.NET Components and .NET Controls
What is a .NET component? .NET components are pre-built pieces of software that you can re-use within the Microsoft .NET Framework (pronounced dot net framework) to help you create your application faster and hopefully with fewer bugs. By re-using .NET software components you not only save time and money, but you also get the opportunity to use other people's expertise and knowledge that will give your app extra functionality and features - fast. In this filtered view of our product catalog you will only find .NET compatible products, these products include both .NET Components and .NET Controls as .NET downloads for you to try and buy.
What is a .NET Control? A .NET Control has a visual aspect and can be used on a form or Web page to control the behavior of the user interface, so the user of the app can use a .NET UI Control to: enter data, click on a button, select from items displayed on a drop down list, draw a chart or graph based on data that they have entered into a .NET datagrid control etc.
What is the difference between a .NET Component and a .NET Control?
A .NET Component does not always have to have a visual interface, for example a .NET Component could work behind the scenes on a server and be used to calculate the tax due on an invoice for goods sold to a customer or to create a PDF version of that invoice and then email it to the customer's email address. .NET Controls are User Interface (UI) controls and they are a subset of .NET Components and as such all .NET Controls are therefore .NET Components, however, the reverse is not true, a .NET Component is not also a .NET Control, as a .NET Component does not have to have a visual or visible interface and it does not have to appear on a Windows form, Web Form or Web page as part of the UI.
In this .NET Components marketplace you will find both .NET Controls and .NET Components - available as commercial grade, quality .NET software component products. You will find ASP.NET controls that you can use as an ASP.NET developer for your latest Web site or Intranet project, VB controls for your Visual Basic app and there are numerous VB .NET control products listed here as VB.NET Controls. If you are a C# developer looking for a C# component or C# controls you will also find a wide selection of C# .NET controls, C# .NET component products and .NET custom control products that will meet your needs.
The range of .NET Component and .NET Control products includes: .NET WinForm Controls, ASP.NET Controls, ASP.NET AJAX Controls, .NET Class Components or .NET Class Libraries, .NET Web Services, .NET Compact Framework (.NET CF) products for mobile & hand-held device apps, .NET LINQ Classes for data access, WPF Controls or Windows Presentation Foundation Controls and Silverlight Controls for the latest .NET Framework 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 environments. Finally you will also find a special form of ASP.NET server control that can be used inside SharePoint, these are called Web Part Controls.
Our .NET component product range will give you a choice of controls for .NET, whether you are using them as a control in C# or as VB NET controls for your next VB project or in any other .NET development language or .NET based IDE that supports the use of .NET software components. There are well over 1,000 commercial grade, high quality .NET component based products available in this .NET component product gallery that you can search for, compare, download, review, try and buy!
WPF Controls (Windows Presentation Foundation Controls & WPF Components)
What is WPF? WPF stands for Windows Presentation Foundation and is part of the Microsoft .NET Framework that helps you create Windows based forms inside your application on Windows based PCs and servers. (When Microsoft were developing WPF it was also known as project Avalon). The WPF technology can be viewed as the next step on from Windows Forms or WinForms by Microsoft and provides support for vector graphics, as such WPF apps can produce a better look and feel, particularly for high-definition imaging and graphics applications, than traditional Windows Forms. WPF is not aimed at Web site & Intranet developers as Microsoft has another .NET Technology called Silverlight. WPF is aimed at desktop app developers.
What is a WPF Control? A WPF control is a reusable software component that you can add you your WPF form to enable the user to control the application, enter data and display data on their screen at run-time. A WPF control is a piece of code that has been pre-built by another WPF developer or third party WPF controls creator that can be easily added to your WPF based app to extend the functionality fast. For example, you will find complex Gantt scheduling WPF controls on our Web site for you to add resource scheduling, planning and timetabling functionality to your WPF program, without you needing to develop and support all those basic WPF scheduling controls.
What is a WPF Component? WPF components are different from WPF controls in that they can be non-visual and can to be running hidden in the background of your app. WPF controls are a subset of WPF components, so all WPF controls are also WPF components, but not all WPF components are visible to the user. For example, you can get a WPF data compression component that runs in the background compressing and decompressing the size of data files using common data compression techniques such as ZIP, but this WPF component and its activity is not visible to the user.
In this filtered view of our complete .NET component product catalog, you will find a WPF controls gallery and also some WPF components that you can download, compare, review, try and buy, to add to your WPF app. The Windows Presentation Foundation area of the market is rapidly expanding, so if you wish to find all the latest WPF News about third party WPF products, then subscribe to our WPF News RSS feed to keep up to date.
