Can anyone tell me what the difference is between WPF and Silverlight, what features have been added and removed from WPF in order to get Silverlight?
First Silverlight is an implementation of the CLI just like MS.NET and Mono. That is SL owns a BCL and a Garbage Collector among other features while WPF is a library framework. SL provides a subset (an useful one) of the presentation capabilites that WPF offers and add a few things new like VisualStateManager.
you should check the online documentation, there is the complete list.
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I saw a lot of question on this topic and it took me some time to decide whether or not I would write another one ... but I think my question is a bit more complicated ... so here we go.
I'm currently working with a WPF application using MVVM.
The application is built with:
WPF
Prism V2
Ideablade (devforce) to access a database
Avalon dock for the docking feature
Telerik for the grid component
Views and ViewModel are generated with .tt file.
Views are generated in xaml (for WPF) files.
I know that:
Telerik has Silverlight controls
Using Prism V2 will probably help me doing a Silverlight version of the application
I don't know:
If the usage of devforce can be a show stopper
If the usage of avalon dock can be a show stopper
My question:
Appart from generating xaml for Silverlight ... where do I start ...
----EDIT----
Please, avoid any comments like "Silverlight will die" or "Silverlight xaml is a subset of WPF xaml".
It is a proof of concept and should be made using Silverlight. For the xaml, I can modify the application to use only simple ui element that can be both in Silverlight and WPF.
Depending on how you actually used Prism and other frameworks this can be a lot of work or quite easy.
I'd start at the 'bottom' because I'd expect the Models and ViewModels to be quite portable, at least that is what I have experienced so far. She fact that Silverlight more or less forces you to write async code everywhere might encourage you to investigate in (yet another) framework such as Rx
The Views could be quite a hassle; you will have to find controls that provide the same features that you are using in WPF, build them or invent something new. That can be a lot of work.
Another thing to consider is when your WPF app relies on many desktop features you might consider creating an Out of Browser Silverlight App.
As with any project try to find areas that will probably need a lot of attention and do those first; it's a waste of time to get a lot of stuff working to find out later that you will have to replace it because of an impossibility elsewhere.
Is Silverlight a subset of WPF? If i learn WPF then can i say i know Silverlight too?
Silverlight is similar to WPF, and actually started out as WPF/E (WPF Everywhere) but at some point, it became a separate implementation and it is not directly compatible with WPF.
That said, most of the techniques and classes that you would learn in WPF will have a Silverlight variant. One primary exception being the 3D visualization facilities in WPF are not available in Silverlight.
Silverlight is still coded in a Silverlight-specific .NET run-time (a slimmer version than the full .NET run-time) and you still use XAML to describe your presentations.
It should also be noted that Silverlight does have built-in restrictions with accessing resources on the machine it is running on. For example, Silverlight applications can not access the registry. There are enhancements in Silverlight though that do allow for "out of browser" applications which can be given full-trust privileges.
The one big difference between Silverlight and WPF is the CLR (Common Language Runtime) and that Silverlight is Sandboxed, so you don't get alot of functionality you can get with WPF.
If you know WPF XAML and Model-View type aspects of programming styles with e.g Dependency propertys then you will find it quite easy to use Silverlight.
One big thing with Silverlight is that you cant reference C# non silverlight classes, you must use these types of classes via WCF.
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What is the difference between WPF and Silverlight application?
What are the exact differences between WPF and Silverlight?
That's an extremely broad question. My company recently wrote a whitepaper outlining the differences between the two technologies, and it's around 70 pages. Unfortunately, it's not published yet, or I'd give you the link.
EDIT: As promised, here's the link
to the whitepaper on Codeplex:
http://wpfslguidance.codeplex.com/
However, I'll try to summarize.
WPF is a thick Windows client platform that has access to the full .Net Framework. Silverlight is a browser-based technology that has access to a subset of the .Net Framework (called the CoreCLR). So, you'll notice differences using seemingly every day methods and objects within the framework. For instance, the Split() method on the String class has 3 overrides in Silverlight, but 6 in the .Net Framework. You'll see differences like this a lot.
Within WPF, all visually rendering elements derive from the Visual base class. Within Silverlight, they do not; instead, they derive from Control. Both technologies, however, eventual derive from the DependencyObject class up the hierarchy.
WPF, currently, ships or has available more user controls than Silverlight; though this difference is being mitigated through the Silverlight Toolkit and the upcoming release of Silverlight 3.
WPF supports 3 types of routed events (direct, bubbling, and tunneling). Silverlight supports direct and bubbling only.
There's quite a few data-binding differences that will be somewhat mitigated with the next version of Silverlight. Currently, Silverlight doesn't support the binding mode, OneWayToSource, or Explict UpdateSourceTriggers. In addition, Silverlight defaults to OneWay databinding if none is set, while WPF uses the default mode specified by the dependency property.
Silveright doesn't support MultiBinding.
Silverlight supports the XmlDataProvider but not the ObjectDataProvider. WPF supports both.
Silverlight can only make asynchronous network calls. WPF has access to the full .Net networking stack and can make any type of call. Also, currently, Silverlight supports SOAP, but can not handle SOAP fault exceptions natively (this may change in Silverlight 3).
There are huge differences in Cryptography (Silverlight has 20 classes in the namespace, while WPF has access to 107). Basically, Silverlight supports only 4 hashing algorithms and the AES encryption protocol.
Silverlight doesn't yet support: Commanding, Validation, Printing, XPS Documents, Speech, 3D, Freezable objects, or InterOp with the Windows Desktop; all of which are available in WPF.
Silverlight supports browser interop, more media streaming options including timeline markers, and Deep Zoom. WPF doesn't support these features yet.
This is by no means complete as I was trying to reduce a 70-page document into bullet points.
Finally, even with all these differences, Microsoft is trying to close the gap between the two technologies. The Silverlight Toolkit and the WPF Toolkit both address some of the shortcomings of each technology. Silverlight 3 will be adding many features not currently available (such as element-to-element data binding). However, due to the differences in the core libraries, there will always be some Framework differences.
WPF is a Windows desktop technology for developing Windows application in the .Net framework.
Silverlight is a web technology, that is fully supported by a browser plugin on both Windows and MAC (in a similar fashion to Flash). There is also a plugin for running Silverlight on Linux (Moonlight).
While there are similarities between the functionality provided by both WPF and Silverlight (in terms of user interface components and support for XAML) Silverlight is a much small framework, containing a subset of WPF functionality. Newer versions of Silverlight actually contain some functionality not found in WPF, so it is no longer a true subset.
Things that WPF has that Silverlight doesn't: Full 3d engine based on DirectX, Windows integration such as Windows 7 taskbar thumbnails and system registry availability as well as access to the full .NET Framework including Oracle database support. Also, SL runs in a secure sandbox that prevents access to things such as the entire file system where WPF apps can run full trust with complete system access.
As mentioned above, SL pioneered some technologies such as the VisualStateManager which are making their was secondarily into WPF through the Microsoft supported WPF toolkit.
If you're looking to gauge which technology is right for your project here's a simple way to look at it: If you're writing an app that's meant to run while disconnected from the web, or if you're writing an app that needs access to Windows specific features like the ones listed above then WPF is the way to go. For platform-agnostic, web enabled apps Silverlight is an appropriate choice. Hth.
You could say that it is [VERY] roughly analogous to the difference between Flex and Adobe Air, but that is somewhat misleading.
WPF refers to the set of technologies (exposed via APIs) that .NET Framework 3.0 and above users have access to in order to draw to the screen.
Many of the WPF APIs are available for Silverlight apps.
There are, of course many other APIs besides WPF that are available under Silverlight since SL apps will need to do a lot more than just draw on the screen.
I just installed visio, and the installer almost seemed like it was built in flash.
The buttons kinda glowed when I hovered over them, and when I clicked on 'continue' the form phased out in a cool way.
I'm assuming it was built in WPF.
Anyhow, so are WPF more flash-like (visually speaking).
Do they have new properties where you can make forms phase out nicely/smoothly compared to winforms?
Disclaimer: I work for Microsoft. However, I don't work on Visio, WPF, CLR or Silverlight team. So, the following is my personal take on these technologies. If you want to quote me, don't do it implying it's the official Microsoft position. :-))
Update: Anything I say below about Flash/Flex/AIR might be wrong, as I have not worked with these technologies and what I know about them is based on what I read on the intertubes. :-) If you notice anything wrong, just shout in the comment and I'll correct it.
To the best of my knowledge, the Visio installer is not built with WPF. It's all unmanaged code; it's just people took a lot of care to make it really polished.
WPF is the new UI platform for building standalone applications for the Windows OS. It supports a declarative UI language - XAML, and related CLR types to program against. WPF is a different platform than WinForms, although it is possible to build applications that mix UI built with both. WPF supports a lot of things that WinForms does not, like bitmap effects, animations, control styling and so on and exposes them both in XAML or through code. Also, WPF relies heavily on vector graphics, as opposed to the pixel graphics in WinForms. In short, WPF is quite powerfull and allows building very snazzy UI. (Don't take my word for it, though, as I am biased; go check around for what people are saying about it or buiding with it. :-))
WPF and WinForms do not compete with Flash/Flex. WPF and WinForms are both UI frameworks for building standalone client applications. As far as I know, Flash/Flex are frameworks for building rich internet applications - RIA (though lately people started interpreting this abbreviation as rich interactive applications).
Adobe did come up with AIR about half a year (or maybe a year) ago, which allows building standalone client applications, so you could say that Adobe is trying to position Flash/Flex/AIR to compete with WPF. Of course, that's my take on it and I doubt Adobe's official positiong is anything like that.
If you want to compare particular MS technnologies with Flash/Flex, take a look at Silverlight - it's the MS RIA platform.
Silverlight is related to WPF in the sense that they share XAML and the corresponding CLR types. Silverlight supports only a subset of what WPF offers, though, as it is not targeting Windows OS only and thus is limited by the fact that it has to be portable.
Quick update to reflect the changes in the year since I've written the answer :-)
With Silverlight 3 shipped, SL and WPF are getting even closer and sharing bigger set of supported features. In addition, most of the new XAML controls are built for platform at the same time. Thus, SL/WPF are getting to a point of singularity...
Also, SL 3 supports out-of-browser applications. In that sense, SL is not only starting to compete with Flash/Flex, but it is also encroaching on AIR's turf.
And no, I still don't work on the WPF or Silverlight team. :-)
WPF is being used as a replacement for WinForms, and as a competitor to Flash in the form of Silverlight. WPF consists of an entirely new object model that sits on top of DirectX (at least the desktop version). You can create WPF windows, controls, etc, entirely using C# or another .Net language just like you can render WinForms. However, Microsoft has also created a markup language called XAML (eXensible Application Markup Language). Nodes in an XAML document (XML) map to objects in a similar fashion to the way ASP.Net maps to web controls. XAML typically exists in a .Net project alongside a code-behind style C# file (or VB.Net or whatever). The C# file interacts with the objects generated by the XAML. This is fairly consistent with the "graphics via markup, logic via code" model that Microsoft and others are pushing.
One of the overlooked features when discussing WPF is the completely awesome data-binding that Microsoft wrote for WPF. The new data binding framework is a quantum leap beyond Windows Forms 2.0 data-binding. Microsoft added a couple of new interfaces that make it much easier to make an object or collection emit data-biding events properly. They also provided a very rich set of data-binding classes. You can bind anything to just about anything else. You can bind one-way data to control, control to data, two-way control to data and back, control to control, etc.
Back on the graphics side of the house, WPF makes it fairly easy to make an existing control look like anything. WP lets you compose your own template for what a class of buttons should look like, or one button, or all buttons. Or radio buttons. Or labels. You get my drift. Imagine if CSS included the ability to define what an input button would look like using other HTML controls.
They also provide a number of layout controls. You can continue to use exact positioning like in WinForms, or you can leverage of variety of techniques to make your window act more like a web page that grows and shrinks with resizing, etc.
The downsides: It is too easy to create spectacular effects that crawl on slower machines. Some of the graphics do not take advantage of hardware of graphics cards, though Microsoft has incrementally improved support for this. I believe when 3.0 first came out drop shadows were rendered purely using software. I think 3.5 or 3.5 SP1 changed it so that WPF would utilize graphics hardware for the task. Microsoft has said they will continue to enhance WPF in this fashion.
WPF is .Net 3.0 and above, which runs on XP SP2, Vista, and Servers 03 & 08. So don't plan on deploying WPF to a customer with Win2k desktops.
Summary: If you are doing desktop programming in .Net, you should be doing it in WPF unless you are targeting Win2k. You can avoid the downsides of WPF, and there are many upsides. Microsoft will probably throw away WinForms in some future release, or at very least you will stop seeing new features, etc.
As far as Silverlight goes, the betas for SL 2.0 look good. I think that Silverlight will require some wide-spread adoption. Microsoft has already tried to get this going. The NBC Olypmics site used Silverlight, and Major League Baseball uses it for its MLB.tv product. As soon as Silverlight gets a good install base I think you will see the Microsoft side of the development world starting swinging away from Flash and to Silverlight.
Edit after using Silverlight 3 and MVVM:
I have moved away from WPF and am doing a lot of Silverlight 3 development. But I think my comments here will still apply to the WPF developer.
I have been using the MVVM pattern in my app (think MVC with a twist). The Microsoft Patterns and Practices team has released a set of libraries known as Prism that supports various aspects of MVVM. There are WPF and Silverlight versions. Take a look at MVVM and Prism if you are going to be doing WPF or Silverlight development.
You can do a lot of flash w/ Winforms, or with custom components. But if you want out-of-the-box bang-whizz availability, WPF is the way to go.
Yeah, I think the intention is to be flash-like, it seems to me that MS has set its sights on taking down Adobe.
The way I see it: WPF is to Flash as WinForms is to Flex. WPF has more emphasis on vectors and states than on programming.
Can both WPF and Windows forms controls be used within one application? How difficult or practical an idea is this?
It is fairly straightforward to host WPF controls in a WinForms app with an ElementHost adapter or WinForms controls in a WPF app with a WindowsFormsHost adapter. There are not too many resources on the web showing how to do either of these, however. In the process of learning how to do this for myself I quickly discovered the inherent symmetries between the two pathways. I distilled all my notes into an article comparing and contrasting these symmetries using a unique approach: the article is really two side-by-side articles, comparing every step in detail, starting from creating a user control in one technology to hosting it in an application in the "opposite" technology. My article, published on SimpleTalk.com in August 2010 is available here: Mixing WPF and WinForms.
For completeness, here are a couple good MSDN references, one for each pathway. In fact, the demo solution accompanying my article started from both of these:
Hosting a Windows Forms Composite Control in WPF
Hosting a WPF Control in Windows Forms
I believe there is a WindowsFormsHost control you can put in your WPF apps which will do interop back to WinForms code:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ivo_manolov/archive/2007/07/26/wpf-win32-interop-part-1-hosting-winforms-controls-in-wpf-windows.aspx
We hosted significantly complex WPF controls in an existing LOB WinForms app. It can be done, but we did have issues (some no doubt caused by the steep learning curve). These primarily had to do with loss-of-focus events not being fired when expected, and also keyboard navigation issues.
You can also use an HWNDSource and HWNDHost controls to embed WPF controls in a WinForms (or any Win32, really) app.
When hosting non-WPF content (Be it HTML, WinForms, or Win32 content), you will haveAirspace issues. This means you can't completely compost the WPF content with the hosted content. You also can't animate it etc. There are some interesting issues with respect to scrollviewers see here for more details and a fix also.
Yes you can, both Windows Forms within a WPF application, and WPF controls within Windows Forms. www.novamind.com's mind-mapping application is a successful mix of the two technologies.