WPF: Is there a way to use a ValueConverter without defining a resource?

Is there a way to use a ValueConverter without defining it in a resource? As is the syntax is pretty verbose.

You can use a MarkupExtension to minimise the amount of XAML code required. E.g:

public class  MyConverter: MarkupExtension, IValueConverter
{
    private static MyConverter _converter;

    public object Convert(object  value, Type targetType, 
    object  parameter, System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        // convert and return something
    }

    public object  ConvertBack(object value, Type  targetType, 
    object parameter,  System.Globalization.CultureInfo culture)
    {
        // convert and return something (if needed)
    }

    public override object  ProvideValue(IServiceProvider serviceProvider)
    {
        if (_converter == null)
            _converter = new MyConverter();
        return _converter;
    }
}

You end up with a syntax like this:

{Binding Converter={conv:MyConverter}}

This approach has an added advantage of ensuring that all your converters are singletons.

This article does a great job of explaining the concept and provides sample code.