Learning Windows Forms vs. Windows Presentation Foundation

Question

So I've been thinking of going for Microsoft certification and I have to make a choice (for now) between Windows Forms and WPF for developing Windows applications. I have had good exposure to Windows Forms but never tried WPF before. Furthermore, most of the job postings where I live seem to be WinForms-oriented. That might change in the next few years, so I was wondering if I should get started on learning WPF or stick to the tried and true Forms.

Any insight?

Answer 1

WPF leverages XAML for the design/visual experience this is the same technology that Silverlight uses and in the future will be leveraged heavily by other aspects of .NET 4.0, specifically, WCF (web services) and WF (workflow).

I would highly recommend learning it if you have the cycles, however for certification purposes it might be easier to just go ahead and do the WinForms exam as WPF is quite different and in my experience had a bit of a learning curve (because of how different it is from WinForms).

Answer 2

Lots of useful discussion here:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/57909/when-creating-a-new-gui-is-wpf-the-preferred-choice-over-windows-forms

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/76522/should-my-c-net-team-migrate-to-windows-presentation-foundation

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/53796/is-windowsformshost-fit-for-purpose-net-wpf-hosting-winforms

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4347/where-is-a-good-place-to-start-programming-guis-for-windows

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/121947/c-net-35-gui-design

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37843/what-is-wpf

Essential WPF texts:

http://www.sellsbrothers.com/writing/wpfbook

http://www.charlespetzold.com/wpf/index.html

Answer 3

In "enterprise" programming, I don't see an immediate need for WPF development. The reasons for this:

1. Companies are not running on the newest hardware, and tend to migrate to remote desktops (RDP/Citrix).
2. A developer can design a decent interface using Windows.Forms controls. In WPF, you need a designer. In large companies there are designers, in most companies I know, the IT department is staffed with programmers and system-engineers, no designers.

Software for the "home market" is another story.

Answer 4

If you want to go the certification route to learn then WPF is a good choice. It will take a few years before it will really take over from winforms but It's a safe bet it will so it's a good investment to learn.

If you're more of a self learner and just want to get certified to improve your chances on the job market then I'd go with winforms for the certification. You can pick up WPF when you need it. By the time you really need to have a WPF certification it will probably be easier for you because you've already used it.

Answer 5

• Although most current dev.positions will focus on WinForms (or ASP.NET for that matter), WPF is starting to get accepted as a 'serious' platform. With serious I mean that people are starting to think about using it for LOB-applications. With the release of Prism it's clear that Microsoft is starting to promote WPF in other ways than just the 'eye-candy' features. This means WPF is going to be presented as a WinForms alternative pretty soon.
• Learning WPF will mean you'll also learn Silverlight at the same time. So you have two modern technologies at your disposal. [Added] -WPF has more to offer than just the eye-candy and you can benefit from it a lot without being a creative genius. The API is intuitive (and fun) and can offer a lot of improved productivity.

In short, I'd say if you want to be 'future-proof' learn WPF.