Microsoft Silverlight Definition
Microsoft Silverlight is a web application framework for developing interactive, multimedia, client-side web applications. It is supported by a browser plug-in that runs applications developed with the Microsoft Silverlight framework. Silverlight 3 introduced the capability for delivering desktop Silverlight applications. Silverlight is commonly used to develop streaming media players, image viewers, virtual tours and games.
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History
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Silverlight was introduced in 2006 as a competitor to Adobe Flash. Silverlight 3.0, released in 2009, introduced the capability for developers to create standalone desktop applications to compete with a similar capability Adobe Air brought to Flash.
Function
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Silverlight applications are client-side applications that can be embedded in a web page in a manner visually similar to embedding images, videos and Flash applications. Silverlight applications can deliver complex functionality for interacting with media, presentations and web services that cannot be otherwise provided through basic web technologies.
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Benefits
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The Silverlight framework provides a rich set of capabilities to create complex, secure client-side web applications. Silverlight can interact with web services, allowing developers to produce applications that can interact with server-side databases and other resources. Silverlight applications are written in .NET programming languages, allowing .NET developers to easily learn to develop Silverlight applications.
Development Tools
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Silverlight applications can be written in any .NET programming language. Developers are able to use any .NET development tools that can target the Silverlight CoreCLR. Expression Blend was developed by Microsoft for Silverlight user interface design. Visual Studio 2008 with the Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio add-on can be used for Silverlight application development. Eclipse is capable of developing Silverlight applications starting with Silverlight 2.
Compatibility
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Silverlight applications run on multiple browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari on Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems. Linux support is provided through the Moonlight project, a collaboration between Microsoft and Novell. The Moonlight project also offers Linux development resources, such as the Lunar Eclipse XAML user interface design tool.
Warnings
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A wide range of browsers and platforms are supported. However, support is not comprehensive, and web site visitors may not have the Silverlight plug-in installed or enabled. Web developers should provide mechanisms for their sites to degrade gracefully and provide alternatives for critical functionality.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Robert Scoble
