Extensible Application Markup Language; pronounced "zammel") XAML is a declarative XML-based language that defines objects and their properties in XML. XAML syntax focuses upon defining the UI (user interface) for the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and is therefore separate from the application code behind it. Although XAML is presently for use on the Windows platform, the WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere) initiative will eventually bring XAML to other platforms and devices.

XAML resources, code, tutorials and design

In my spare time, I've been working on a tool that converts Adobe/Macromedia Flash (.SWF) files to XAML. Unlike my Adobe Illustrator to XAML export plug-in that was implemented in native code, this tool is a fully managed code application (managed code rocks!). The current version of the tool allows you to directly open a SWF file and browse through its frames one by one. When you've found a frame that you like, you can either export a XAML file or copy the XAML to the clipboard for easy pasting into your tool of choice. The conversion isn't perfect, and there are many areas for improvement. For common cases, however, it should do the trick.

While the landscape for rich Web development technologies is getting crowded, industry dignitaries at The Rich Web Experience conference in San Jose, Calif. Thursday nonetheless saw a place for the various entrants in this space. The field of technologies has grown to include AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript), Adobe Flex, Microsoft Silverlight, and Sun's JavaFX, said Neal Ford, application architect for Thoughtworks, who moderated a panel addressing rich Web development. Audience members also gave a nod to the Ruby, Python, and Groovy languages.

Alan McGovern, the creator of MonoTorrent, has spent the past 12 weeks developing a visual design tool for XAML that runs on Mono. Although McGovern had no previous experience with either Silverlight or XAML when he started working on his XAML designer, he has successfully created an impressive working prototype.

Many years ago, O’Reilly’s UNIX in a Nutshell by Arnold Robbins helped me get up and running with the cryptic operating system, and I’ve been a big fan of the In a Nutshell series ever since. So I was anxious to tackle XAML in a Nutshell by Lori A. MacVittie with the hopes of gaining a better understanding of the new technology. Find out why I give this programming book a mixed review.

Silverlight is all about making the graphical interactivity of the WPF interface work in a Web browser and across operating systems. The plug-in is a big part of that, because it will eventually include the Common Language Runtime component of .NET. XAML is another big part, because Silverlight shares a subset of XAML with the WPF.

Aurora is a Visual Designer that produces XAML documents from the Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Object Model using WinFX. Aurora is much more than a drawing or painting program. Aurora can be used as a Stand Alone application, Plug-in for software applications or used seamlessly in Visual Studio

Be sure to check out this WinFX/XAML book co-Authored by the folks at mobiform.com

XAMLBlogs.com is a site dedicated to aggregating blog entries about XAML. In an effort to provide more relevant links and to avoid duplications the aggregation is done by humans. Although this may sound time consuming, these humans are dedicated and already scouring the internet for references to XAML.

XAML.Net is a website dedicated to informing you of all things XAML

Programming techniques continue to evolve, and with evolution comes opportunity. The success of the Web, in conjunction with the demand for rich clients and rapid development, has spawned a new generation of declarative languages. XUL, Macromedia's Flex, Microsoft's XAML, and Xamlon, Inc.'s Xamlon Pro 1.1 are designed to enable rapid, XML-based application develoment with access to structured programming languages for application logic