Develop Reference

How i can create a GUI for SharpDX

I am work with Sharpdx/C# - i'm wondering how Unity/UnrealEngine/CryEngine create their GUI for the Editor.
After some research i find "D3Dsurface" to work with WPF. But the Performance/FPS should be bad.
I cant believe all the engines (http://xenko.com - SharpDX engine) do their own GUI from scratch.
I tried to create a second Winform, it works but not the right approach for me.
best regards alex!

Xenko use this and so do I, it looks really good
Telerik windows forms are really good as they can be themed and tweaked to how you like.
Xenko like my self use the dark Visual Studio theme.
They have a free trial so u can get you feet wet before you go and drop cash on it, they also have a forum so you can ask for help and a few times I have seen them go out of there way to help.
Once you get your hands on the Dev pack you can modify the source and all sorts of cool stuff.
I have tried a few other windows forms controls but I settled on Telerik a few years ago and haven't looked back.
All in all I give them a 10/10 and they have some really nice CPU\RAM profiling tools.

Is there a way to host the c# code editor in a visual studio extension window

I'm working on a visual studio 2010 extension and was wondering on how to obtain an existing language service ( the one for C# specifically ). All the articles I've seen on the web so far are about "Implementing your own language service", but I haven't been able to find any info on obtaining an M<existing one.
Just to provide some context here, the extension needs to open a custom wpf form on demand,in which i want to host a C# code editor window.
I'm not yet sure this is even possible, however any tips would be appreciated.

Well, it took me forever to word this question correctly, but I found a blog post answering the question on Google: Hosting the C# Code Editor in a Tool Window
I know it's kind of rude to just dump a link, but helpful nonetheless I hope.

One thing you can have a look at is the Roslyn CTP. I've seen a demo of it at the Dutch Tech Days last week and it looks quite nice.
It can help you in hosting your own coding environment and easily compile snippets. But it's still really beta and it doesn't support all the language features yet.

C# GUI Programming Starting

So....I've never really done much in the way of GUI programming apps. Namely because for school ive been stuck in C++ land. But since Im graduating in December I thought it'd be nice (while im looking for a job) to study something I've wanted to look into for awhile. And please dont mark this as "subjective" im just simply asking what I need to "know" to get started.
Namely GUI programming. Im not used to it....nor have I really ever been. It's not something they focus on in school (for instance my senior design was a webcam mouse thing, but had very little in the way of GUI)
I've seen alot about C# being the superior GUI programming tool for fast development.....but I dont really know whats out there. I know "of" QT, and Im used to C++. However Im not too familiar with what the "choice" GUI language is. I do like programming on Windows however most of my stuff has been in Unix here lately (Mostly because of my OS class).
I dont know anything about .net, and i've heard of something called WPF? Is that part of .net.....or.....what? Im just a bit confused at where to start.
Thanks

Microsoft has some good resources for getting started on their platform with .NET.
Try these...
Development for Beginners
Welcome to the Windows Development track. This is the best place to learn how to create software for Windows. Windows applications can take advantage of your computer's sound, graphics, and other capabilities. You will learn how to write software for Windows XP, Vista, or Windows Server using Visual Basic, Visual C#, or Visual C++ Express Editions.
Ramp Up
Ramp Up is a free, online, community-based learning program that will help you build professional development skills. Join Ramp Up (it's free!) and help advance your career...
Creating Your First Visual C# Application -
This link contains three samples:
How to: Create a C# Console Application
How to: Create a C# Windows Forms Application
How to: Create a C# WPF Application
Visual C# Guided Tour
The Visual C# Guided Tour presents a series of lessons that introduce you to the Visual C# Express Edition integrated development environment (IDE), creating your first application, and designing the user interface of an application.
Learn .NET Framework on MSDN
Start here to get a conceptual overview of the key features of the .NET Framework, including the common language runtime, the .NET Framework class library, and more.

Yeah.... C# is a great tool for GUI.... My condition was same like yours when I started.... My suggestion is get into it.... Make some simple GUIs.... Its fun to make simple apps like say Calculator!
There are very good tutorials available on internet.... You are just a Google away from them.... And For everyproblem, There is Stack Overflow! :)
All the best!!
You can check this too: C# GUI primer tutorial

WPF is pretty awesome. It is rather closely related to xml.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa663364.aspx
If you use the toolbox its mostly self explanatory for the basic components. Here are components of a basic page.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb531270(VS.90).aspx

You have two choices to go with:
Windows Forms (WinForms)
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
For all future desktop GUI applications, WPF is recommended.

Recommended resources for learning MS Expression Blend

I've been designing applications using C# for some time now but I have the need to create a more custom application and Expression Blend was recommended to me. I've downloaded the free trial but it's a little fancier than I expected. I'm not a graphic designer and can't use photoshop to save my life, however I do have images provided by a graphic designer to use for this application.
I'm looking for some good resources for learning Blend and using it as a front end to a C# application, much like I would a regular C# forum.

Tutorials and again and again
Also what about this?

Check out the Expression Blend Starter Kits and the Expression Blend Training videos.

Not a lot of great books out on Blend unfortunately. You really have to spend some time on it yourself to learn it. Also, check out local user group / code camp events if you have them in your area. I know near me there is always someone presenting on Blend in one way or another (myself included)
Just a point of clarification. You said you would like to use Blend as a "front end to a C# application like you would a regular C# form". You seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of what Blend is and what it is used for.
Blend is a WYSIWYG design tool for generating XAML documents. Blend is not a "front end" to your application. It is a tool you can use to build your fron end visually. Think of it like how you can use Dreamwever (I am dating myself here, does anyone even use Dreamweaver anymore) to build HTML pages visually. You use Blend in the exact same way, to build XAML pages.

Microsoft Design .toolbox is a great series of video tutorials, if you have the time to follow them through.

Learning WPF at work

There are some projects that could use WPF at work, for the sake of adopting new technologies.
But the problem is, I can't jump start WPF easily. I recognize the learning curve is steeper than Winforms. Though even with Winforms one can start doing UIs and programmatically customize them in a day.
So the problem is:
I don't have any resource to quickly learn the fundamentals of WPF at work. I can't read a book from cover to cover before I do the simplest of things.
Most tutorials on the net, just does things that excludes the fundamentals. i.e. they post partial xaml code I can't even put into my xaml code correctly (VS highlights them in red).
I can't justify using WPF over Winforms where there is no significant gain for prety much all projects I can think of. And the learning curve just makes things worse.
So I can't suggest my manager to use this tech over the traditional Winforms, but I want to.
Is there a guide or a tutorial on the net, or a video that explains the fundamentals of WPF so I can explore everything else on my own, except the more complicated tasks?

Fundamental of WPF video from Mix07.
Windows Client .NET get started section has lots of WPF Videos.
Channel 9 WPF content.
Windows Presentation Unleashed is a very good book.
MSDN content for WPF.
MSDN magazine articles on WPF.

Well, the basics are there. You can drag and drop controls onto a XAML surface in VS.NET 2008 just about as easily as you can with Windows Forms. Sure, there's the binding syntax stuff, but getting started isn't too bad.
But you DEFINITELY need to buy a good book on it. You don't need to have read it from cover to cover in order to get started. A decent book will have you up and running in a chapter or two, and you can take it from there. Just make sure that whatever book you buy, it was published after .NET 3.5 (and SP1 preferably) came out.
Also, understand WHY you want to use WPF. Is it just because it's new? Then you're right, that's not a good enough answer. WPF does have some big benefits though:
A powerful binding expression syntax that actually works
No need to repaint your own windows in response to WM_PAINT messages
_ (corrollary to the previous point) It's much easier to owner-draw and make your own controls
MS is spending a LOT of effort to actually develop it
MS is spending minimal effort on developing WinForms

If you need 2d/3d data visualisation WPF will pay by itself quickly and it's very evolving...
Personally I've got in that boat because all 3d hardware acceleration (opengl) wrapper in c# are dying so the solution for a maintened 3d looks like wpf or xna...
I'd suggest you get either expression blend or vs2010 beta ... vs2008 just don't speak wpf enough to help someone who doesn't know exactly what he's trying to do.