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Brilliant post. (VB is an odd duck; it's component based; not object oriented; but it gained my interest in components that I fashion extensively to this day).
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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WPF was the last product of the Old Microsoft. It has a steep learning curve, it's purpose is to make a Windows application not looking like a Windows application (formerly known as skinning), so it is not really for LoB apps.
The Cool Kids on the Code Block developed MVVM for it, which is a method to disrupt the normal way of the flow of information between the GUI and the backend (see validation), so it is not really for LoB apps.
Everything beyond that is just the usual dumbing down of Windows to the UNIX/Machintos level.
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About the bonus question:
There are better platforms for VB6, for example VBForums.
There are probably only a few questions for VB.Net syntax. Framework questions can also be answered via C# answers. That's how I do it.
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A bunch of reasons:
1) In most cases WPF doesn't solve anything that WinForm can't solve. The amount of customizations and pipelines that you can make with WPF are useful on large interconnected desktop applications - which aren't many;
2) WPF and .NET documentation sucks terribly. It's a giant reference manual without any explanations on how the various pieces should be glued together. This situation is improving, too slowly.
3) WPF does not support native development, WinForms supports both native and .NET. It wins.
4) WPF is simple. Most of the time the real work is behind the scenes and you really need a UI only to interact, briefly, with the backend. The tool I'm maintaining to flash and operate on the equipment manifactured by my company for example would not benefit from the additional complexity of WPF: we need a bunch of buttons, a bunch of textboxes and some radio button or combobox, and the occasional slider.
GCS/GE d--(d) s-/+ a C+++ U+++ P-- L+@ E-- W+++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
The shortest horror story: On Error Resume Next
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Could you explain point #3 -- what you mean that WPF does not support native development?
If you are referring to APIs such as Win32 (or any DLL with Exports), that's what PInvoke is for, and is GUI agnostic. COM and COM InterOp is also fully supported.
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I use WPF almost exclusively.
I have to admit it was a very steep learning curve, but now I will not touch WinForms anymore.
The new flavours of XAML are not fit for purpose. (UWP, WinUI, MAUI)
This is the biggest mistake made by Microsoft: Having multiple dialects of XAML.
Why incompatible versions of XAML.
If we have a WPF project, we can't 'upgrade' it to something more modern without months (years) of work and bucketloads of money.
C++ is for bare metal programming. We will NEVER use C++ with a GUI.
And for VB6:
I worked for a company that used VB6 for their main applications.
They didn't want to rewrite in WPF, so I left.
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VB6 Dead... I hope so... have a feeling as stuff breaks it will emerge from the depths to haunt us (COBOL made a comeback a few years ago!!)
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COBOL didn't make a comeback. It's been there all along, doing its job. In 1981 I was told that COBOL was a dead language and no one should learn it ... 40+ years later it's still the backbone of many large organizations, both government and private sector.
IIRC, it hit the news because too many of the programmers were retiring without replacements. That's a serious problem -- a friend of mine came out of retirement 3 time for mainframe projects. My group is ready to retire its last MF program, replacing it with a web app. The primary MF programmer retired 6 years ago and his understudy retired in December, so we're on the edge.
I watch the VB news, simply out of curiosity. There are (or were) several groups trying to revive it. And there are VB6 and VBA jobs out there. I wouldn't recommend it for new grads as the future looks negative, but ya never know. In the mid-90's I didn't think Java was viable ... 
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If you don't need advanced/fancy UI Microsoft itself suggest to use WinForms.
WPF is for "media" applications, not for enterprises.
Data centric desktop applications are super easy to build with WinForms, that is also revamped now in .Net Core.
If you add to the recipe ReactiveUI then you will have a modern application, fully testable, protecting you investments for the next 10sh years.
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The decision maker receives a prototype within 3 days. And then he can't understand that the final version (with a more maintainable GUI) should take 6 months.
But we have hope. Maybe someone will build an AI that turns a WinForms application into a functioning, well-described and easy-to-extend WPF application.
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For your first and last (bonus) question: I write in VB and mostly Winforms.
Why still WinForms or other older technologies?
Because older technologies are proven. And invested in.
I have build a complete ecosystem around Winforms during my career, that will cost a fortune to migrate to WPF or any other GUI framework. Further, the ease of the designer and also the ease of runtime generated UI code - not matched by any other GUI framework. And, as most of my software will run on Remote Desktop - al lot of them with high latency and none with GPU acceleration - no other framework gives the same userexperience (performance) as WinForms.
Why VB?
Because I started out as a Basic Programmer in the nineties, and VB does all I need.
The Bonus question - why you don't see much VB on Code Project or anywhere else.
That's because we learned. As soon as you ask your question in VB, you are not taken seriously. So, we just convert anything to C# before we ask a question.
The same for an article. If it's VB, the chance is really small that it will be allowed. So, also in this case, we convert it to C# and publish it without a problem. Or just gave up and do not try to share anymore.
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While Microsoft denies it, they have largely abandoned VB.NET developers.
I'm a VB.NET web developer, and there is no way forward with Microsoft's newer .NET Core framework and VB.NET. Razor Pages or Blazor would be great for me if I could code in VB.NET, but instead I have to switch to C#. It also means my web applications have no migration path.
Sure, I can switch to C#, but it truly pisses me off that they have left me hanging in this way.
So why am I still choosing this older technology?
* There is nothing wrong with it.
* I have a LOT of existing VB.NET projects that I support for clients, and with no migration path, I'm leaving them as is. My clients don't pay me to rewrite apps just to change the language/technology with no tangible benefit for them.
* I have some C# projects that I support, but I don't enjoy it. VB.NET is a joy to me, which makes me very productive.
* I am stubborn.
--Pissed off VB.NET web programmer
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I hear you! I'm one of those rare folks that like the VB.net/WPF combination.
I actually went from VBA to VB.net and pretty much skipped classic VB all together.
I've never understood how C# became the defacto MS language other than it's [only slightly] less verbose. The case sensitivity in C# is the thing that really makes me not want to use it...Of course, this is just my humble opinion. I'm sure there are reasons that C# works better for others.
But with all that said, these days I'm in a role where I don't do any coding, and with the current software development landscape, I'm pretty okay with that.
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Yep, case sensitivity is pretty annoying to me, too.
Those of us who started with .NET 1.0 were told for years that selecting C# or VB.NET was a "lifestyle choice", and either was fine. And I believed them.
I can even understand that there is no easy migration path for the move from WebForms to MVC or Razor Pages. I get it. But now I'm supposed to not only completely rewrite all these web applications, I'm also supposed to do it in a completely different language? Not a chance.
You are lucky you are out of coding these days. While I love writing code, I don't love the current software development landscape, as you put it.
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Our own heavy-duty native C++ scientific application is built around the MFC framework. Despite our toying with several shiny new things from Microsoft over the last couple of decades, we somehow continue to see MFC and Qt as being the only serious contenders. Please keep all those MFC tips and tweaks coming. Your audience is still very much out there.
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I’ve never done anything in C++ or MFC or WPF so I can’t comment on any of those. For most of my career I’ve worked in some version of Basic (DEC Basic, GW Basic, Borland Turbo Basic, MS Access Basic, VB for DOS, VB6, VB.Net, VBA) and then more recently got into C#. Worked for over 13 years on a legacy app that was written mostly in VB6 with some com interop stuff written in VB.Net and C#.
Basic isn’t completely dead. After the 13 year gig ended I ended up working for a place that had some VB6 code that needed to be maintained while they were going through a conversion. A couple years ago I worked for a mortgage company who used a popular loan origination system called Encompass. It allows company to setup rules that look very much like Basic (actually, I think you can write them in C# as well but not sure about that).
I have to say that I actually enjoy working in C# way more than Basic but if I ever find myself unemployed, I won’t necessarily turn down a job just because it’s in Basic.
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I've been programming in MFC C++ since its inception. And Microsoft has been maintaining it completely. MFC has survived and been significantly enhanced by all of the C++xx upgrades. Just yesterday, after working all day with Copilot, we finally solved a particular coding goal of being able to instantiate either a common implementation or a specialized implementation controlled by one explicit template line of code. All type safe. All ODR compliant. Anyway, my point is, MFC has always been the most future-protected choice for me and well as close-to-the-metal performance, all without inserting extra layers of indirection.
Ever since I read Jeff Prosise's book on MFC where he wrote about the speed and coding beauty of the low-lying connection to the OS, I was hooked. A layer of indirection means you are dependent on that vendor's development whims which jeopardizes your code. Yes, I am dependent on Microsoft, but my C++ code is by and large not and could be ported. That can't be said of my code if I were dependent on other layers and ephemeral programming languages. I want my code to survive forever. Is that so bad?
modified 3-Mar-24 8:06am.
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I find Windows Forms' popularity in 2024 inexplicable, I'll be honest, but I will defend MFC and WPF.
If you want to use C++ and want to fully leverage Windows and aren't worried about cross-platform, there's still no better option than MFC. The thing to remember about MFC is it literally is a set of FOUNDATION classes. You can still utilize every modern Win32 API you want to. MFC just takes care of the most obnoxious parts of the scaffolding and UI interactions that you really don't want to be dealing with, and it's stuff in Windows that hasn't changed in decades. So MFC really by definition will continue to be relevant and usable indefinitely as long as Windows exists, most likely, and really needs no significant updates. Your alternative is to use pure Win32 with no helper framework. If you really want to do that, you might as well just write in assembly too. 
WPF is in a somewhat similar boat except it's C# and XAML. It is infinitely flexible and extensible. I mean, there's literally no application UI you can conceive that you can't do in WPF given that you can completely retemplate any control and even use Direct3D if you want to. You might be doing a lot of the work yourself, but it's doable, so again, it sort of by definition has an indefinite shelf life.
As for Forms, it's more or less the C# equivalent of MFC, but WPF offers far more flexibility in customizing UI, so unless you hate XAML for some reason (though you actually don't HAVE to use XAML if you really don't want to) I don't see why you'd pick Forms over WPF today. Nonetheless it is on par with MFC and WPF in terms of reliability and scalability so I also don't begrudge anyone who uses it.
Other than those three (MFC,WPF,and Forms), none of Microsoft's application frameworks are suitable for enterprise or commercial productivity applications. UWP is more or less on par (IMO) with Android and iOS for dinky consumer "apps" but out of the question for anything that needs to scale. WinUI3 came with a lot of hype but years later still suffers from stability problems, and not being open source I'm not going to let myself be 100% reliant on Microsoft to fix their bugs or find workarounds (wait, I guess it finally is open source as of late last year, so maybe that will be an option soon). MAUI (nee Xamarin Forms) is a sad parody of its former self. Blazor Hybrid, I don't even know what the @!%*% that's supposed to be.
And Visual Basic? Well remember VB.NET is just a programming language and is actually equivalent to C# line-by-line. Based on Stackoverflow questions people still use VB.NET both with WinForms and WPF. So it's not like VB is an alternative to WPF or Forms; it's an alternative to C# and still alive. It ain't my cup of tea but some people I imagine just find the syntax more approachable.
modified 28-Feb-24 14:41pm.
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Can only speak for myself. The one project where I use C++/MFC is one that was started back in 1997 when MFC was state of the art. The project has grown to over half a million lines of code. No money/sponsor to recode the whole thing. It's only a small part of my job now.
I know lots of other languages/platforms, but when I want to quickly build a tool I reach for C# WinForms. If it ever gets to the point where I can't quickly make a program, I'll look elsewhere. But, I hope to be retired before then.
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Speaking only for myself, when writing desktop apps, I use WinForms targeted to .NET 8, writing in C# as I have for the past 20+ years.
The main reason why, is that there is a UI designer for WinForms that allows me to spend a lot less time on creating a professional "look and feel" and more time on the other things that count, such as validation, efficiency, scalability, and making the backend (or libraries if it is stand-alone) better designed, coded, with good exception handling front end and backend.
The lack of a UI designer for XAML (Xamarin, MAUI, etc.) and HTML/CSS (Blazor) and for WinUI steers me away from them. Without a UI designer, even with "Hot Reload", the additional time to hand-code UIs is ridiculous. MS had a WinForms designer that did what it does now, back in the 1990s. A small team created that tool, and MS bought the app and hired the team. I don't know if this lack of a "visual" UI designer in "Visual Studio" does not speak well of MS, or the capabilities of the current crop of software engineers at MS, or both.
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I am the lead for a WinForms app, still targeted for Framework 4.6.2, that is 90% VB.NET and 10% C#. Roughly 1.5 million LOC. This is an enterprise app supporting US Air Force electronic warfare. We started the app back in 2005 and it's still going strong and expanding today.
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There are many legacy apps, that it just might not make sense to convert.
And that should be fine. And very pragmatic.
Although there is nothing saying you can't use WPF in a WinForms control[^] if you want.
Thomas Baker
Sr. Software Engineer
W.w. Grainger, Inc.
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I guess, being honest to yourself will also provide a valid answer.
They just didn't die yet
WinForms and WPF were said dead by MS, then they grabbed them back from the dead with .NET 8 (at least for me).
I'd suppose the C++ stuff was handled the same way, there might not be a "newer" option.
And after all, Xamarin now MAUI, Blazor, UWP and what else they came up with, how long did or will that last?
It seems like MS is focusing on what they have, Desktop -> you'll stick to WPF and WinForms, Web -> you'll probably use Blazor if you like an easy transation to the web instead of learning Typescript and Angular.
I mean, the heck, WPF still has no own file browser and needs to rely on WinForms there!
And MAUI... well you wanna play the app game then eh?
Just my 2 Cents on that 
Rules for the FOSW ![ ^]
MessageBox.Show(!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(_signature)
? $"This is my signature:{Environment.NewLine}{_signature}": "404-Signature not found");
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I have been working in WPF for over 10 years and still using the standard .NET Frameworks such as 4.6. I like WPF since it is like developing with "WebForms". However, and admittedly, it is somewhat harder to use than "WinForms".
All I have seen with the introduction of the new .NET Core Frameworks is what they no longer support. "WebForms", the best web development environment ever created despite its issues; dropped. WCF, for distributed development; dropped and told to use someone else's distributed development tools. WPF Designer; still struggling to be as good as it was. VB.NET; evolutionary development dropped. C#; so many new features that I find the editor in Visual Studio 2022 too bloody annoying to use, so I went back to Visual Studio 2019. ASP.NET Core is a mess as Blazor can't seem to make up its mind whether it is going to maintain its MVC roots are move back to a "WebForms" style of development paradigm.
"WinForms" is still probably the most stable platform in all of the frameworks mentioned so why wouldn't developers continue to use it?
Steve Naidamast
Sr. Software Engineer
Black Falcon Software, Inc.
blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
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Greetings,
Organizations don't want to fund migrating from older methods to something newer until they absolutely have to. My last company had apps using VB (Classic), VB.Net, and C# with Winforms and a few WPF and MFC apps as well as COBOL and Salesforce. There were a few inhouse apps using Access.
Some of the clients were all about using the newer tech however balked at the cost of training and converting.
Cegarman
document code? If it's not intuitive, you're in the wrong field
Welcome to my Chaos and Confusion!
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