Beginning Microsoft® Visual Basic® 2008

Chapter 6. Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML)

In the past, user interface (UI) designers have often relied on tools like Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop to develop screen mockups of Windows applications and HTML for web applications. Although these tools do provide designers with cutting-edge tools to create graphics, they are limited to creating graphics and have limited ability to create actual Windows forms and web forms. Up to this point, these limited tools have hindered UI designers from creating rich user interfaces, forcing them to rely on developers who have access to tools like Visual Studio.

Microsoft has recognized the separation of duties between UI designers and developers and has created a new language and a new set of tools to assist UI designers, allowing them to create the Windows forms and web forms that will be used by developers to create world-class applications.

This new language comes in the form of the Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML), pronounced Zammel. Because XAML is an extensible application markup language, the language defines the elements of the user interface. This allows not only Microsoft to create tools for designing user interfaces such as Expression Blend and Expression Design, but other companies as well. One such example of this is the Aurora XAML Designer from Mobiform Software, which enables UI designers to create user interfaces for Windows and web applications.

In this chapter, you will learn:

• What XAML is and how it ...