What is the intended way to make a label and text box side by side in WPF?

Question

I'll often use this:

<StackPanel>
  <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
    <Label>Username:</Label>
    <TextBox />
  </StackPanel>
  <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
    <Label>Password:</Label>
    <PasswordBox />
  </StackPanel>
</StackPanel>

But it is such a common scenario, I feel like there is a way with less markup.

Also, is there a performance impact of using so many stack panels?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I mostly prefer Grid if large number of labels and textboxes needs to be present in the form, like data entry or property grid kind of controls. Grid provides much more power to control the width/height of rows columns and changing the width/height value at one place will affect all the rows.

One more benefit of using Grid is alignment, all labels and textboxes(or other controls) will be aligned correctly. In case of Stackpanel or Dockpanel you will have to explicitly set the wdth to each label to align them properly.

You can also use GridSplitter in Grid which can be very useful in PropertGrid kind of controls.

In case only one or two such rows are needed and alignment is not a concern you can go ahead with Dockpanel or StackPanel.