Remembering the Future

why should developers care about XAML now? I’ve discussed this with a number of my colleagues, and here is my take on the problems with embracing XAML. Declarative programming (and that is what XAML is about) is all about reusing objects, not recoding them, and that has been the holy grail for programmers for decades now. You basically declare your facts (the state of the objects) and let the environment handle the details (think SOA). But almost all of the developers out there have been trained in procedural languages, not declarative ones, so we have created a procedural coding mindset, and until we (the community) do a better job getting developers to think declaratively, 80% of all Windows programmers will not truly understand XAML. If you don’t believe me, take a look at the average web developer. How many web developers out there really understand CSS and use it to layout their web pages?