As I wrote some days ago in the WPF Part 6, XamlPad is a good way to view the written XAML in real time. But I asked myself, if there are alternatives available:

As mentioned above, XamlPad is a good way to view your XAML code. But there are some disadvantages. Sometimes a better code highlighting, multiple tabs and an IntelliSense like input assistance would be very nice features. But I think, there will be tools available in the future (or are they already available?).

Now, I found two alternatives: The designated successor of XamlPad - XamlPadX - and a very great tool: Kaxaml.

XamlPadX

XamlPadX, currently released in version 3.0, looks very similar to XamlPad, but with some new features like:

• Line numbers in the Editing box
• Written xaml can now be indented automatically(Ctrl I or right click and click on the menu item)
• Closing tags are automatically generated (Note that it doesnt look forward while generating the closing tag. This is to keep it as simple as possible) So if you have something like and then type in the '>' after the first A you will end up with .
• Theres an Open/Save File menu for opening/saving the xaml from/in different locations
• Vista-ish app icon
• Loading DLLs
• Plugin system

You can get more informations and the installer at Lester's WPF blog.

Kaxaml

Kaxaml, currently released in version 1.0, is a very nice XAML editor, created by Robby Ingebretsen. It's major features are:

• Auto tag completion,
• Inset spaces instead of tab
• XAML snippets
• Color Picker
• Find & Replace
• IntelliSense
• Plugin System
• Multiple Tabs

You can get more informations and the installer at the own Kaxaml website here. The author also published the source code at codeplex.