.NET 3.0 WPF Tools & Examples
A good introduction to WPF is to read this article Sacha Barber posted on Code Project.
eXtensible Application Markup Language (XAML, pronounced ZAMMEL) is coming you better believe it. For those that havent heard of XAML, it is the way to code for Microsofts new presentation layer, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF, codenamed Avalon).
XAML is an XML style markup language, the XAML markup is responsible for the presentation of the graphical elements, much the same as HTML markup.
XAML code can be developed using a multitude of tools, such as Zam3D, XAMLPad which is provided with the .NET Framework 3.0 SDK, Visual Studio 2005, and the new Expression Blend (previously Expression Interactive Designer).
One of the main ideas behind XAML (so I think anyway) is that the graphical front end can be developed by someone with an arty nature, and then handed back to a developer who can import the arty code (the XAML) and then code the backend .NET code to drive the interface. Both the graphical designer and the software developer should be able to freely transfer work using the same lanugauge, XAML.
Thats the basic idea anyway, but this is not what I am trying to put across in this article. In this article I want to showcase some of the concepts of what can be done in XAML, and what tools one can use for creating XAML, and also how these tools may be used. I will also be explaining how I achieved all the different elements of the demo application.
I will not be talking about how to hand code XAML, I will be purely focussing on some of, the most popular (I think anyway) XAML authoring tools.
If you really dont know your XAML from a CAMEL I suggest you check out Marc Cliftons article at XAML Resources which should bring you up to speed.