WPF API Overview

Welcome to the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) API documentation. This overview provides a high-level understanding of the core components, namespaces, and concepts within WPF.

Note: WPF is a powerful UI framework for building Windows desktop applications with rich visual experiences. It separates the user interface from the application logic, enabling more flexible and maintainable development.

Key Concepts and Architectures

WPF is built on a rich set of features and architectural principles:

1. Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)

XAML is an XML-based declarative language used to define user interfaces. It allows for a clear separation between the presentation layer and the code-behind logic.

XAML Example

<Window x:Class="MyWpfApp.MainWindow"
                        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
                        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
                        Title="My WPF Application" Height="350" Width="525">
                    <Grid>
                        <TextBlock Text="Hello, WPF!"
                                   HorizontalAlignment="Center"
                                   VerticalAlignment="Center"
                                   FontSize="24"/>
                    </Grid>
                </Window>

2. Dependency Properties

Dependency properties are a new type of property system introduced by WPF. They provide advanced features such as property value inheritance, data binding, styling, and animation.

3. Routed Events

WPF introduces routed events, which can travel through the element tree of an application. This allows events to be handled by any element along the route, not just the source element.

4. Data Binding

The data binding system in WPF enables a flexible connection between UI elements and data sources. This significantly simplifies the process of displaying and manipulating data.

5. Styles and Templates

Styles allow you to define reusable appearance properties for UI elements. Control templates enable complete customization of a control's visual structure and behavior.

Core Namespaces

The WPF framework is organized into several key namespaces:

Common Namespaces

  • System.Windows: Contains fundamental classes for WPF applications, including Window, Control, and DependencyObject.
  • System.Windows.Controls: Provides a rich set of UI controls such as Button, TextBox, ListView, and DataGrid.
  • System.Windows.Media: Deals with graphics, imaging, and multimedia, including classes for drawing, brushes, transformations, and animations.
  • System.Windows.Shapes: Defines primitive shapes like Rectangle, Ellipse, and Line.
  • System.Windows.Data: Houses the classes for WPF's data binding capabilities.
  • System.Windows.Documents: Supports rich text capabilities, including FlowDocument and TextRange.

Application Structure

A typical WPF application consists of:

Further Reading

Explore the following sections for more in-depth information: