Friday 16 November 2012

Guide To Microsoft Silverlight

Silverlight is known as a software tool by Microsoft for the purpose of developing ultra powerful, rich internet applications, it's in actual fact much the same in traits and also intentions to Adobe Flash.

Microsoft themselves talk about their service as being a strong development tool for making engaging, interactive user experiences for Web and also mobile apps.

Some of the many features mentioned on their web site incorporates, IIS Smooth Streaming, Pivot Viewer, for visualizing massive amounts of data in a fun and visual way, Sketch Flow, more for sketching out an application and its uses, Deep Zoom, Pixel Shader and over 60 new controls just like charting and new media.

However, as opposed to Flash, Silverlight is a free plugin which is run by the .Net framework, therefore extremely easy and user-friendly to employ with Visual Studio, and it is suitable for a variety of browsers and devices.

In the beginning Microsoft focused upon streaming media etc but since then Silverlight has expanded substantially to feature support for multimedia, graphics and animation.

Silverlight at present also includes support for specific languages and development tools, in fact it is also one of the key development platforms for the Windows phone.

Silverlight additionally employs XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) to assert user interfaces, because of this it is simple to create Windows sidebar devices and also other fancy apps with neat vector graphics and animations.

It's also possible to write Silverlight apps in any .Net programming languages, meaning that any development tool that can be used in .Net, you may use in Silverlight. Hence Microsoft are pitching Visual Studio as the prefect tool for developers to create and debug Silverlight applications.

Since its introduction in 2007, Microsoft have refreshed Silverlight every year with edition 1 in 2007 and version 5 (the current and up to-date model) introduced in May 2012. The 2012 version (Silverlight 5) can actually be used on Windows and Mac and with Mobile devices running Windows or Symbian.

The below highlights all the editions and provides some background information.

Silverlight 1 was introduced in 2007, it had been comprised of various core features including the UI controls, media playback, DOM integration, interactivity and user input, and graphics and animation.

Silverlight 2 followed soon after in the same year and was similar to version 1 but in addition included a version of the .Net framework which allowed it to run any other programs developed in any .Net language.

Silverlight 3 was unveiled in 2008 as a beta and then officially unveiled in July 2009. This edition included even more controls for example DataGrid and TreeView, DataPager (permitted you to see paginated data), DataForm (for form based applications) along with numerous layout panels.

Silverlight 4 was launched in November 2009 as a beta with the official release in April 2010. This bundled much more characteristics than ever before for example rendering HTML, better localization, support for Google Chrome browser, brand new and enhanced controls and a whole lot. It also came with Silverlight 4 tools for developers, delivering much more development possibilities

Silverlight 5 was launched for download in December 2011. The newest features included 64-bit support, 3D graphics, GPU accelerated video decoding and playback speed controls.

As said before above, Silverlight applications can be written in any .NET programming language. As such, any development tools which may be used with .NET languages can work with Silverlight. When you are making use of Silverlight and XML, you can also make use of an XML Silverlight tool like Liquid XML studio.





























Thursday 8 November 2012

Just What Is Silverlight

Silverlight is a software application created by Microsoft, an effective way to illustrate it to you, will be to liken it to Adobe Flash. Silverlight in characteristics and purpose is much like Adobe Flash.

Microsoft by themselves explain their product as;

“Silverlight is a powerful development tool for creating engaging, interactive user experiences for Web and mobile applications. Silverlight is a free plug-in, powered by the .NET framework and compatible with multiple browsers, devices and operating systems, bringing a new level of interactivity wherever the Web works.”

At first the focus was greatly about producing rich and engaging user experiences through rich media, streaming and animation allowing web programmers to create really engaging and interactive sites, the same as with Flash.

Nevertheless what lots of people are not aware of is how much Silverlight now features a lot more for business application development and just how in fact, Silverlight is currently being frequently used for additional purposes over and above merely engaging content.

The fact is Silverlight is now being utilized within business for data management, CRM and a lot of other business critical operations, in a nutshell, a growing number of business applications are making use of Silverlight to assist business demands.

A business application carries a very precise purpose or goal, and generally assists a corporation to cut costs or time, or simply to enables them to to improve customer satisfaction. Common examples could include CRM applications, time-tracking in addition to expense claim applications, e-commerce and e-tail experiences, purchase request applications, and HR employee management systems.

Users of business software expect rich, functional, and well-performing user interfaces similar to those typically provided by the desktop applications they are familliar with. With the latest business application-focused enhancements to Silverlight, the rich capabilities of its user interface, and the associated tooling provided by Visual Studio and Expression Studio, you can now rapidly create this type of application and enjoy the benefits of Web delivery and deployment.

So just what is Silverlight and also how does it work? As stated above Silverlight is a software application from Microsoft for making appealing content akin to Adobe Flash, however it is even more than Flash and will also be used in business application development.

Silverlight is a completely free software which comes in a browser plug-in format, there isn't a need to download it as an application on your C drive plus its as a result very small and self-contained.

Silverlight might be run in all of the primary browsers including Mozilla, Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera, and Internet Explorer of course, and it is platform independent and operates by displaying a programming framework that is a subset of the .Net Framework.

To install Silverlight you may download it straight from the Microsoft website and download it to your computer as a plug-in. You can think of this plug-in as a scaled down form of the .Net framework as it only has the classes and functionality that's applicable to a Silverlight web client.

Due to this fact, you can actually write real, compiled and managed code that's completed in the context of the client browser itself. Finally, Silverlight employs XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) to make the user interface.

Silverlight programs may be developed in any .NET programming language. Because of this, any development tools that may be used with .NET languages can function with Silverlight. If you happen to be dealing with Silverlight and XML, you can also readily XML Silverlight tool similar to Liquid XML studio.