Xamlon announced today a new beta release of its cutting-edge development tool, Xamlon.
The Xamlon engine enables developers to use XAML to rapidly build and deploy applications for current versions of Windows with the confidence that their applications will easily port to future Windows releases. A key new feature of Xamlon v0.9 is the integration of Visual Studio.NET 2003, which allows developers to harness the power of Visual Studio to design rich application interfaces and automatically generate the XAML code for those interfaces. In addition to Visual Studio integration, other new features of Xamlon v0.9 include basic 3-D support, new samples and an Adobe Illustrator SVG to XAML converter.
XAML, Microsoft’s new XML-based user-interface language debuting in the next version of Windows, allows developers to separate user interface code from application logic, providing developers better control over interface layout and drastically reducing development time. Using this two-tier programming model, developers can change the user interface without rewriting logic and event-handling code.
With Xamlon v0.9 and the Visual Studio.NET plugin, developers can use the visual form designer in the same manner they would with a standard Windows Forms project. The plugin then generates a XAML file containing the user-interface code as well as a C# code-behind file for events and other program functionality. The beta allows developers to add event handlers in code-behind files, and compiling the finished application in Visual Studio creates a complete deployable .exe file. The Xamlon engine and plugin are available for all Windows platforms compatible with Visual Studio.NET 2003.
“Together, Xamlon v0.9 and Visual Studio.NET 2003 represent the ideal tool for user-interface design,” says Paul Colton, CEO of Xamlon. “Their integration is a giant step forward for .NET developers interested in building applications with XAML. Developers can use a design tool they are comfortable with to produce XAML user interface code.”
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