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I am a newbie about Windows store apps development. What is the main function and benefits of Blend for Visual Studio.

There is already a XAML designer and all tools embedded in Visual Studio. Why there is a need for Blend for Visual Studio? What is the main advantage of Blend for Visual Studio? Because in many videos I watched, People prefer to use Blend for Visual Studio. Thanks.

EDIT: My question is about the current Blend for Visual Studio version. I dont care about the older Blend versions.

oneNiceFriend
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  • Possible duplicate of [Expression Blend vs Visual Studio](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7926124/expression-blend-vs-visual-studio) – Jef Patat Jan 26 '16 at 07:25
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    It is definetely not the duplicate. That post is about Expression Blend and latest post was in 2011 there. There is nothing like Expression Blend anymore. My question is about Blend for Visual Studio and Visual Studio Comparison... "Expression Blend" is different "Blend for Visual Studio" is different... – oneNiceFriend Jan 26 '16 at 07:27
  • The functionality of both Blend and VS has not changed in regards to your question. Expression Blend is now called Blend for VS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Blend – Jef Patat Jan 26 '16 at 07:31
  • AFAIK we can write codebehind with Blend and build & debug the project. So why do we need VS, or if we do the same thing with VS , why do we need for Blend? – oneNiceFriend Jan 26 '16 at 07:33

3 Answers3

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Blend and Visual Studio - Why Two Tools?

Visual Studio XAML design tools that enable you to:

  • Design a custom layout Use powerful layout tools, including templates, built-in controls, rulers, guides, and snapping support, to design custom layouts for your Windows Store app.
  • Create and style controls Drag and drop controls onto the design surface, and then style them by modifying properties directly in the UI. Style images and elements.
  • Create and edit control templates Use the template editing tools to create custom control templates that can be reused throughout your project. Add them to your control library to reuse them in projects outside of the current project.
  • Create and edit data templates Create templates that define how you want your data to be displayed in your app.
  • Display sample and design-time data Bind to and display data in your Windows Store app so that you can more easily modify the appearance of your data at runtime.
  • Use behaviors to add interactivity Add interactivity to your app by dragging a built-in behavior onto the object on the design surface and modifying the properties to suit your needs.
  • Edit XAML markup In addition to the UI tools that make it easy to create and modify XAML without touching code.

Blend enables you to:

  • Insert controls and modify their behavior in XAML Designer

    • Add controls to the artboard You can drag controls from the Assets panel onto the artboard, and then modify them in the Properties window.
    • Make a control out of an image, shape, or path You can make any object into a control.
    • Make controls do things Controls can perform actions when users interact with them. For example, they can start an animation, update a data source or play a video. Use triggers, behaviors, and events to make controls do things.

  • Insert images, videos, and audio clips in XAML Designer

  • Draw shapes and paths

    • Draw a shape
    • Draw a path
    • Convert a shape to a path
    • Combine paths
    • Create a compound path
    • Create a clipping path

  • Modify the style of objects

  • Animate objects

    • Create timelines
    • Add keyframes and repeat the animation
    • Add event triggers for interactivity
    • Animate colors
    • Create and modify motion paths
    • Animate the button
    • Create animation and work with easing

References
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj129478.aspx
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj170634.aspx

benf
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Vineet Choudhary
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Blend and VS come close to each other but both have their own audience. Underneath both run on the same engine. Visual studio is aimed at developers while Blend is aimed at UI designers. That doesn't mean you can't achieve a lot of the functionality of Blend in VS and vice versa, it's just not optimized for it. Designing animation, storyboards, attaching behaviors, ... is all easier in Blend. Other development features are easier in VS (debugging, server connections, source control, managing non UI sourcecode, ...). Both are very much connected, you can even switch between them.

WPF Tooling in Blend and Visual Studio 2015

Blend and Visual Studio - Why Two Tools?

Designing XAML in Visual Studio

Jef Patat
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I use Blend, I think Blend is more handy for developing small applications. However, in Blend, there is no possibility to publish an application on the Windows Store. If you created an app in Blend you must open it in Visual Studio to publish it onto the Windows Store.

Enkosi X
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Pawel
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