Modernization Challenges

[Introduction: Write a short introduction for this.]

High Coupling

A typical legacy application is usually highly coupled. The design of Windows Forms components favors the proliferation of several antipatterns, such as business logic being directly written in button events, models being used as view models, and the lack of clear architectural layer separation.

Highly coupled Model, View Model and Controller in a WinForms App

Standard Approach for Modernizing Web Applications

Modernizing a legacy Windows Forms app to a standard Web application normally involves two expensive and time-consuming steps:

View Model decoupling, API extraction

1. View Model decoupling: Modern web frameworks divide business logic (server) from presentation logic (client). From a Windows Forms perspective, this requires extensive analysis and the rewriting of most of the graphical logic.

2. API Extraction: A high-level API must be designed to serve the client application. This requires a deep understanding of the business semantics and full access to a domain expert.