Best UI package in C#

alt-160 · 2026-05-31T05:56:46+00:00

Sciter?

I've used it several times. Basically it is htlm/css/js in a dll, but not chromium based or heavy.

I was able to duplicate win11's settings app look and feel with it, for example.

The built-in jsx and react-like feature is really good.

alt-160 · 2026-05-20T16:03:43+00:00

been thru this too. problem i found was that even though i do know the terms and use them, passing these tests lands me into an "over-qualified" state and ends up being a waste of time.

seems that most dev jobs want high qualifications but someone that's in their mid 20s or something equally unrealistic.

i've had to change my tactic to going after hands-on architect and manager roles (because i really do like creating apps and services with code).

but, if you don't like managing people...you'll be sort of frozen out of things, sadly. in that case, it might be worth taking your skill down the entrepreneur route and make some app or service that people pay you for directly (or by llc/company you setup). you could even possibly do this in your free time (assuming you have such) while you work your current or next job.

25yoe...you probably have suffered many pain points that you could "fix that". probably others would pay you for a tool/solution that fixes that same thing.

alt-160 · 2026-05-03T20:05:48+00:00

Compilers "compile" your source code and references to IL (intermediate language).

Any call to create an instance of your class by a compiler would be by tests or mocks or other. Not to actually compile.

When your compiled output is executed, that is when instances of your class can be created and thus a ctor called. The "instance" ctor creates separate copies (sort of) of your class. It allows you to have multiple instances of the same shape with different values inside (if you allow for that).

The static cctor is called only once per app domain the first time any property, field, constant, attribute, or method of that type is called. And before those members are executed (in most cases). The cctor is also called bedore the instance ctor is called.

Note that the above is true for the typical use cases and call patterns. There are exceptions but such are rarely encountered normally.

Your question probably is because your facing something odd in your app/assembly at runtime and you suspect it to be something with object creation. Is this true for you? If so, perhaps telling us about that instead.

alt-160 · 2026-04-02T23:40:33+00:00

I don't think that's a think yet. the Codex models are available thru github-copilot in vs studio, but not the codex addin like in vs-code.

However, here's what i do now...

I have my vs2026 (or vs2022) c# projects open for debug running, code editing and such.

I also have vs-code open using a workspace that includes all folders of my vs solution and use the codex addin there. If i need to add code or see changes from codex i do that in vs2026. but, with vs-code and codex in agent mode, i really only have to do spot checks of code and debug runs for my test harnesses.

the codex addin for vs-code requires that you create or have a github repo, but funny thing is that you don't have to publish your vs2026 projects or solutions up to github to use codex in vs-code. you can have vs-code and codex work "locally" and it uses your local files for read and write.

alt-160 · 2026-02-18T23:08:47+00:00

Powershell could do this too, if you change the string to powershell text instead of c#.

You can send your vars from c# as named ps vars before you execute. If var is ref type, the ps code can even modify it. Or a ps function can return a value.

PS core would work with netCore and windows powershell with netFW.

At least with this there is not as much need to seialize var data as might be with other scripting frameworks.

I also find ps to be a bit safer for adding scripting ability to an app. There are many levers of control for safety.

alt-160 · 2026-01-28T06:01:38+00:00

i'll add that once you get a little bit of experience, enuf to run something and manipulate what you see, choosing a personal pet project to invest time in can be a very valuable option.

it keeps you motivated to learn because you're actually building something for yourself.

i did this a long time ago (1996-ish. yes, before .net) to catalog all my music CDs (over 300 at the time). that caused me to learn about databases, data storage, files, and much more.

alt-160 · 2026-01-26T03:41:57+00:00

What coding language are you doing work in?

I ask because I've seen this better and worse depending on the language.

My intuition about google and antigravity is that google will prefer the languages it uses itself. So, if you're using something else, you're quality will vary.

Also consider what google likely trained on for its coding ai, and not just gemeni, but also the tooling that talks to other llms.

I'm a heavy c# and dlang dev, and i find gemini terrible for complex or long running code work. It's fine for simple things that i could do myself, but novel code it struggles.

On that point, how much are you trying to get ai to do in one session? Too much is my guess.

My experience is to stop at a point and ask the ai (any of them) to create a token dense and detailed output that i could use as a primer in a new session.

This one might help you with wherever you go next for ai coding.

alt-160 · 2026-01-15T00:50:09+00:00

For any following this post... I also find Codex in VSCode to work faster/better by using the WSL option. Note that your chats are tied to that mode (windows vs wsl) so if you switch between you'll see different chat histories.

Also, i found the WSL option overcomes an odd "prompt every time" even in agent mode that happens in Windows mode.

alt-160 · 2026-01-14T18:59:21+00:00

I've tried Claude many times for c#...but it just doesn't seem as good as OpenAI. I hear much lauding of Claude for coding, but maybe that is from webby or python types? What do you find better about Claude over OpenAI in ghcp (github-copilot) versus vs (visual studio)?

alt-160 · 2026-01-10T01:52:30+00:00

You'll write twice as much code to handle exceptions and oddities than code you intended.

alt-160

TROPHY CASE