What are the advantages to doing WPF in Expression Blend?

Question

Hi,

I've been learning WPF and checking out Expression Blend. As far as I can tell, Visual Studio can do everything it can and more. Why do people use Expression Blend? Can it do anything VS cannot?

They say its geared for "designers." What tools does it have for designers that VS doesn't? Couldn't designers just use VS?

Answer 1

There are several things that Expression Blend does better, or is only possible in Blend.

Some of those things are:

• DRAWING vector art, paths, etc
• Data binding dialogs with properties and complex options
• Re-templating

These are just a few. Although these things can be done by hand in XAML, they are sufficiently easier in Blend. If all you want to do is simple layout, then Visual Studio and XAML are fine. If you want to get down and dirty with the UI, then Blend is certainly the tool to use.