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Is WPF dead: the present and future of WPF

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Re: Is WPF dead: the present and future of WPF

#11

Post by steven777400 »

WPF is dead in the sense that Microsoft doesn't want to be promoting a non-cloud, non-mobile technology. WPF is alive in the sense that it is the best solution for meeting certain customer needs today.

For example, we have a very heavy desktop application that needs to run on Windows 7 PCs with IE 8. When we started developing this application a year ago, the cost to do it in HTML5/CSS/JS given the maturity of the tools at that time, compared to WPF, made WPF the obvious choice. In a few years when local web databases and synchronization frameworks have improved (we just saw a really neat one a day or two ago here on HN) and all the machines have been replaced with Windows 10 and IE 11, an offline web app would be the right choice. But we can't (or, don't want to) delay development until that time. So, for now, WPF is the right answer.

But anyone who thinks WPF is still a first-class citizen or that Microsoft is going to come back in marketing support of it is probably kidding themselves.

Re: Is WPF dead: the present and future of WPF

#13

Post by mu_killnine »

TheMakeA wrote: post #9
mu_killnine wrote: post #4

As a developer for my company's internal LoB tools, I really enjoy WPF more than Winforms. I feel very empowered and, as a Microsoft shop, it seems to be really great for meeting a specific aesthetic and function for my users. Could I do it in a web app? Probably. But it would take a lot more work for me and I'd be battling compatibility with IE7 (yes, we're still on IE7) as the corporate web minimum spec. WinRT felt…

If you have the choice to deploy a WPF app, couldn't you ship something using chromiumembedded to get the benefits of a web app without worrying about browser compatibility? In the past, I've even dropped a CEF WebView into WPF and had the UI in HTML/CSS/JS.

Perhaps. I am not familiar with the project.

But if you've already got a captive audience able to run anything .NET 4.0 and above (incl. async/await via Bcl.Async libraries) with the rich experience of WPF, why bother shoehorning a web application as a solution?

Our users are in a manufacturing environment, on a well-known environment. It's practically like developing for a gaming console. And in that light, WPF seems to be a good fit.

Re: Is WPF dead: the present and future of WPF

#14

Post by wolfgke »

zbowling wrote: post #7

I thought this pretty apparent a few years ago? Has everyone still been on the bandwagon and still developing in WPF heavily? I sure Microsoft is not going to kill it but it's not the active area of focus with RT. It's unfortunate. Friends that develop components have had to go from VB6 (native ActiveX/OLE C++ components) to WinForms to WPF to Silverlight (then back to WPF) and now RT. No one UI system to rule them a…

WinAPI is stable.

Re: Is WPF dead: the present and future of WPF

#18

Post by mu_killnine »

ZanyProgrammer wrote: post #12

A lot of the criticism I've heard stems around the steep XAML learning curve. OTOH I've only done WinForms and ASP.NET stuff, so I haven't had first hand experience.

That's a pretty fair criticism. But once you've gotten it, it's very powerful (incredible data binding!). And I think we need to be sure to separate WPF from "XAML".

XAML, for certain, is here to stay for quite a while. I recall talking to Carl Franklin about how Windows 8's UI layer is written in XAML. Given that, I think it's fair to say that the time you invest in XAML won't be wasted if you're a Windows developer. WPF may fade into the background, but WinRT will continue to mature and broaden as a platform (esp. as Windows 10 opens the door to cross-device compatibility)

Re: Is WPF dead: the present and future of WPF

#19

Post by maxxxxx »

mu_killnine wrote: post #18
ZanyProgrammer wrote: post #12

A lot of the criticism I've heard stems around the steep XAML learning curve. OTOH I've only done WinForms and ASP.NET stuff, so I haven't had first hand experience.

That's a pretty fair criticism. But once you've gotten it, it's very powerful (incredible data binding!). And I think we need to be sure to separate WPF from "XAML". XAML, for certain, is here to stay for quite a while. I recall talking to Carl Franklin about how Windows 8's UI layer is written in XAML. Given that, I think it's fair to say that the time you invest in XAML won't be wasted if you're a Windows developer…

Good luck finding a company that uses Win 8 so you can actually deploy a WinRT app.

And wait until they lose interest in WinRT too like they have done with every new technology quickly.

Re: Is WPF dead: the present and future of WPF

#20

Post by Scuds »

maxxxxx wrote: post #15
malkia wrote: post #8

All I can say is - Sticking to Qt5 for now.

If I had to start a new desktop app now I would also go for Qt. I am tired of MS rolling out new frameworks and abandoning them a few years later.

In Visual Studio 14 CTP4 you can still File -> New VB / C# Project -> Windows Forms in same as you could ten years ago, but with the next generation CLR in the new IDE.

It's still _supported_ and there are a ton of vendors still shipping components. Abandoned/EOL/Discontinued is something like FoxPro or Apple's Rosetta emulator. It's not even deprecated.

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