Advantages of Silverlight for RIA Development

Advantages of Silverlight for RIA Development

by Shuvendu Gupta

For businesses, it is important to follow a well-defined and efficient web strategy to boost their business approach. But what is equally important is strategy implementation of Rich Internet Applications so that the applications are highly user-friendly, and largely functional. It is important to note that it was known by developers that development of rich internet applications was an arduous task, and involved considerable time and effort. Additionally, the web technologies of those times did not guarantee results and developers were never sure if they would meet with success.

Microsoft Silverlight aimed to change that. The highly efficient web technology offers cross-platform, and cross-browser plug-ins that can be leveraged by talented web developers for developing efficient Rich Internet Applications.

Here are some of the salient features of Silverlight as an efficient tool for Rich Internet Applications development:

Use of Popular Technologies

Microsoft technologies are preferred by web developers all over the world owing to its family ecosystem of products and services. Silverlight benefits users by using Microsoft platforms and technologies including XML application markup language, .Net and various others to deliver a combined impact. Developers who are already proficient in Microsoft technologies can utilize Silverlight effectively since they are already familiar with Microsoft technologies. Developers can hence focus on innovation rather than getting to know the technical know-how.

It is Similar to HTML

Silverlight can design the user interface quickly and easily, providing effective rendering of special effects since the language being used is XAML, which resembles HTML closely. Developers can utilize XAML plain text files for instructing Silverlight to render the look and feel in a particular way. Developers can hence create dynamic XAML to create files with info, which can aid them in various stages of rich internet application development, and reused if needed.

Same Development Model for Multiple Browsers

Developers are always challenged by the fact that their creations do not render exactly the same way that they intended. It takes up a lot of time and effort to achieve cross-browser compatibility. They are required to develop and implement new codes depending on each browser and even need to test the entire code. Silverlight on the other hand, offers web developers with a single development approach to create web applications for all browsers and operating systems without the need for additional testing.

Focuses on both Development and Design

In the realm of website development, users expect a lot since there are scores of websites, and expectations are high. Huge importance is attached to the design and aesthetics of the website. But the problem is that it requires perfect co-ordination between developers and designers on the differences involved with different tools and platforms. Silverlight offers both design and development tools with a strong platform for website development.