1.2. WPF: A Higher-Level API

If the only thing WPF offered was hardware acceleration through DirectX, it would be a compelling improvement but not a revolutionary one. But WPF actually includes a basket of high-level services designed for application programmers.

The following are some of the most dramatic changes that WPF ushers into the Windows programming world:

  • A web-like layout model. Rather than fix controls in place with specific coordinates, WPF emphasizes flexible flow layout that arranges controls based on their content. The result is a user interface that can adapt to show highly dynamic content or different languages.

  • A rich drawing model. Rather than painting pixels, in WPF you deal with primitives—basic shapes, blocks of text, and ...

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