WPF binding question - wpf

Question

For example, I have:
MainWindows.cs
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public List<Player> List;
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
List = new List<Player>()
{
new Player() {Id = 1, Name = "Tom"},
new Player() {Id = 2, Name = "Bob"},
new Player() {Id = 3, Name = "Any"},
};
comboBox1.DataContext = List;
}
public class Player
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public int Id { get; set; }
}
}
XAML: <ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding}" DisplayMemberPath="Name"/>
How I can (need to) set List as a DataContext from the XAML? (and delete "comboBox1.DataContext = List" from the code-behind)

Answer 1

unless you're using MVVM u don't need to do that, but in any case, use can create the List as a property of the window like so
public List<Player> List {get;set;}
and then in XAML u can use RelativeSource to bind to the window:
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=List, RelativeSource={RelativeSource AncestorType=Window, Mode=FindAncestor}}" DisplayMemberPath="Name"/>
alternatively, u can give a name to your window:
<Window .... x:Name="MyWindow" ..>
and then use ElementName in the binding, like so:
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{Binding Path=List, ElementName=MyWindow}" DisplayMemberPath="Name"/>

Answer 2

Quick fix is setting your ComboBox's ItemsSource directly in code-behind (instead of DataContext), but in order to be able to use proper bindings you'll need a ViewModel or at least a XAML DataContext.
Also you should pick some more unique name than List for your List, like for example Players – it's good practice to use the plural form of the type of Objects in the List.