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MS Silverlight - The new face in web development?

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by oz_media

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is anyone using MS Silverlight for Vista?

Are you using it as a webdeveloper or as just a browser enhancer?

The text seems to be just like any other browser plugin, richer content etc. But wihle the Silverlight page is pretty nicely done, it's just the aero interface that makes it appear cool i think, there doesn't see to be anything THAT new, as a web developer, that would be worth picking up.

I also don't know if there are many sites using Silverlight enhancements now, if there WILL be as it is adopted by a wider audience or if it will be surpassed by something Adobe/Macromedia, Java etc. have in cooking.

Opinions of anyone with Sliverlight experience would be greatly appreciated.

As for "Vista SUX and XP SP3 rules' don't bother, please, heard all the (usually)baseless anti-Vista rants before.

9 replies

by jmgarvin

Silverlight is VERY well done and MS actually put some thought into it. It has streamlined the way we do a few of our more graphically intensive things and it's made our product really shine.

On the flip side, I understand it can be a little hard on the development end, but I haven't a clue because I haven't developed with it.

by oz_media

That's what I read about it, but from a quick glance and withotu downloading and installing it, I was interested in which enhancements it offers to a developer. Can you elaborate or offer some examples or specifics?
I'd really appreciate it if you can spare the time to do so.

Thanks,
OM

by jmgarvin

But I have to be careful here...The product hasn't gone gold yet (although VERY soon). So I can't say TOO much (yet).

However, I can tell you that it makes deploying web based "stuff" far easier and using other .Net technology a little more clean.

When we release the product (ITSMv6.1) I'll post more.

by tony hopkinson

It's not so much aero as teh WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation, which is a .Net 3.X onwards thing, that make3s full use of ajax.

Silverlight is more than presentation though.

You can execute .net code within it.
This gives you teh ability to secure foreign code, through Config files.
Run 'any' .net code in the framwork (already on the client, so no downloading etc)

The other thing it's starting to make use of is DLR (Dynamic Language RunTime)
So now you can write code to do operate on your pages in as many languages as there Net compilers for.

Course it's totally MS, maybe mono if you are brave. AJAX over HTTP for richj web apps is still sadly inefficient and clunky.

Some nice moves in it, given the limitations of the environment.

by oz_media

Am I right in that you feel it is merely a .Net enhancement, or is there more to it for NON .Net code?

by tony hopkinson

Some places it's better than others.

I'm using IronPython for instance as a scripting engine for customisable business logic.

The architect liked the idea and did a proof of concept with Silverlight with the engine in the back. Did a good enough job, that MS asked him to present it at one of their conferences.

For that to sit at the front of a complex application, it still requires a lot of 'traditional' beavering about at the back.

The future, probably not, part of the future, I see definite possibilties.

One of the big things I see, is it finally gives the client a real go at securing themselves from a provider without relying on trust, but still getting the uer experience that client side provides.

Instead of using javascript, you use .net. But you set it up so only certain actions area allowed by crtain providers for certain users. (all in .net since day one).

So I can give Oz Media Inc permission to store files on my drive, but only in one directory and only non-executable. Even more, I can say only this version of the file can do it, and use a public / private key pair to make sure you are you.

Without giving you the keys to my entire machine, or allowing any other bugger to do it.

And Ms are providing the stuff to write .net code in javascript.

Best attempt I've seen at getting round the inherrent weaknesses of web applications, while leveraging the existing knowledge base.

by oz_media

That sheds some light on things for me. Appreciate your post!

As for Python, Woooah, EH? Woooooah! EH?
I was using it for PKI scripting some years back, when it was pretty much an unknown, even built an old 486 mail server with Python based spam checks and it ran like a charm but havn't used it in a while. Glad to hear it is still making marks in the IT world.

by oz_media

And thank you ! I personally have avoided .net. As I was moving away from I.T. again and only doing a little scripting here and there, I decided to pass on .net.

Seeing as I have an opportunity to work some magic again, I may start to look at .net and learn its nuances a little better.

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