2007 / September 27^th/ Getting started with WPF: Installation

Lately I’ve been diving into WPF development. Not WPF/E (aka Silverlight) — but WPF as in the Windows Presentation Framework. WPF is the new foundation for Windows application interfaces. It’s based on two primary technologies: XAML and C^#. It is what was touted “Avalon” in the early days of Longhorn (aka Vista) and is pretty promising from an application development standpoint.

Without a doubt, getting started with WPF was the most frustrating experience of my life. It took me around 10 hours of working (granted not just on setting up) to get myself setup. Installation instructions are plenty: but most deal with outdated links, old SDK’s and are just plain wrong. This guide was written on September 24, 2007. I cannot guarentee the links or steps will remain correct for any amount of time. The instructions below are the result of a fresh install of XP to WPF development my second time through.

Quick-Install Guide

• .NET + Windows SDK (1hr)
• Visual Studio 2005 Express C^# (45min)
• Visual Studio WPF Extensions (5min)
• Expression Blend (optional)

Overview of the downloads

Here is my best try and explaining the downloads. I’ve pieced this information together from a lot of sources, and while much of it feels like rambling: I feel there is valuable information here that might save you some headaches down the road.

.NET 3.0 + SDK (Free)

These are the raw internals that power WPF. It installs some useful applications such as XAMLPad, but most of the usefulness is the ability to run and compile applications that leverage the WPF framework. This installation takes a very long time. On my test run, it took one hour — but expect varied results. The first time I tried, it took all of about 20 minutes — however my co-worker’s install took the better part of 3 hours.

Visual Studio ($$/Free)

So here’s the deal: you’ll need Visual Studio to edit and build WPF applications. Luckily Microsofot does offer some free versions of this editor. These are labeled “express” editions. There are currently two versions available: 2005 and the 2008 beta. The 2005 version is based on .NET 3.0 — while the 2008 version is based on .NET 3.5. Applications built in 2008 are not compatable with .NET 3.0 — so beware it’s not just the editor that’s beta, it’s the whole WPF framework it’s based on (.NET 3.5). Pick the 2005 version: stay away from 2008.

Then there’s the paid version. Paid versions will give you a visual representation of your application called Cider (a “design” view if you will). This is somewhat useful, but with the 2005 versions it is somewhat unreliable and can mis-render your XAML code.

Either way you go with the 2005 version: you’ll need to install the WPF extensions so you can get Intellisense (code-completion tied into the API) and the templates needed to create new WPF projects. Do not forget these extensions. They are vital.

Microsoft Expression Blend ($$)

The last part of this puzzle is a piece of software called Microsoft Expression blend. It is not technically required for WPF development, but development without this piece of software is almost foolish. Once you start diving into WPF, you’ll see that everyone has expression blend. Microsoft does offer a 60-day free trial: so you might as well take advantage of it. However, keep in mind that editing raw XAML in Blend is painful and it’s downright impossible to edit the codebehind (C^# files).

Frequently asked questions

Here’s a collection of questions I came up with myself while getting started with WPF.

Can I work with WPF for free?

Yes it is possible to develop WPF applications for free (assuming you already own a valid, activated Windows license). Visual Studio 2005 Expression will give you the tools you need to create, edit, and build a WPF application into a .exe deliverable.

Do I really need Expression Blend?

Yes you do. I know it seems contradictory to the first question, but if you’re serious about working with WPF, Blend is absolutely neccecary. Much of the syntax in WPF is very convoluted and you’ll need Blend to give yourself another interface (other than code) to see what your application is doing. Especially once you start working with the animation engine (Storyboards)

What is Avalon?

Avalon was the code name for the new presentation framework for Windows Longhorn. Longhorn became Vista. Avalon became WPF.

What is WPF/E?

WPF/E stands for Windows Presentation Framework Everywhere — meaning all operating systems and platforms. WPF/E became Silverlight. It is a subset of the WPF framework, but relies on the same general ideas that WPF has to offer.

But really.. what is XAML?

XAML is two things in one: it s a method for describing vector objects, and a way to describe C^# classes through XML. If you’ve used Adobe’s flex: it is much like MXML except that it also provides ways to describe vector and 3-D objects through pure XML. This is why you can export XAML from applications like Illustrator and Maya. XAML describes both the visual and how the visual works.

Why don’t my code examples work!

If you are typing in code from published books, weblogs, or even the MSDN documentation and it comes up with errors: you’re not crazy. Much of the code samples that exist online and in the documentation are from a state of WPF when it was still in development. Certain aspects of WPF changed drastically from conception to release (for example, the entire animation syntax). This isn’t pretty, but it’ll save you some headaches: don’t trust published code. It may very well be incorrect.

Conclusion

It may seem a little strange to dedicate a whole post just to installing the tools needed to get going with WPF: but I guess that’s the nature of Microsoft development. WPF is actually a very cool technology for desktop development, and something that I’m starting to enjoy a little bit. Here’s hoping that Microsoft cleans up the development environment for those new to MS development.

In the coming weeks I’m going to try and give and overview of what WPF is and how you can leverage it to broaden your skillset (what’s just-a-web-designer worth now anyways?). WPF has made the application development space available to a lot more people than just the hardcore C++ gurus — and here’s your chance to jump into the market.

1. 

   Geof Harries

   September 28^th | #

   You make me feel so inadequate. Here I am, barely making through a chapter at a time in my Flex book, and you’re already onto WPF…man.

2. 

   Kyle

   September 28^th | #

   Haha, don’t feel too bad. I’m still kind of at the novice/intermediate stage of Flex. If I had my way, I’d be spending more time learning that then learning this — but such is the downside of getting a regular paycheck.

3. 

   Danielle Boyd

   October 5^th | #

   I am looking for someone who can design some websites. The sites need to be very functional ie uploading pictures, message boards and more.
   Can you please direct me to where I need to go to find someone who can do those types of things?????

   Thank you so much Danielle

4. 

   Andrew Benton

   October 18^th | #

   Damn you, you must have more hours in your day than I do. I am really going to try to make myself sit down and learn some new technology. Good article.

5. 

   Sérgio Peixoto

   November 6^th | #

   Hello, nice work.
   I have a problem with VS express 2008, maybe you can help me.
   I coded a simple application in VS2008 Express Beta2. I used also the expression blend. Everything works fine in the PC that I used to develop the application. But, When I try to run it in other computer it doesn’t work… Anything happens.
   I installed .net framework 3.5, the only thing I haven’t installed is vs2008 Express Beta2.
   Do you have any clue of what’s happening.
   Thanks a lot

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