04 August 2007
Is Silverlight worth taking on?
Catching up on some of my RSS Feeds (3wks of unread, egads!) and I noticed this post titled
"Is Microsoft Silverlight Worth Taking On?"
(http://blog.wildmousesoftware.com/2007/08/is-microsoft-silverlight-worth-taking.html )
It's actually a healthy insight into what I'm guessing others may or may not face in the crossroads of adopting some of our new toys (Expression Studio, Visual Studio 2008 and Silverlight).
I like seeing stuff like this:
"..What I don't like about the browser includes the use of JavaScript for client side scripting. Now JavaScript is a foundation of AJAX and there is no way a modern web application can go back to the constant page refreshes of previous generations but JavaScript just doesn't cut it. I want a solid debugger, faster execution, and solid source code management..."
As that's something I've noticed Microsoft do fairly well. It's also important to note that the author isn't weighing up "what does it have in terms of SDK/Framework etc" but more "what does it have to support everything but those two" (tools etc).
"..What I am hoping not to find is that using Silverlight on the client ties me to the whole Microsoft stack. I wouldn't mind using the Microsoft stack but I don't want to be locked in to server software by my client software..."
Nope, that's the DLR (Dynamic Language Runtime) working for the author in this case, as down the road their will be a breed of choice, how mature they become is entirely up to the community whom wish to take the DLR out for a test run.
I like this post a lot, as it's blunt, to the point and I'm guessing others must have similar thoughts rolling around their heads.
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Scott Barnes currently is a Rich Platform Product Manager (WPF & Silverlight). He has been working with Adobe/Macromedia technology for the past 10 years with a main focus specifically on Internet Applications (aka. RIA, Rich Client Technology etc).
Scott first started out as a graphic designer in the late 90’s and over the years developed a passion for programmatic art (Designer + Developer mind). He recently has branched out further into 3D modelling and animation making full use of both his designer + developer mindset.
"..The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man..." - George Bernard Shaw