Next Web Now!Silverlight

08Mx22, II MCA

What is Silverlight?• A Browser Plug-in for delivering RIA

• Earlier known as WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation / Everywhere)

• Cross-browser, cross-platform, cross-device implementation of the .NET Framework.

• 16 sec download (on a 2Mbps connection)

• Provides animations, vector graphics, audio-video playback

Rich Internet applications (RIAs) are web applications that have some of the characteristics of desktop applications, typically delivered by way of a proprietary web browser plug-ins.

Key characteristics

• Richness by way of features not supported natively by the web browser such as video playback

• Advanced communications with supporting servers

• Consistency

• Offline use

• Performance

What is RIA?

Cross BrowserWorks on Trident, Webkit, Gecko rendering Engines seamlessly.

Compelling Cross-Platform User Experiences• Immersive media experiences & RIA• Seamless, fast installation for end users• Consistent experiences on Mac / Windows

Flexible programming model• Integration with Web technologies• Based on the .NET Framework• Role specific tools for designers / developers

Efficient, lower cost delivery, of high cost media• HD to Mobile• Broad media ecosystem• Tools for live and on-demand publishing

Highly productive development framework• Multi-language support• Latest developer innovations (e.g. LINQ)• AJAX integration

Great tools • Visual Studio• Expression Studio

Cross-platform & cross-browser plug in• Works with Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer • Mac OS X and Windows• Any web server

Fast, easy install process + 3D Graphics

Silverlight Features

WPF and XAML. Silverlight includes Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) technology, which greatly extends the elements in the browser for creating UI, extending browser-based UI beyond what is available with HTML alone. Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) provides a declarative markup syntax for creating WPF elements.

Extensions to JavaScript. Silverlight provides extensions to the universal browser scripting language that provide powerful control over the browser UI, including the ability to work with WPF elements.

Silverlight Technologies

Integration with existing applications. Silverlight integrates seamlessly with existing JavaScript and ASP.NET AJAX code to complement functionality already created.

Access to the .NET Framework programming model and to associated tools. Silverlight-based applications may be created using dynamic languages such as IronRuby and IronPython as well as languages such as C# and Visual Basic. Development tools such as Visual Studio can be leveraged to create Silverlight-based applications.

Silverlight Merits

Other Advantages

• Single, consistent runtime for browser-based applications.

• Performance is promising (Graphic card acceleration).

• There is an official open source implementation of Silverlight (Moonlight). Developed by Novell on behalf of Microsoft.

• Search engines can potentially index text within a Silverlight application, just as they can with Flash.

Conclusion

• The design tools (Expression Blend and Expression Design) are comparatively new.

• Silverlight is a browser-only solution (Adobe has AIR, a desktop and browser based solution).

• Development on Windows platform only (while deployment is cross-platform).

• Yet to penetrate market as Adobe Flash continues to dominate even though it is feature-rich and developer friendly.

References

• Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverlight

• Official Website: http://www.silverlight.net

• Useful Article: http://fahimilyas.blogspot.com/2008/05/road-to-silverlight-part-1.html

• Silverlight Articles: http://www.silverlightarticles.com

Q n A

Thank You

08Mx22, II MCA