Simpler UI with less code using the MVVM pattern and Unity Weld

Do you want a better way to structure your UI that reduces complexity and simplifies code? Have you used other UI frameworks like Angular or WPF in the past and want to know how to apply similar principles to Unity UI? Introducing Unity Weld: a simple data-binding framework that acts as the glue between your game data and logic code and Unity UI.

Model-view-viewmodel (MVVM) is an architectural pattern that uses data-binding to separate UI from business/game logic, in the process making your UI code simpler, easier to test and easier to extend or modify. MVVM is also a very useful pattern to use if you plan on unit testing your code, since all your logic code can run in isolation, independently of the game UI. This approach was first popularised by Microsoft and later Google. Over the past few years I have been developing Unity Weld, a two-way data-binding library for applying the same principles to Unity UI.

In this talk we will explore how to use bindings to avoid the need to write any code to update UI when properties change, and how to make your code more testable by separating the UI from game logic. We will also see how to set UI up in a way that’s easy for to modify and restructure without the need to change any code, which can significantly speed up development by reducing designers’ dependency on programmers.

Rory Dungan has been building things with Unity for over four years. Currently he uses it every day at Real Serious Games, working on projects ranging from VR experiences on the Rift, Vive, Gear and Oculus Go to tablet apps and engineering visualisation tools. In his spare time he sometimes works on game projects and currently maintains a couple of open-source editor extensions and libraries.

The schedule will be as follows so don't miss out!:

Pizza, Drinks and networking from 5:30pm

MVVM presentation by Rory Dungan from 6:00pm