Windows Presentation Foundation Helps Developers build rich user experiences on Windows
Microsoft’s Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a new platform that offers developers an advanced graphical subsystem to develop rich user interfaces for Windows based applications. The core purpose of WPF is to make an application more expressive and interactive through the use of high-end 3D graphics and animations.
WPF offers certain features that make an application extraordinarily interactive and appealing:
Graphics rendering using ‘Direct 3D’
Developers are continuously searching for new avenues to showcase complex graphics and custom themes. One of the advantages of using WPF is that it is powered by a 3D API that is a part of Microsoft’s DirectX application programming interface – Direct 3D.
Data Binding
Binding and manipulating data within a particular application is a complex task. WPF offers an en suite set of data services that support three different types of data binding including one time, one way and two way data binding. So, a developer can decide whether a client ignores server updates, has read-only access to data or the client can both read and write data to the server.
Media Services
Apart from supporting common image and video formats such as BMP, JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF, ICON, WMV, MPEG etc; WPF also unifies common user interface elements such as vector and raster images, audio/video and 2D/3D rendering animation system.
Support for Time based and Low Level Animations
Developers who want a better option than a frame based approach towards animation, can use time—based animation with WPF. This means that the performance of the system has no impact on the speed of the animation. This platform also offers support to low level animations through timers.
By no means is this a complete list of features offered by WPF. This list has barely scratched the surface. But, there is absolutely no doubt that WPF helps developers come up with the kind of rich applications that integrate a range of other Microsoft technologies that were difficult to integrate earlier.
WPF Benefits
- The need of the hour is developing applications that have a branded look and feel. These applications are also visually demanding and are a coming together of data visualization, rich media and complex content that offers a dynamic interactive experience. WPF brings to developers the advantage of advanced layouts, controlled styling and accelerated 2D/3D graphics animations and many more. All of which come together to render support for building rich applications.
- Changing user interface without making any modifications to other layers of the application is yet another advantage of WPF. This is a result of the declarative markup language (XAML) that is offered by WPF. The ability to offer declarative connection to the underlying model means changes can be made to the UI, without changing the code of any other layer of the application.
- The compatibility of WPF with Silverlight means the porting and sharing between web and Windows client application is much easier. Deployment to other platforms is also possible with the same code used for WPF applications.
The range of benefits offered by WPF is a result of the wealth of features offered by this platform. Experts believe that in the coming years, the Windows Presentation Foundation will emerge as Microsoft’s answer for all kinds of applications. The inherent potential of WPF is still being explored by developers, but the verdict is out – WPF based applications are setting a new bar for advanced functionality, convenient usage and a fantastic user experience.
In-depth WPF expertise is what differentiates developers who can optimize the use of this platform from developers who lose their way, trying to make the best use of its features.
PLAVEB’s web development team is an old hand at optimizing the use of any given software platform for the benefit of its clients. Its years of experience in delivering sophisticated applications across various categories have ensured that it has mastered the art of using platforms like WPF for developing applications that are the absolute word in interactivity and user engagement. With us, you get the benefit of working with highly inventive developers who can optimize the use of WPF to offer solutions with real business benefits.