Knowledge of which other languages helps to understand WPF concepts

Question

One thing i noticed about WPF is that it combines various concepts from other computer languages i know, while other concepts are (were) completely new to me.

Experience in which languages can help WPF-newbies to understand the different WPF concepts?

For example if you know XSL, then DataTemplates will look familiar and the seperation of styling/UI/logic won't be new to people who did HTML/CSS/JavaScript before.

But what about things like Bindings, MarkupExtensions, Resources, RoutedEvents/Commands, Attached Properties, etc.

Is there a subset of languages that will help understand most WPF concepts? Which concepts are completely unique to WPF?

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Update

So...besides HTML and XSL, there's only Cocoa out there that has a WPF-like concept? I understand that things like RoutedEvents are very much related to the WPF visual/logical tree structure, so unlikely to see in platforms that dont have a similar structure, but a concept like Attached Properties seems useful in many non-UI scenarios.

Answer 1

I know how you're feeling - I've just been through it myself. The language that helped me the most was actually plain old HTML - declaritive, tree-based, XML-like. When designing the UI, you have to keep in mind the natural tree structure of the elements because things like DataContext propegate down the tree.

If you've done any WinForms coding before, smash your head on a rock until you forget it.

If you find yourself doing stuff in the code-behind (blah.xaml.cs file) beyond setting data contexts and button-click handling, then you're doing it wrong. (Bindings can do pretty much everything)

I cant think of any other specific language that would help, however a book I can recommend is Windows Presentation Foundation Unleashed by Adam Nathan (pub. Sams).