Creating Windows Forms

Summary

In this chapter, I covered a massive topic with a focus on what you need to do to create a main form, complete with controls and a dialog box that links to the main menu. I discussed the differences between windows, both form and dialog box variations, and I also discussed how you can put event handlers to work to provide the implementation behind a user’s actions. Finally, you looked at some of the controls available as part of the .NET Framework, and I showed how you can place and manipulate them to provide the foundation for this book’s project, the RSS aggregator.

The Windows.Forms namespace is huge; to do it justice is simply not possible within one chapter. Therefore, I provided a good foundation for you to continue exploring at your own leisure. It’s also worth mentioning that under .NET, Mono is not limited to Windows Forms as the only method for implementing your user interface. The GNOME toolkit (Gtk#) is another powerful user interface technology stack and, in some cases, far more mature. Therefore, you’ll spend Chapter 7 comparing the two technologies and looking at how to make an informed decision about which one to use. I’ll also provide a foundation in using Gtk# with Mono to implement your own user interfaces.