Is MVVM an alternative to Expression Blend?

Question

I'm sure this is a Noob question, but I've never worked with WPF before. Is MVVM an alternative to Expression Blend?

Answer 1

No. They are completely different concepts.

Expression Blend is software for creating interfaces - it's a designer's tool for working with WPF.

MVVM is a design pattern - it's an architecture you can use to make your WPF application clean and easily maintainable.

You are perfectly capable of using Blend together with MVVM - in fact, this is one of the benefits MVVM provides (it makes it very easy to keep the UI design separate from the programming).