PresentationCore

PresentationCore is a foundational assembly of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) in the .NET ecosystem. It provides the core rendering, visual tree management, layout, animation timing, and input handling that underpins WPF applications. As the low-level core of the WPF stack, PresentationCore exposes the essential services and types used by higher-level UI components while remaining distinct from the higher-level controls and styling found in PresentationFramework.

Architecturally, PresentationCore is responsible for the retained-mode rendering pipeline and the management of visual objects. It defines the basic object model that supports composing visuals, performing layout calculations, and rendering graphics to the screen. It also coordinates input events such as mouse and keyboard actions and provides the timing infrastructure that drives animations and clocks. Media-related primitives, shapes, brushes, transforms, and geometry are commonly used through the types exposed by this assembly and its related namespaces.

PresentationCore interacts with other core WPF assemblies, notably WindowsBase, for fundamental threading and dispatching support, and PresentationFramework, which hosts the higher-level controls, data binding, styles, and templates that compose a full user interface. WPF, including PresentationCore, is Windows-specific and has been delivered as part of the .NET Framework and, in later years, via the .NET Core/NET 5+ unified .NET platform for Windows.

In summary, PresentationCore provides the essential rendering engine, visual infrastructure, and input and timing facilities that form the foundation of WPF applications, enabling efficient graphical composition and interaction across the UI.