Where do we go from here? What are the next steps to learning WPF? First of all I assume that you have some basic knowledge of computer programming and the language C#.

What did I do? I learned most of WPF from Google and a book by Adam Nathan called WPF 4.5 Unleashed by Sams Publishing. You can read most of the first 100 pages or so over at Google Books.

This website is called Begin Coding Now. Since you probably want to get started quickly, I provided the previous three posts. Next, you might want to jump into the topic of content controls. This is chapter 9 of Adam Nathan’s above-mentioned book.

Have a look at the the post here called WPF Controls Introduction. We also have a series of posts that start with XAML in the post called C# XAML Introduction.

In chapter 5 of Adam Nathan’s book, he talks about panels. After experimenting with some controls, It’s a good idea to explore panels. Panels help you with the layout of your screen.

Adam Nathan’s WPF 4.5 Unleashed book

I want to look at some of the chapters of the book I purchased for an overview of WPF. Below is the list of chapters.

1. Background
2. XAML Demystified
3. WPF Fundamentals
4. Sizing, Positioning, and Transforming Elements
5. Layouts and Panels
6. Input Events: Keyboard, Mouse, Stylus, and Touch
7. Structuring and Deploying an Application
8. Exploiting Windows Desktop Features
9. Content Controls
10. Items Controls
11. Images, Text, and Other Controls
12. Resources
13. Data Binding
14. Styles, Templates, Skins, and Themes
15. 2D Graphics
16. 3D Graphics
17. Animation
18. Audio, Video, and Speech
19. Interoperability with Non-WPF Technologies
20. User Controls and Custom Controls
21. Layout with Custom Panels
22. Toast Notification

To get started quickly, practice with the controls, like labels, text boxes and buttons. Experiment with properties. Then move over to panels to practice layout.

Instead of Hello World projects, jump into the Real Word in the next post, part 4.