Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) (formerly known by its code name "Avalon") is a brand-new presentation framework for Windows XP and Windows Vista, the next version of the Windows client operating system. For developers, WPF is a cornucopia of new technologies, including a new graphics engine that supports 3-D graphics, animation, and more; an XML-based markup language (XAML) for declaring the structure of your Windows UI; and a radical new model for controls.

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation, authored by Microsoft Software Legend Chris Sells and WPF guru Ian Griffiths, is the book you need to get up to speed on WPF. By page two, you'll have written your first WPF application, and by the end of Chapter 1, "Hello WPF," you'll have completed a rapid tour of the framework and its major elements. These include the XAML markup language and the mapping of XAML markup to WinFX code; the WPF content model; layout; controls, styles, and templates; graphics and animation; and, finally, deployment.

Programming Windows Presentation Foundation features:

• Scores of C# and XAML examples that show you what it takes to get a WPF application up and running, from a simple "Hello, Avalon" program to a tic-tac-toe game
• Insightful discussions of the powerful new programming styles that WPF brings to Windows development, especially its new model for controls
• A color insert to better illustrate WPF support for 3-D, color, and other graphics effects
• A tutorial on XAML, the new HTML-like markup language for declaring Windows UI
• An explanation and comparison of the features that support interoperability with Windows Forms and other Windows legacy applications

The next generation of Windows applications is going to blaze a trail into the unknown. WPF represents the best of the control-based Windows world and the content-based web world; it's an engine just itching to be taken for a spin. Inside, you'll find the keys to the ignition.

Updated samples and change notes for the move from the February CTP to Beta 2 are now available from the example site: http://www.sellsbrothers.com/writing/​avbook/