I know I know. One of these days I'll set one up.maybe!
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
On Behalf Of Shane Morris (Automatic Studio)
<[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, 5 December 2011 5:25 PM
To: ozWPF <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: Getting up to speed in wpf
Carl you definitely should blog this.
Shane
Shane Morris | Automatic Studio | [email protected] |
+61 438 818 888
On 05/12/2011, at 7:03 PM, "Stephen Price" <[email protected]>
wrote:
+1 what he said.
(still rocking back and forth holding knees)
On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 2:56 PM, <[email protected]>
wrote:
Hi All,
I'm coming back after 3 weeks off with a new baby injury, and
have read this whole thread with the usual dread. I've been doing
nothing but WPF XAML development now for 2.5 years and consider myself a
proficient Devign Zombie as SB puts it (I thought I was the only one!).
I'll try to cover multiple emails in this post.
. Don't even consider using the VS designer. When Blend
came out I took the time to learn how it works (by numbing my developer
brain with alcohol and letting my design instincts take over). Once you
learn how to drive the Blend interface it's actually a very sweet tool.
Yes it's buggy as hell, which is why I only use it for standalone test
/prototyping. Don't bother pointing it at a real project because it's
almost guaranteed not to work. Just start a new project, use it to work
out your immediate UI design problem, and then copy the XAML to your
real project.
Even being proficient in Blend (+ Sketchflow), I find I spend
about 50% of my time using the XAML editor (or VS pointed at the same
test project) to do my coding. It does a fantastic job of turning drag
and drop into XAML, but I still take the time to clean it up by hand.
It's an awesome tool for learning about XAML control properties
and styles too, and I did learn a lot back about each control from it
back in the day. I use it every whenever I'm designing a new
window/control and it is why I remain productive. I recommend taking
the time to learn using it.
[Aside: the upcoming VS designer apparently uses the same code
base as Blend (finally) so my opinion of the VS designer may change]
. Learning XAML is bloody painful. I think this is the
reason why people who have learned the skills have burned it from their
memory and don't take the time to help out. It's painful to dredge up
the memories of "how I solved this problem with that control in this
situation" so I guess we tend to hold our knees to our chest and rock
gently when we're reminded of what we actually went through.
Every control has quirks, and most of them have many. Learning
XAML is all about developing your own approach to solving t he problems
you come across while doing real work. There are so many ways to solve
each problem, but after a while you learn what works for you and develop
technique. But it takes many, many, -many- hours of work to get there.
And there are so many problems that are similar that require different
techniques to solve, but eventually you learn how to spot the most
likely ways to resolve problems.
. Learn about the Panels first. This is the way you
carve up the surface to get your high level layout right. Sketch the
layout on paper, and then use your designer to roughly position
everything. Blend is awesome here because the design surface is
actually running and (almost) always shows you exactly what things look
like when you run them.
. When you're running, use Snoop to tweak properties to
get your layout right. At the same time, load the XAML file in a
different editor (notepad, another VS instance) so you can add the mods
you're making with Snoop into your code. That way you run you reduce
your run / stop / change code / run cycle a lot less.
. The biggest AHA moment I had with XAML was realising
that when you add properties to converters you can do amazing things. I
use converters a hell of a lot to complement the data binding process,
and they are an extremely powerful tool.
. Behaviours are another really important way to create
nice code. Attaching behaviours to elements is a very powerful concept,
and you should learn to use it effectively (eventually). I don't wield
them anywhere near as converters, but they are very important to have in
your arsenal.
. I don't use any aspect oriented programming to handle
raising property changes. I agree it's a little old school needing to
raise property changes, but I want to control when this happens myself,
and make some effort to ensure I don't raise property changes willy
nilly.
I -do- use VS snippets a hell of a lot to be productive at
creating code. I also use AutoHotkey to dump out XAML quickly. Don't
use resharper (*spit*); VS is bloated enough without adding a tool that
replicates 80% of what it does in a different way. And I don't use VS
addins that help write XAML. Between snippets, AutoHotkey, and the
awesome editing power of VS code editor (and sometimes a bit of Excel to
generate large, repetitive chunks of XAML), you can spit out the code
you need real quick (even though sometimes there is a lot)
. &nbs p; Learn to use #region to organise your view
models into appropriate pieces of code. Collapsible code regions are an
underrated way of removing clutter while you are writing code.
. The main project I'm on is a very large business
application and thanks to WPF we can make some really slick stuff
relatively simply. Most of the benefits come now that we have our
established framework (View generation, messaging system, etc) in place
and we can focus on just producing stuff. The project is about 5/6
years old now and we're using a customised version of CAB and it does
the job. I'd love to try some recent frameworks
(Windsor/Caliburn/Prism/MEF) but at the moment I'm only able to work
during business hours. My point is, once you have the big pieces in
place you won't have to worry as much about them, leaving your problem
solving capacity to dealing purely with XAML quirks and layout.
. Don't think about designing uber-coo l looking new UI
that will have everyone gagging with envy. It was only after years of
working at it that I'm now finally able to use what I'm learning to
dream about UI like this and implement it. Do the hard yards and learn
how to think XAML first, then you will have the capacity and ability to
build whatever you can design.
. The best way to be productive with XAML is to slow
down. Plan your changes; draw sketches, prototype, make comps using
Photoshop, do -everything- you can to ensure what you want to build will
work before y ou start coding. Keep these plans available for when you
want to change existing UI so you can ensure the changes will work.
Once you start coding you'll be spending most of your time solving
quirky problems and won't have the capacity to update the design due to
issues that arise; do what you can to ensure you know exactly what the
UI will look like before you code
I wish there was an easy path to learning XAML but I don't think
there is. However the very from up here is awesome; I wish everyone
could enjoy this as much as I do!
Carl.
Carl Scarlett
Senior .NET/WPF Developer, UX Designer | Genesis
IT & Change Management | Bankwest
A: Level 5, 199 Hay Street | Perth | Western Australia | 6004
P: (08) 9449 8451
M: 0408 913 870
E: [email protected]
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From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kirsten Greed
<[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, 23 November 2011 7:46 AM
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Getting up to speed in wpf
Hi All
I am new to WPF and missing the winforms way of doing things .
I am wondering about the best way to get up to speed
Do people usually set the data source and drag drop controls
onto the designer - or use write XAML - or us e Expression Blend - or
something else?
Pros and Cons?
Thanks
Kirsten
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