Adding an ApplicationBar to your WinPhone 7.1(5) app - A side by side comparison of doing it with Visual Studio vs Expression Blend

DZone Windows Phone 7 Microzone - Visual Studio vs. Expression Blend - Adding an ApplicationBar

"Many applications have an AppBar. The ApplicationBar on Windows Phone is the equivalent of a menu bar and / or toolbar for desktop applications. It can include IconButtons and MenuItems.

The namespace Microsoft.Phone.Shell defines the AppBar.

I’ll get started right away with a new project in Visual Studio.

All I want to do is add an AppBar with four icon buttons and seven menu items. There are a few steps that I need to take:

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With Expression Blend I don’t have to do all this, because of the better UX (User eXperience) when creating an ApplicationBar.

In the ‘Object and Timeline’ panel right-click the ‘PhoneApplicationPage’ and click “Add ApplicationBar”.

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I liked how this article compared doing a pretty common thing in WP7 app dev side-by-side in Visual Studio and Expression Blend.