StackOverflow2013

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POWorried about WPF. Should I use WPF or a different library for a Windows GUI?
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copied!<p>I have been working for some time on a library which performs numeric calculations. It is written in pure native C++, and until now I have been using simple console applications to test its functionality.</p> <p>The time has come to build a GUI on top of the library - to better display tables of results and also to render them in graphical form.</p> <p>I was always planning to use WPF to implement the UI and have spent some time researching it, but I am now having second thoughts. My worries about WPF are:</p> <ol> <li>Is it worth coupling my program to the .NET framework just for the sake of the user interface? .NET and WPF seem to add overhead in many forms, including: <ul> <li>Program complexity <ul> <li>Using .NET implies using a second language - and thus writing lots of messy interop code.</li> </ul></li> <li>Runtime performance <ul> <li>In particular, WPF applications seem very slow to start up.</li> </ul></li> <li>Deployment <ul> <li>Is .NET framework installation quick and easy? Does it require rebooting the machine?<p></li> </ul></li> </ul></li> <li>Rendering quality <ul> <li>This has improved in WPF 4, but display of standard elements still seems poor in some areas.<p></li> </ul></li> <li>Concern over whether performance and quality will improve in the future <ul> <li>Is it true that WPF is being de-emphasized within Microsoft (in favour of Silverlight)?</li> </ul></li> </ol> <p>My worries are compounded by news of people moving away from WPF having faced similar issues - the most recent and highest-profile being <a href="http://blog.evernote.com/2010/10/26/evernote-4-for-windows-is-here/" rel="nofollow">Evernote</a>.</p> <p>Would you recommend I stick with my original plan and use WPF?</p> <p>If so, what do you think about the above issues?<br> If not, what alternative libraries could I use to create a high-quality Windows GUI?</p> <hr> <p><strong>Edit:</strong></p> <p>Thanks to Reed Copsey for addressing my individual points. The reply suggests that most of the issues I have with WPF can be worked around.</p> <p>It seems that using WPF will involve more work than would be ideal - including writing interop code and making tweaks to ensure good performance and high quality. Do people generally agree with the statement that, in spite of this, the best way to produce a top-quality UI is with WPF - rather than with any other framework?</p>

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