Even if the interface
is designed from scratch by a graphic designer, you??™ll need to re-create it with VB code.
Usually, the graphic designer will simply prepare a mock-up that you need to translate
painstakingly into your application.
WPF solves this problem with XAML. When designing a WPF application in Visual Studio,
the window you??™re designing isn??™t translated into code. Instead, it??™s serialized into a set of
XAML tags. When you run the application, these tags are used to generate the objects that
compose the user interface.
nNote It??™s important to understand that WPF doesn??™t require XAML. There??™s no reason Visual Studio
couldn??™t use the Windows Forms approach and create code statements that construct your WPF windows. But
if it did, your window would be locked into the Visual Studio environment and available to programmers only.
In other words, WPF doesn??™t require XAML. However, XAML opens up worlds of possibilities
for collaboration, because other design tools understand the XAML format. For example, a
savvy designer can use a tool such as Expression Design to fine-tune the graphics in your WPF
application or a tool such as Expression Blend to build sophisticated animations for it. After
you??™ve finished this chapter, you may want to read a Microsoft white paper at http://
windowsclient.
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