WPF and Silverlight Learning Notes (iii): WPF architecture

The underlying architecture of WPF, referenced assembly as shown in the following illustration:

　

The PresentationFramework, PresentationCore, and Milcore in the diagram are the main parts of the code for WPF. Of these components, there is only one unmanaged component –milcore. Milcore is written in unmanaged code to achieve tight integration with DirectX. All of the display in WPF is done through the DirectX engine, which enables efficient hardware and software rendering. WPF also requires precise control over memory and execution. The composite engine in Milcore is affected by performance, and many of the benefits of the CLR need to be discarded to improve performance.

The control class inheritance structure that is commonly used in WPF is shown in the following illustration: