I don’t mind learning xaml and I’m sure I need to be familiar somewhat, but when I was first trying out Silverlight 1 with javascript it looked like a tremendous amount of overhead. I decided to wait until tools matured and asp.net was added. Well, asp.net has been added with Silverlight 2.0, and now I want to look at using it. But, xaml, to me, still looks like a lot of work for each small step. My experience with Flash seemed a lot more simpler for the graphics side of things (never liked ActionScript that much.) Will $500 for Blend take care of much of my xaml concerns? Can I use Visual Studio Express with the full version of Microsoft Expression Blend?
Do I need Microsoft Expression Studio 2?
Thank you.
Just as a profressional web developer can’t lean on Dreamweaver’s drag-and-drop to avoid learning HTML, you should climb the XAML learning curve.
Blend will still help, however- just as many started up the HTML curve by doing some drag-and-drop and studying the resulting HTML code. I did some prototyping with Silverlight 1.1 and Blend helped significantly in my understanding of XAML. It helps to have a ‘real’ project to work on, even if it’s a proof of concept. Concentrate on the containment paradigm between Canvas and other elements and you’ll pick it up quickly enough. I wouldn’t worry too much about the MPATH stuff, do rely on the tool for that.