What exactly is WPF?

Question

I have seen lots of questions recently about WPF...

• What is it?
• What does it stand for?
• How can I begin programming WPF?

Answer 1

Is the new Windows Gui system. I don't believe its aim is to make development easier per se but more to address fundamental issues with WinForm, such as transparency and scaling, neither of which WinForm can effectively address. Furthermore it seeks to address the "one resolution only" paradigm of WinForm by mapping sizes to real-pixel sizes and making flow layout easier and more fundamental.

It's also based on an XML derivative making it easier to change the UI and forcing a separation of the UI and the core code (although technically you can still badly hack it together in this manner).

This separation also drives a desire to be able to divide the work into two camps, the designers taking charge of the XAML and layout and the programmers taking care of developing the objects used in the XAML.

Answer 2

WPF is a new technology that will supersede Windows Forms. WPF stands for Windows Presentation Foundation Here are some useful topics on SO:

1. What WPF books would you recommend
2. What real world WPF applications are out there

From my practice I can say that WPF is a truly amazing technology however it takes some time to get used to because it's totally different from the WinForms. I would recommend you to take a look at this demo.