A few years ago I saw Kevin McNeish give a presentation at DevTeach about imitating the iPhone interface with WPF. He did an amazing job! I came across his article a little while ago and I've always said I would give it a try, but I just kept putting it off. Well, this weekend I decided enough was enough and it was time to try it out. It was very cool!
The idea wasn't/isn't to make another iPhone or an emulator, but to use it as an exciting way to jumpstart your WPF learning.
There are SOOOOOOO many ideas, concepts, facets to WPF/SL/XAML that it's hard to know WHERE to start! I've been there, done that, got frustrated too! Most likely JUST like you! Well, I'm here to say, if you check out Kevin McNeish's example, it'll give you a leg up on learning WPF/XAML! It takes you from nothing to at the least experiencing layouts, resources, and animations. Ya, it gives you some really cool animation examples! I guarantee you'll surprise yourself at how easy animations are in WPF (think PPT)!
Summary of concepts you'll learn from Kevin:
- WPF hilights
- What you need to get started (based on Blend 2 but can still use with Blend 3)
- Creating WPF apps in a fun, non-intimidating manner (ie, no Entity Framework here, just focusing on the key stuff)
- Windows vs Forms
- Asset Library
- Resources
- Event Handlers
- Layouts (this is key to becoming comfortable with XAML)
- Creating user controls
- Dependency Properties
- Animations (Timelines and Triggers)
So, if you're trying to learn about WPF, check out Kevin's link. I did, that pic up on the top right is my efforts. I learned a couple of new tricks from Kevin this weekend! Thanks!
Now that you're on your way to learning WPF, grab a coffee and get coding!
Resources:
Code: http://www.pchenry.com:8080/svn/blog/trunk/2009/iPhoneImitator
CODE: WPF Meets the iPhone