Developer(s) Microsoft Development status Active | Stable release 1.19 Operating system | |
Repository github.com/Microsoft/Windows-Driver-Frameworks Type Development tool, application programming interface | ||
Windows Driver Frameworks (WDF, formerly Windows Driver Foundation), is a set of Microsoft tools and libraries that aid in the creation of device drivers for Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows. It complements Windows Driver Model, abstracting away much of the boilerplate complexity in writing Windows drivers.
Contents
WDF consists of Kernel-Mode Driver Framework (KMDF) and User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF). These individual frameworks provide a new object-oriented programming model for Windows driver development. The primary goals of WDF is conceptual scalability and reduced duplication, enabling developers to apply the same concepts across different driver types and reducing the code overhead required for drivers. This differs markedly from the Windows Driver Model (WDM) which requires driver developers to be fully familiar with many complex technical details to write a basic driver.
Part of the key to achieving conceptual scalability is that KMDF and UMDF use an "opt-in" model. This model allows the developer to extend and override the default behavior of a canonical "good driver". In contrast, Windows Driver Model depends on the driver writer to implement all aspects of the driver's behavior.
Varieties
There are three types of WDF drivers:
WDF also includes a set of static verification tools for use by driver writers. These tools examine driver code for common errors and/or simulate the code of a driver in order to identify problems that are both difficult to detect and difficult to test for.
Tools
Static Driver Verifier (SDV) is capable of performing very deep validation of code paths across functions and even through calls into WDM. SDV can find driver problems that span multiple function calls and even multiple operations. SDV is designed to be run when the driver is nearing completion. SDV analyzes only C files. C++ is not supported.
PREFast for Drivers (PFD) performs rather shallow analysis of driver operations. PFD can check for buffer overruns and other common programming errors likewise a number of driver specific problems. Because its scope of operation is within a single function, PFD's run time is much shorter than SDV. Therefore, PFD can be used throughout the driver development process. PREFast scans each function as an isolated unit. It does not do inter-procedural analysis.
Versions
Bold "Yes" means introduced with this version of Windows.