C# Compare Windows Forms vs WPF vs UWP

[@bounty1402]

WPF has many more advantages: you can use vector graphics, build an application compliant to automated tests, etc. Anyways it's too complex for beginners.

[@wayahedia9989]

@M T No. UWP is falling into non-favor now.

[@rahulmathew8713]

WPF Rocks . No more silly flickering and boring looking UI Windows Forms.

[@aba22125]

@@rahulmathew8713 Man wtf is wrong with WPF, I've added PNG images and they're blurry and jittery, the f***?>

[@FightClass3]

@@aba22125 WPF is garbage lol. It's better than WinForm, but it's not better than UWP.

[@aba22125]

@@FightClass3 Never tried UWP, but I'm having great success with WPF so idc about UWP, maybe I'll check it out on my next project.

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

What's funny is, coming from Java background back in my RIT days, when we approached UI, we learned the java method of creating a flow of grids, panels, etc. and adding elements to initialize the window in our constructor which would add elements in sequence and "build" the scalable page. This was back in 2006-2008ish. We were coding for Sun Solaris machines or Linux machines. The approach is basically how WPF/UWP kinda sorta work. lol. Back before Vista and WPF were even a thing. In the "newer" XML layout, you can both construct your XAML file, or you can add elements to each stackpanel, grid, etc. in code with Children.Add, etc. which is actually quite familiar to how I'd build a gui in Java back in the day. lol Also, while I'm new to Windows development and happened to peek in here, while "WinForms" may have only existed since 2002/XP, the concept of a "Form" with drag and drop UI elements dates back to Visual Basic 3 for Windows 3.1 or perhaps even earlier. lol. It's almost the same concept.

[@lukaskob-themightyblueape8633]

Hi. :) UWP now works on Xbox, tablets, PCs, HoloLens also. And was working on Windows Phone too. The UWP apps are no longer full screen. They are just like any other app in a window.

[@zinlinhtun1510]

Yes, and with the support of Xamarin Forms you could just make app for UWP and other mobile platforms in a shared codebase. I do love WPF but I think Microsoft future is on UWP. One thing about Xamarin Forms' support for UWP is that the control are much easier with Tablet-like Designs on PCs, say Rounded Button, where we would have to use lots of Styles and resources in WPF. The only drawback would have to be the limitations in release.

[@baseljuma158]

I think whatsapp for windows 10 is developed in UWP

[@hahaitsme]

@@baseljuma158 It wasn't when you made this comment. It still isn't. WhatsApp Desktop is an Electron app (Webview of website). A beta version with UWP is in the works.

[@wayahedia9989]

Skip WinForms altogether and use WPF. WPF is not an enhanced version of WinForms. If you're telling your students to skip WPF and learn Winforms you're wasting their time , in 2020.

[@slapmyfunkybass]

Not really, they’ll still be using some kind of programming language, either c# or vb, which will help them learn concepts. You can still write a program in Winforms and it will run, you’re just following the hipster bandwagon.

[@artoke84]

why..is Winforms bad?

[@wayahedia9989]

@@artoke84 WPF is a far more advanced system. It isn't 'bad' but it is very dated now. (even more than when I posted here) Google a little to learn the differences between the two.

[@artoke84]

@@wayahedia9989 I just searched and learnt new concepts such as what is net core and net framework etc great stuff and I have seen in action how WPF and Winforms are used in real time to make desktop windows applications and both seem valid choices. WPF is very powerful as opposed to the more limited (and yes, dated) Winforms, however my conclusion is that Winforms still has its use where you will not need the flexibility of WPF, also for teaching C# to non programmers (like myself) who come from visual background. In my case I am a graphic designer who sees software as just tools, in that sense to drag and drop components to the canvas is fun and allows for rapid development if just for educational purposes. For serious stuff however WPF seems to be the best choice but it requires deep change in mindset (again, for "visual thinkers").

[@wayahedia9989]

@@artoke84 If you're starting now and you're serious, start with .net5 and WPF. You can drag and drop and much more. In fact, you can write programs without even touching xaml. You can create all of your controls in code behind if you wish. Not that I would suggest it but when I was learning wpf, under the gun, I did very little with xaml. In my opinion , XAML is one of the worst things MS has ever given us. But when you get used to it you won't go back. If you're into graphics, WPF is miles above WF because of its rendering engine and the ability to custom design any UI element.

[@starkex7230]

WFA - Good, but very limited, when designing UI it is pain, you can't moving form, every adding/renaming/replacing/moving is very slow and stuttering. WPF - vector graphics, fast, smooth, but harder to learn/understand, ifyou are new and never do at least WFA App. And you need to know something little about XML (but actually you do not have, believe me) My recommendation is WPF not only for smooth newer designing, but also it is overall better.

[@aljiee]

WinForms - good for applications that doesn't need a good-looking UI WPF - good for applications that needs a good-loooking UI and more stable UWP - good for applications if you want your UI to look like Windows 10 or 11 (sinceadapts the modern fluent design UI) personally, i don't recommend using WinForms. It is very hard to design your UI there. i prefer UWP then WPF

[@LuisFelipe-pq9lr]

Whats the difference between WPF and UWP, why both of them exists?

[@blackberry1622]

At last someone who shows what you are going to dive into

[@shadsluiter]

Hope you can find something useful here.

[@fnfal113]

I'd go winforms for small apps that doesn't need complex UI designing, its just that efficient and gets the job done. in the end users does not give a fuck about what stack you used but how you resolve their problems

[@randypenajimenez3893]

WPF has the code structure advantage. Winforms doenst allow you to apply good design patterns

[@sfidencio]

Windows Forms viverá ainda por muitos anos, podem acredita. Embora WPF seja flexível quando se trata de [INTERFACE RESPONSIVE], mas com Windows Forms, trabalhando com componentes por exemplo da DevExpress, é possível realizar muitos feitos. Me acostumo fácil com HTML e CSS, mas com essas TAG's XAML parece que não vai..eu ainda gosto do System.Windows.Forms, os [EVENTS]...e etc.., trabalhar com DataGridView, ListView, TreeView enfim, muito mais produtivo que trabalhar com interfaces WPF e UWP...

[@baseljuma158]

UWP is for windows 10 applications you can develop an app that can be in Microsoft store

[@TuTAH_1]

I used WinForms before, just switched to WPF and althrough I like xaml, I feel how much its limited. I can't imagin how can anyone call WPF a great framework if it doesn't have such basic things as graphs, Textbox's placeholder, etc. out of the box. If I click "open all WPF Controls, it can fit just in one screen

[@VilerVicious]

Hello. I am literally getting crazy, trying to implement an USB controller (like a joystick or gamepad) that will allow navigation inside my tiny windows forms application (it's very basic: a menu with 4 buttons, that is all). I can't find a proper way to do that. Can anybody help me please? I am using Visual Studio code 2022, running .NET 4.8. THanks!!

[@naufalam7840]

does uwp app is the same as windows 8's metro app?

[@robwalker4653]

This is all very misleading. I've been working with desktop applications in windows since about 2002 and have used winforms, wpf, metro/uwp/winui 3. I wouldn't advise people to go with windows forms. Whilst it's still supported and I still work on windows forms projects. WPF is much better. If you like the drag drop functionality of winforms you can still do all that with WPF. But you can also build a form from code if you're more used to building apps with html and css. But the GUI with wpf is much more performant as it uses DirectX to render. So when it comes to wanting to go beyond the basic existing tools you have more options. It also supports animations if you want to make your interface a little slicker. WPF is also easier to quickly design forms that will work on multiple screen resolutions/scales in my experience. There's also more support for touch screens. UWP has more similarities with WPF than winforms as they both use XAML as the design language, but the major difference is that UWP was designed to run on the windows store platform.

[@ebentechstudio]

why don't we drag and drop the controls from the toolbox onto the wpf window to quickly create the UI as we do in winforms? please can you help me with this ? because it seems it takes alot of time to craete the UI for wpf.

[@richardschofield2201]

You can, but if you drag and drop, the UI doesn't know how to resize those objects if the window size changes. You can drag and drop to get started, but it's better to type it out (or drag and drop and delete all the sizings) to make it interactive

[@ebentechstudio]

@@richardschofield2201 thank you

[@CubeAmaterasu]

thank you very much, I'm coming from web development (mongodb,expressjs,angular,nodejs) And i can relate windows forms pretty much as a frontend framework to build the user interfaces (like bootstrap) but with a drag and drop builder aproach... based on this, what would be the equivalent for ExpressJS in this windows enviroment? i would like to build a REST API pointing out to my Mongo or SQL database...

[@horses2572]

ASP.NET

[@BobcatSchneidermann]

Thank you sir, that was a very informative video.

[@Switchplayar]

Very nice explaination, thanks

[@InventorDBA]

Wait, so is winforms outdated or not and should I use it in 2021? I am getting confused by the comment section.

[@sukhmitbhullar7181]

WinForms is still supported by Microsoft. Many institutions are still relying on applications that were built on WinForm. But should you build something in 2021? I'm not sure as well.

[@vandeljasonstrypper6734]

UWP is by far better than all Win32 WPF, WCF or Winform not only it allow you to write in a any type of language, but create stunning UI with WinUI + the best way to go cross-devices inside Windows echo system. Old WPF please, that old Silverlight is the worst way to build UI these day

[@SimpMcSimpy]

You can have stunning UI with WinForms or WPF without all sandboxed limitations of UWP crap.

[@vandeljasonstrypper6734]

@@SimpMcSimpy explain to me what sandbox limitations you have ?

[@patrikn7723]

'1950s' - that would have been quite advanced by then :-)

[@shadsluiter]

Suppose 60s then

[@LifeWithSeb99]

I thought it's XAML not XML? Or is it the same thing?

[@aljiee]

it's XAML.. but it also works like XML..

[@anonub]

Nice content

[@attalaw36]

Thank you that is a very useful course 👍 1000.

[@nilanshusharma9183]

Thanks

[@obvinpro]

you were so wrong about UWP

[@shadsluiter]

I stand corrected. Perhaps I am thinking of an older version of uwp.

[@envplayz]

i am 12 yrs old but i started at WinForms Like You Said But Now WPF(Windows Presention Foundation)

[@darudeSandstorm.]

thank you

[@ZaneBastian]

Yikes, this video was fine until it hit WPF and UWP after which it started to get a bit misinformative. UWP is certainly NOT just a tablet framework, it was a framework that was developed to allow programmers to create a single UWP program that could then run on any Microsoft platform (Windows Desktop, Tablet, Phone, XBox, Windows IOT that runs on embedded devices like a raspberry pi). Microsoft's success with WPF and UWP depends on who you ask, but they are generally considered to be less successful than good ol winforms.

[@santoshkumarsingh3487]

Great video. Can you pls make a video on how to make LAN voting app. In which there will be a server app which will update the data of candidates and the user will vote and the results will be shown in server app; using windows form app.

[@mohammadhosseinnezhadhendi6819]

hi,thanks for Video. Xaml is language of View Of Wpf , man!!!! not XML!!!

[@shadsluiter]

Yes, you are right

[@muddledlindy73]

UWP is for Win8? No. UWP is a Windows 10 technology. UWP is for tablets? No. UWP was designed to support touch interfaces but its a full fledged desktop technology. UWP isn't universal? Across Windows current Windows platforms it is. Running on Windows 10 (Intel and ARM), Windows IoT, Xbox One and HoloLens.

[@YoungMerle-f6v]

Smith Edward Anderson Edward Thomas Donald

[@anoniemoss3566]

Each framework listed sucks for different reasons. Wpf is easier to make layouts in and in a lot of ways, easier to get an app off the ground. WinForms does not have anything like XAML. Layout containers are not as full featured as WPF. WinForms will compile and run a bit faster however, in my experience. Ultimately you even if you use WPF, you will still need to make calls to WinForms librarys for some things. Both options suck. .NET sucks. Make better C++ frameworks and people won't need this nonsense.

[@k1i1d1u1s]

If you are a beginner and watching this c# is not a good language, to begin with

[@aljiee]

yes. it has the complexity of C++ and resembles like Java (in terms of readability) Java is a good starter one