Familiar development flow
Preserves forms, controls, events, and layout thinking so developers can reuse the WinForms mental model instead of starting from a lower-level graphics stack.
Cross-platform GUI · WinForms over LVGL · NativeAOT Ready
Keep the familiar WinForms mindset, target much broader runtimes.
LVGLSharp uses LVGL as the rendering core while exposing a .NET-friendly, WinForms-style development model. The goal is to bridge desktop productivity with Windows, Linux, and device-oriented runtime environments, while continuing to improve NativeAOT, lightweight deployment, and host portability.
- Windows / Linux
- LVGL Rendering
- WinForms-style API
- NativeAOT Friendly
Core identity
WinForms over LVGL
Main platforms
Windows + Linux
Publishing direction
NativeAOT
Engineering target
Cross-platform UI Runtime
Why it matters
It connects familiar desktop development productivity with lightweight runtime capabilities for broader display hosts and deployment models.
LVGL rendering foundation
Builds on LVGL for lightweight, high-performance, and device-adaptive rendering across broader platform and host combinations.
AOT and lightweight deployment
Moves toward NativeAOT, self-contained publishing, and device-friendly packaging with lower runtime overhead.
Quick entry points
If you want to evaluate the project quickly, these are the best places to start.
Documentation map
Project News
Engineering and CI
WSL / Linux development
Jump into the right reading path by topic, audience, and language.
Use this if you want the shortest path to the most important progress from the latest round.
Understand the build, packaging, publishing, and automation structure.
Start here if your main interest is Linux graphics hosts and development workflow.
Recommended reading paths
Choose a path based on your interest instead of browsing everything manually.
First-time readers
Start here if you want to understand why the project exists and what it is trying to achieve.
Architecture and engineering
Start here if you care about module boundaries, runtime layering, and repository organization.
Linux and host strategy
Start here if you care about X11, WSLg, FrameBuffer, Wayland, and future display-host paths.
AOT and publishing
Start here if you care about trimming, self-contained deployments, runtime size, and publishing shape.
Capability map
The project value is not only about drawing UI, but about the runtime structure and engineering model behind it.
Forms and controls model
Keeps the traditional WinForms programming style, including lifecycle, control tree, events, and layout organization.
Layered runtime structure
Organizes capabilities across Core, Interop, Runtime.Windows, and Runtime.Linux so rendering and hosting stay decoupled.
Device deployment path
Opens a realistic path for x64, ARM, and ARM64 device-side UI scenarios in the .NET ecosystem.
Demos and usage scenarios
This project is not only a concept exploration. It is being shaped against real UI scenarios, real runtime hosts, and real publishing paths.
Desktop validation
Windows and Linux hosts are used to continuously validate lifecycle behavior, control models, and cross-platform runtime consistency.
Device-oriented exploration
The runtime roadmap keeps expanding around FrameBuffer, Wayland, SDL, DRM/KMS, and other device-side host strategies.
Demo-driven evolution
Examples such as MusicDemo, SmartWatchDemo, PictureBoxDemo, and WinFormsDemo help anchor the project in practical usage.
Quick start path
If you want to get a fast feel for the project, this is the shortest useful path.
- Inspect the GitHub repository for project structure
- Use the documentation map to choose a reading path
- Read the project news for the latest milestone-level progress
- Read the blog index for rationale and architecture tradeoffs
- Study the demo projects under src/Demos for practical usage patterns
Start with these
If you only read three pieces first, use this shortlist.
WPF Preview
LVGLSharp.WPF is now part of the package line and can already be used to validate the basic controls path and XAML runtime-loading flow. The screenshot below comes from the real src/Demos/WpfApp demo.
