Re: WPF--a threat to WinForms?
- From: JDeats <Jeremy.Deats@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:31:49 -0700 (PDT)
WPF has been a long time coming and is a response to many things. I've
been following the evolution of XAML since at least 2004. It came into
being because Microsoft needed a vector based run-time to compete with
marketshare Adobe Flash was getting. Adobe actually hired Mark Anders
from Microsoft's ASP.NET team to head up what became Adobe Flex which
is also an XML based markup aimed primarly at creating RIA (Rich
Internet Applications) but with the capability of the compiled code
running outside a browser a a cross-platform desktop application (see
Adobe AIR). There are other XML based RIA frameworks as well. XAML/WPF/
Silverlight (confusing isn't it).
Are ASP.NET WebForms threatened by WPF/Silverlight? Absolutely. Just
like classic ASP was threatened by ASP.NET, we've always moving
forward. The problem ASP.NET (PhP, RoR, JSP, etc...) is that they
output HTML, CSS and JavaScript markup. HTML itself has become a
bloated mess, with companies investing too much money trying to build
robust desktop grade applications on top of script and markup based
frameworks never designed to tackle the job they are being put to use
for. The new RIA XML based markups (such as XAML) offer a clean
slate.
The only problem now is that there is no unified standard (in spite of
Microsoft's efforts to standardize XAML, which they have). Adobe's
Flex has the largest market share and Silverlight has only recently
started to make some waves. It's a long road ahead for these
frameworks, but I sure hope one of them represents the future because
I believe they represent cost-effective ways to deliver robust
applications. I would like to say there will always be cases where it
would make more sense to use HTML/CSS/JavaScript based solutions, but
the trurth is the HTML/CSS/JavaScript stack is destine to become
legacy technology.... Web browsers will have to support it for
backwards compatibility sake and I'm sure billions of sites will
remain, but there will come a point when most new development is not
HTML/CSS/JavaScript based.
WinForms is less threatened by WPF because of the nature of WinForms
applications. In my opinon Enterprise desktop applications already
have a very rich framework with WinForms and quite effective set of
controls to get the job done. From an architecture perspective I don't
see WPF having a lot to offer over WinForms to most enterprise desktop
application developers, but Enterprise web applications certainly
could benefit from the paradigm WPF offers, it's a very dramatic,
empowering shift for a web developer.
WPF on the desktop just gives developers wanting to unify the web and
desktop experience an option. Over time it will probably replace
WinForms, but I could see WinForms sticking around for a few
generations.
.
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