Fluent Visual Basic®

16. WPF Controls

Now that you’ve learned how to write XAML to define your user interface, it’s time to look at the widgets that WPF provides for building your applications. Like any object, WPF controls provide state and behavior, but what sets WPF apart from most UI platforms is that their appearance is only a default.

Microsoft calls WPF controls “lookless,” which is a little misleading. It’s not that they don’t have a look, but rather that their look can be completely changed. As we’ll see in Chapter 21 when we examine control templates, you can completely change the structure and appearance of any WPF control. Want a 3-dimensional image of an elephant that turns into a mouse when it’s selected and behaves like button? No problem. The WPF ...