Five useful web resources for WinForms developers

The Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) has emerged in the last few years as a means of developing rich, next generation applications and so there has been some speculation as to whether it will supersede WinForms. Part of the .NET Framework, WinForms has been a staple for designers building desktop applications for a long time now. Fundamentally, it lets them build powerful user interfaces. It’s involved in responding to events when users interact with the system - clicking on a button or filling in a text box for instance.

Whether or not WinForms will actually be dropped remains to be seen, but what we can be sure about is that Microsoft have put it into maintenance mode. Bugs will still be fixed as and when, but it will no longer undergo development. WPF on the other hand is receiving lots of attention and with end users expecting more advanced interfaces and the ubiquity of touch screens there has been lots of debate as to whether or not WinForms has a future.

Nonetheless, many developers continue to use WinForms on a regular basis for all sorts of builds, and the lack of attention and support it receives is of some concern. Fortunately, an active community of developers still exists around the class library and there are numerous online resources where devs can seek help. We’ve filtered through the noise to bring you five web resources for WinForms developers that we think are really helpful.

Who still uses WinForms and why?

While WPF does a lot of the things WinForms does and more, it doesn’t do everything in the same way or as well. The emerging consensus is that they can in fact live side by side and carry out slightly different roles. Until WPF really matures, WinForms is still going to be an important part of the developer’s toolkit for many years and keep bringing developers back:

 

• It is stable and tried-and-tested. Basically, you can depend on WinForms
• While some developers will want to use WPF for its advanced capabilities, WinForms is actually still perfectly sufficient for the needs of many dev teams
• WPF is complicated, has a steep learning curve and not instantly attractive. You’ll often need to bring in their party components or employ a designer to make it look good - WinForms is much easier to use by contrast
• For internal business applications, WinForms remains the fastest option for development.

 

So, while WinForms may not be the most state of the art tool, it remains very useful and support can be found on the following websites:

1. Code Project

Code Project is a community website which provides articles on an enormous range of topics relating to coding and development. It includes in depth articles, guides, quick-answer forums, discussion and community features. Within this vast range of information, there’s a lot of great content about WinForms. For those with a burning question, the quick answers section is particularly useful and can help you find solutions; as with many issues in coding, you can almost always be sure that someone else has had the same problem as you before and knows how to deal with it. Code Project lets you dive straight in.

2. Microsoft Developer Network

The advantage of using WinForms is that it is so stable and established. As a result, the support for developers from Microsoft is pretty comprehensive. Microsoft’s articles can be a little dense sometimes, but you can find almost anything you need to know if you have the patience. What particularly stands out with the website is the quantity of code available to help devs get started and learn how to write for WinForms. And of course, you know that you’ll be getting your information from the official source.

3. Infragistics Windows Forms toolkit

Infragistics offer an extensive range of components and controls which help developers deliver cutting edge interfaces for WinForms applications. For developers using our different tools, we offer extensive guides and references to working with them. This means that when you use our Windows Forms tools you can be sure that you’ll have full support whenever you have a question or are lost.

4. Mono Project

Microsoft have put much of their code out to open source and the community can contribute to and learn more about WinForms on Mono-Project. It offers guides on developing WinForms, debugging, tutorials and FAQs too. Visiting Mono-Projects will put you on the cutting edge of WinForms developments and keep you up to date with the latest news.

5. Dot Net Developer Blog

Finally, this blog by Raj Eash offers a comprehensive take on all things in the .NET Framework. Its offerings on WinForms provide devs with practical tips and guides on less common tasks and activities they might want to carry out with WinForms and this is what really catches our eye. Besides that, it also provides a huge source of walkthroughs on related .NET development tasks.

Get what you need

Each of the above sources approach developing for WinForms differently; some provide in-depth guides and tutorials while others offer simple walkthroughs for specific tasks. Although Microsoft have brought WinForms into its maintenance stage, it continues to be supported by a vibrant community which can help developers with almost any challenge they encounter.