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Hey everyone,

I'm running into some performance issues when trying to implement a UI with deeply nested `Grid` and `StackPanel` elements in WinUI 3. The data structure is hierarchical, and I'm trying to represent it visually using XAML. While it looks good, the scrolling and rendering become quite laggy when there are many levels of nesting.

Has anyone encountered this and found effective solutions? I've considered using `ListView` or `GridView` with virtualization, but the complex structure doesn't map directly to a flat data source that those controls typically work best with. Maybe there's a custom panel I could create or a specific XAML pattern to avoid?

Any advice or best practices would be greatly appreciated!

Hi DevDude88,

This is a common challenge with complex UIs. For deep nesting, relying solely on standard panels can indeed be problematic. You're on the right track with virtualization.

Key strategies:

• Virtualization: Even for hierarchical data, you can often flatten it for display in a virtualized list. You might need to create a ViewModel layer that represents the currently visible "slice" of your data.
• `ItemsRepeater` (WinUI 3): This is a more flexible control than `ListView`/`GridView` and can be combined with layout panels like `StackPanel` or even custom panels while still offering virtualization. It's designed for more dynamic and complex scenarios.
• Data Virtualization: If your data itself is also large and expensive to load, ensure you're only loading the necessary data for the visible items.
• Custom Panels: For truly unique hierarchical layouts, consider creating a custom `Panel` derived class. This gives you full control over measure and arrange passes, but it's more involved.

I'd recommend investigating `ItemsRepeater` first. It might be the sweet spot for your use case.

Echoing XAMLMaster, `ItemsRepeater` is your friend here. You can use it with a `StackPanel` or even a custom `VirtualizingWrapGrid` if needed. The key is to ensure your data source is correctly structured for virtualization.

What kind of data are you displaying? If it's tree-like, you might need a structure that allows expanding/collapsing nodes, which `ItemsRepeater` can handle elegantly with template selectors.