hen in the course of elemental events it becomes necessary for one collection [of children] to dissolve the visual bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the framework, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of WPF and of WPF’s Disciples entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of element-kind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all elements are created equal, that they are endowed by their Parser with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are… well, pretty much just Liberty.

And the same thing goes for Logical children!

Okay, it’s very possible that I’m enjoying the HBO miniseries on John Adams just a little too much.  😉

Why am I declaring independence for visual and logical children?

Because of the coolness that it enables in WPF!   If you’d like to know more about my epic struggle to free the visuals, please check out the article that I published this past weekend on The Code Project:

     Conceptual Children:  A powerful new concept in WPF

A few people have suggested that I should write a book called "Hacking WPF."   (Okay, certainly no publishers have suggested such a thing… just some of the folks I work with.)  I’m sure someone is already working on the book and I don’t think I could ever reconcile the book title with my view of what I do for a living.  I like to think of myself as a moderately sophisticated developer (rather than a hacker) that embraces and leverages the strengths of the platform.  BUT…  If I ever were to write such a book, this would definitely be the type of article it would include!

Warning:  It’s pretty geeky and perhaps on the advanced side of intermediate.