WPF Introduction

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is a next-generation presentation system for building Windows client applications with visually stunning user experiences. With WPF, you can create a wide range of both standalone and browser-hosted applications.
The core of WPF is a resolution-independent and vector-based rendering engine that is built to take advantage of modern graphics hardware. WPF extends the core with a comprehensive set of application-development features that include Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML), controls, data binding, layout, 2-D and 3-D graphics, animation, styles, templates, documents, media, text, and typography. WPF is included in the Microsoft .NET Framework, so you can build applications that incorporate other elements of the .NET Framework class library.

WPF can be used to develop the following types of applications:

1. Standalone Applications (traditional style Windows applications built as executable assemblies that are installed to and run from the client computer).
2. XAML browser applications (XBAPs) (applications composed of navigation pages that are built as executable assemblies and hosted by Web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox).
3. Custom Control Libraries (non-executable assemblies containing reusable controls).
4. Class Libraries (non-executable assemblies that contain reusable classes).
WPF Architecture

For every new technology, it is very essential to have a clear idea about its architecture. So before beginning your application, you must grab a few concepts. If you would not like to know WPF in detail, please skip this section. As mentioned earlier, WPF is actually a set of assemblies that build up the entire framework. These assemblies can be categorized as:

• Managed Layer
• UnManaged Layer
• Core API

Managed Layer: Managed layer of WPF is built using a number of assemblies. These assemblies build up the WPF framework, communicate with lower level unmanaged API to render its content. The few assemblies that comprise the WPF framework are:

1. PresentationFramework.dll: Creates the top level elements like layout panels, controls, windows, styles, etc.
2. PresentationCore.dll: It holds base types such as UIElement, Visual from which all shapes and controls are Derived in PresentationFramework.dll.
3. WindowsBase.dll: They hold even more basic elements which are capable of being used outside the WPF environment like Dispatcher object, Dependency Objects. I will discuss each of them later.

Unmanaged Layer (milcore.dll): The unmanaged layer of WPF is called milcore or Media Integration Library Core. It basically translates the WPF higher level objects like layout panels, buttons, animation, etc. into textures that Direct3D expects. It is the main rendering engine of WPF.
WindowsCodecs.dll: This is another low level API which is used for imaging support in WPF applications. WindowsCodecs.dll comprises a number of codecs which encode / decode images into vector graphics that would be rendered into WPF screen.
Direct3D: It is the low level API in which the graphics of WPF is rendered.
User32: It is the primary core API which every program uses. It actually manages memory and process separation.
GDI & Device Drivers: GDI and Device Drivers are specific to the operating system which is also used from the application to access low level APIs.

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