Where Are We?

In both Chapter 9 and this chapter, we've looked at a variety of ways you can create specialized reusable classes that can be hosted directly on your forms and integrated into the Windows Forms Designer for easy configuration and rapid coding. The .NET Framework provides a huge standard set of components and controls, but when they're inadequate for your specific needs, you can extend them using one of several techniques. Or you can create your own.

Another reason components and controls are interesting is that they are collectively known by another name: design-time components. Design-time components get some Windows Forms Designer integration, such as having public properties and events exposed from the Properties window, for free. However, using design-time components allows you to integrate with a whole lot more of the Windows Forms Designer, as covered in the next two chapters.