't seem to make me want to put in the time to learn xaml.

    Is WinForms now seen as outdated tech?

    I'm not even a .NET dev and I can tell you that winforms is outdated.


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    #3
    Stainless_Steel
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,155 ✭✭✭Stainless_Steel


    ChRoMe wrote: »
    I'm not even a .NET dev and I can tell you that winforms is outdated.

    I know but I see many applications still being created with WinForms. Granted these are business applications and focus more on functionality rather than aesthetics.


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    #4
    Elfman
    Registered Users Posts: 221 ✭✭Elfman


    My company is in the middle of resigning our application in WPF and it's definitely the way to go for .net desktop Apps. It gives a massive amount of flexibility so there's no excuse to have battleship gray standard windows. It an attempt by MS to give desktop designers the freedom of web devs. It's also got some massive benefits in terms of data binding .

    There is quite a learning curve especially if you want to learn the MVVM design pattern that allows you to keep UI layer seperate.


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    #5
    Colonel Panic
    Registered Users Posts: 2,015 ✭✭✭Colonel Panic


    WinForms isn't outdated, it's just stable and mature. There's nowhere to go with it. It basically boils down to a pretty thin wrapper over Win32 with some attempts at layout and data binding and nice features like being able to make composite controls.

    WPF is a different beast entirely and it's hard to see where MS is going with it. On one hand, XAML is now the defacto layout method for "modern" Windows apps and WinPhone, but on the other hand, WPF hasn't seen much movement or changes in the past few years either.

    Does that make it outdated? I dunno...


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    #6
    srsly78
    Registered Users Posts: 7,157 ✭✭✭srsly78


    You don't even need to use XAML. You can do it all from code, which actually helps a bit while learning. To use the visual designer and lay stuff out properly you will want xaml of course tho.


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    #7
    ChRoMe
    Registered Users Posts: 2,021 ✭✭✭ChRoMe


    Colonel Panic wrote: »
    WinForms isn't outdated, it's just stable and mature. There's nowhere to go with it. It basically boils down to a pretty thin wrapper over Win32 with some attempts at layout and data binding and nice features like being able to make composite controls.

    WPF is a different beast entirely and it's hard to see where MS is going with it. On one hand, XAML is now the defacto layout method for "modern" Windows apps and WinPhone, but on the other hand, WPF hasn't seen much movement or changes in the past few years either.

    Does that make it outdated? I dunno...

    When Microsoft are doing their silently deprecating act, like they do with so many projects, its can be considered outdated.

    They don't cover it in their conferences anymore, thats usually the first sign.


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    #8
    Colonel Panic
    Registered Users Posts: 2,015 ✭✭✭Colonel Panic


    Nah, it's not the same thing as what they've done with Silverlight or XNA. Given that logic, WPF is outdated too.


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    #9
    ChRoMe
    Registered Users Posts: 2,021 ✭✭✭ChRoMe


    Colonel Panic wrote: »
    Nah, it's not the same thing as what they've done with Silverlight or XNA. Given that logic, WPF is outdated too.

    WPF being considered outdated by microsoft is a reasonable argument to make as well, considering the the Windows 8 shift.


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    #10
    Colonel Panic
    Registered Users Posts: 2,015 ✭✭✭Colonel Panic


    Let's take it a step further. The Windows desktop is dead. OP should make "modern" UI apps. Luckily they use XAML and something that reminds me of WPF.

    I still maintain that there's a difference between mature and dead end frameworks.

    Taking XNA as an example. It sit on top of Direct X 9 which is no longer being developed. It was not updated to support Direct X 10+ and will never be.

    The Win32 API hasn't changed in years. XAML, originally made for WPF has a serious overhaul with Windows 8 so that Modern (née Metro) apps could use it. The WPF framework doesn't need to change. There are plenty of 3rd party frameworks out there to enhance it too.

    And that doesn't even take into account that WinForms isn't going anywhere and the OP's post is short on info. If you're going to learn a framework, I'd learn both. If you're going to start a new project, it really depends on your needs.


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