Which WinForms CompositeUI environment should I choose?

Question

my team a few minutes before developing the main application for our company, and we encountered roadblock in our design. my team is developing a WinForms application in C #, .NET 3.5.

The first thing we need to do in our design is to decide which CompositeUI structure to use. Well, at first we were sure that we would use CAB. but is he the right choice, given that P&P is no longer in it? What about the Acropolis? Is he stable enough and will be here for the next few years?

So, this is my question: what is the structure that is stable enough and suitable for an application that will lead my team over the next 3-4 years?

I need your help. thanks!

Answer 1

If you are going to make WinForms, Smart Cient Software Factory is the way to go. From what I saw on the market, most people are moving away from WinForms and moving towards WPF. I am in the process of evaluating what I will need to transition my company from WinForms to WPF. I like WinForms support right now, but if your time horizon is 3-4 years, I highly recommend that you take a look at WPF instead.

Answer 2

If you want to stick to Winforms in every way, there are many third-party solutions (such as Empinia or the Genesis Hybrid Smartclient Framework, which is shown on CodeProject ), in addition to the Smart Client Factory software. The question remains whether they are stable enough and have enough endurance to still be for 3-4 years.

On the other hand, if you are looking at a rather long time, given that WPF can really pay off. Yes, this is a learning curve, and yes, tool support in VS 2008 is not quite up to tobacco. But with VS 2010 everything will be much better, and Microsoft will invest a lot of workforce in WPF - VS 2010 itself is written in WPF.

For WPF, there is a P & P guide in the form of Prism , which is very promising and looks very well thought out. Switching to WPF also brings you additional benefits, basically knowing Silverlight “for free” (this is a subset of WPF, in fact). This can be an added benefit.

Mark

Answer 3

Glenn Block has published several recommendations that might be of interest.

And Brian Neuss actually made a port of PRISM parts for WinForms, but I don’t know how good and stable it is to be used as a platform for the next few years. =)