xaml-csharp-development-skill-for-avalonia

MSBuild, XAML Compilation, and AOT Tooling

Key Build Pipeline Facts

From Avalonia package/build targets:

• XAML compilation is controlled by EnableAvaloniaXamlCompilation.
• Compiled bindings default is controlled by AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault.
• XAML compiler diagnostics and debug info are controlled by:
  • AvaloniaXamlVerboseExceptions
  • AvaloniaXamlCreateSourceInfo
  • AvaloniaXamlIlVerifyIl
• Avalonia item groups:
  • AvaloniaXaml
  • AvaloniaResource

Recommended Defaults for Modern Apps

• Keep EnableAvaloniaXamlCompilation=true.
• Keep AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault=true.
• Keep source info enabled in Debug to improve stack traces.
• Keep verbose exceptions on during development and CI validation.

NativeAOT/Trimming-Oriented Project Baseline

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>

    <!-- Avalonia + XAML -->
    <EnableAvaloniaXamlCompilation>true</EnableAvaloniaXamlCompilation>
    <AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault>true</AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault>

    <!-- NativeAOT -->
    <PublishAot>true</PublishAot>
    <TrimMode>full</TrimMode>
    <InvariantGlobalization>true</InvariantGlobalization>
  </PropertyGroup>
</Project>

Adjust runtime and trim settings per product requirements, but keep compiled bindings and compiled XAML as baseline.

Source Generator Controls (Avalonia.Generators.props)

Available knobs:

• AvaloniaNameGeneratorIsEnabled
• AvaloniaNameGeneratorBehavior
• AvaloniaNameGeneratorDefaultFieldModifier
• AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByPath
• AvaloniaNameGeneratorFilterByNamespace
• AvaloniaNameGeneratorViewFileNamingStrategy
• AvaloniaNameGeneratorAttachDevTools

Use:

• Keep generator enabled for typed named-control access and robust component initialization.

Packaging and Resource Item Rules

• Ensure views are included as AvaloniaXaml (or default item inclusion picks them up).
• Ensure static assets referenced by avares:// are included as AvaloniaResource.

Symptoms of misconfiguration:

• “No precompiled XAML found…”
• Resource not found at runtime.

AOT Risk APIs to Review Explicitly

Treat these as design decisions, not defaults:

• ReflectionBinding and reflection-driven markup bindings.
• Runtime XAML loading APIs.
• Dynamic selector parsing paths where typed alternatives exist.
• Reflection-heavy validation plugins unless explicitly needed.

Build Verification Checklist

• Build Debug and Release.
• Publish (trim/AOT) target profile.
• Start app and exercise key navigation paths.
• Scan warnings for RequiresUnreferencedCode/RequiresDynamicCode call chains.
• Resolve warnings by moving to compiled/static alternatives where feasible.

XAML-First and Code-Only Usage

Default mode:

• Keep UI in compiled XAML with compiled bindings.
• Use code-only UI construction only when the user requests it.

XAML-first references:

• EnableAvaloniaXamlCompilation
• AvaloniaUseCompiledBindingsByDefault

Code-only alternative (on request):

var view = new StackPanel
{
    Children =
    {
        new TextBlock { Text = "AOT-safe baseline" },
        new Button { Content = "Run" }
    }
};

window.Content = view;

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