Winforms is basically a collection of objects in .Net that know how to display themselves on the screen. WPF is a dynamic language you use to describe what you want shown on the screen. There is a huge difference between these concepts. Mastering Winforms basically means learning the properties and methods that are available for any given object. Mastering WPF requires mastering a completly new programming language that uses XAML as its syntax, a language full of totally new concepts and ways of approaching problems,
Winforms is easy to pick up and start working with. With little effort you can create forms that are sufficient for most common tasks. The problem comes when you want to do something "odd", at which point you find yourself fighting a battle you may not win. For example, try making a combo-box show something other than a single line of text for each item in the drop down. (For example, for any given item show a user control that lays out several fields of data in user friendly fashion.) Maybe you can do it, but I can't. Trust me, I tried. WPF is hard. Really, really, hard to master. You can try working with it like it is Windofrms, but if you go that route you make your life hell. Abandon all hope ye that go down that path, you would be better off sticking with the limitations of Winforms. If, however, you climb the *very* steep learning curve and learn the right way to do things in WPF you will find it is easy to do things that are impossible to do in Winforms. You want a list box where each item is a different user control with multiple fields, controls, and menus of its own? Not a problem. You want to show a datagrid as a option in a drop-down menu? Not a problem. (Did that by accident once when I specified the wrong DataType in a DataTemplate.) Any visual effect, look, behavior, you can imagine can be achieved, often with only a few lines of XAML. Assuming, of course, you know what you are doing. (Read up on the MVVM programming pattern. It is ideally suited for working with WPF.) Hope this helps. -- R.B. Davidson On Jul 1, 12:40 am, "C # STUDENT" <[email protected]> wrote: > im a student at devry and ive taken a basic c# programing class i > would like to know if i should learn windows forms or wfp or both and > in which order and if anyone knows a good resource to learn it at or > can help me
