Development Path

RealistSpy

Hi,

I am back again with more questions . So my final year is fast approaching and I am already think about my final year project. I am thinking of using WPF + Blend for my final year project but it might not be accepted cause the project might seem too easy.

Is WPF + Blend Expression 4 still worth learning?

I am only interested in desktop GUI development and Software Framework development am I in trouble regarding employment? The problem is not learning languages like php, html, javascript etc it's just I don't find them interesting and I can't motivate myself to practice them.

What do you think the future of desktop GUI development?

Thanks in advance.

Colonel Panic

I don't think the desktop is going anywhere just yet and XAML will serve you well when it comes to both desktop WPF apps and WinRT stuff too.

Dean_Mc

Realistically to get a day job you are going to have to know WinForms....

My prediction is that WinForms will still struggle on like the bloody Zombie it is, Win8 apps will start to gain popularity and then you will see a big up turn in WPF to match the sexiness of Win8 apps without the marketplace restrictions. By this time I reckon WPF will undergo a few changes to make it WinRT compatible...

philologos

Dean_Mc wrote: »

Realistically to get a day job you are going to have to know WinForms....

Really? - I thought most firms would regard WinForms as pretty much redundant by now.

OP: WPF is widely used still, as others have mentioned for desktop applications. Personally from what I've looked at in the Metro apps side of things, the framework is limited in comparison to what you can build with C# / WPF. I don't think Metro apps are ever intended to replace Windows desktop applications, rather one is meant to complement the other. I mainly work using WPF / Prism while also tweaking an ASP.NET website, building WCF webservices / tweaking, extending and overriding protocols on ASMX (legacy SOAP webservices).

Personally I'm interested in learning Metro development, but I don't think it's going to take anything away from WPF any time soon.

I'd still recommend that you learn WPF, it's widely used at the moment, and it looks like it will be widely used into the future too.

Dean_Mc

philologos wrote: »

Really? - I thought most firms would regard WinForms as pretty much redundant by now.

OP: WPF is widely used still, as others have mentioned for desktop applications. Personally from what I've looked at in the Metro apps side of things, the framework is limited in comparison to what you can build with C# / WPF. I don't think Metro apps are ever intended to replace Windows desktop applications, rather one is meant to complement the other. I mainly work using WPF / Prism while also tweaking an ASP.NET website, building WCF webservices / tweaking, extending and overriding protocols on ASMX (legacy SOAP webservices).

Personally I'm interested in learning Metro development, but I don't think it's going to take anything away from WPF any time soon.

I'd still recommend that you learn WPF, it's widely used at the moment, and it looks like it will be widely used into the future too.

I've waded through enough waffle and job descriptions to know WinForms is still the top dog, you just can't bloody kill it.

Personally the quicker it dies the better. And I agree with your assessment that WPF is the one to learn but most WPF places want pretty advanced starters, that means guys who understand how to properly compose WPF app's... A skill I think best learned by bleeding over WinForms for a few years..

RealistSpy

Thanks guys.. I am working on a WPF user control library just to know my way around WPF. I am enjoying it so far.