Selecting application types in WPF?

Hello Friends,
As we know WPF - Windows Presentation Foundation is the latest technology introduced by Microsoft in .Net Framework 3.5 and later version.
Let first have a brief look at what is WPF?
Windows Presentation Foundation is the Successor of Windows Forms for desktop application development. Wpf Application differs from traditional Windows Forms Application in several ways. The most notable is that code for the user interface is separated from the code for application functionality. Although the code for project can be done in C#.net , vb.net, etc but the user interface of a WPF project is typically defined using a relatively new declarative syntax called Extensible Application Mark Up Language(XAML).
Wpf development support three kinds of application:

1. Windows Application
2. Navigation Application
3. XAML Browser Application(XBAPs)

Each of the above application has its own benefits and drawbacks and let us check when and where to select which type of application.

1. Windows Application

Windows Application are most similar to Windows Forms applications. Windows applications are Microsoft Windows-driven and provide user experience that is familiar to Windows users and developers alike. Multiple windows can be open at any given time, and there is no built-in sense of navigation or history. We can have the full access of user machine such as Registry, File System. It uses the Windows as their Top-level user interface (UI) element. Window derives from Content Control.

When to use Windows Application?

• For a user experience that most closely resembles a traditional Windows Form application
• Menu driven, multiwindow application that combines the rich functionality of a desktop with the rich UI that WPF provides.

2. Navigation Application

This application provides a page-based user experience, similar to the experience of using Web Site. Typically, only a single page can be open at any given time, and the journal functionality keeps records of pages visited and allows back-and-forth navigation. Unlike a Website, however, a navigation application is a compiled application that runs on your desktop computer and, like a Windows application , has full access to the resource of your computer.It uses the Page as their Top-level user interface (UI) element providing similar look and feel as website.

When to user Navigation Application?

• For user experience that more closely resembles a Web site, you should choose a page-based application. Navigation applications and XBAP applications provide built in navigation functionality that allows you to structure the application paralleling a task, such as in an Internet shopping application or wizard.
• If application require to access System Resources that fall outside the Internet Security Zone, then XBAP is not a good choice, a better choice would be a Windows application or Navigation application

3. XBAPs Application?

XBAPs application are similar to Navigation Applications, but they are designed to run in Windows Internet Explorer. These applications can be deployed to a server or to a Website and are downloaded when instantiated. Applications of this type do not have full access to a computer's resources. XBAPs run under a partial-trust environment, and resources such as the file system and registry are inaccessible by XBAPS. It uses the Pages as their Top-level user interface (UI) element. XBAP application is not installed on the User machine and thus they have default rights of Internet zones. Howeover, it is technically possible to run XBAP under full trust but it is not recommended because doing so gives full access of your system resources to an application from an untrusted location, thus creating security risks. XBAP are allowed to access isolated storage.

When to use XBAP Application?

• When you want to deploy the application to a WebServer and have users start if from the hyperlink, thus making it easily accesible to a large-scale audience.
• If your application does not require access to system resources, XBAP might be good choice.

Thanks,

Paras Sanghani

Thanks,

Paras Sanghani