Silverlight与ASP.NET

Question

I am working at company that produces Web-base automation office software for organizations.
Most of these software are stored series of data on database or do handy processes mechanized.
I think with silverlight it is better migrate to this technology .

• What's your idea ?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of migrate to silverlight for this kind of software ?

Answer 1

How much control do you want over the look and feel of your application?

If you need very specific layouts and complex data visualisations then I'd recommend Silverlight. It gives you desktop-like control over the application and offers rich animations to achieve this.

There is a learning curve - XAML - but with the right tools, Visual Studio 2010 and Expression Blend, you can learn a lot from what is provided "out of the box".

Silverlight is not just for mobile development. A lot of what Microsoft have done in Silverlight 4 and are doing in Silverlight 5 with things like the PivotViewer, multimedia and the RichTextBox are definitely geared towards large screen applications rather than mobile devices with their smaller real estate.

Answer 2

I think it's a good idea to use Silverlight in your case.

1. your product will work in intranet, so download xap file is not a problem;
2. you can use a lot of third party controls, more than in ASP.NET MVC;
3. you get cross-browser compatibility, fi client's browsers may not support HTML5;
4. you get animations, vector graphics, hardware acceleration to build real rich interfaces;
5. feature set to build MVVM design;

Silverlight covered business applications area very well. It's very useful. And looking at features which are provided in next version, I couldn't say that only mobile is Silverlight destiny.

Answer 3

I wouldn't rule silverlight out. I suppose it depends on your specific application requirements. There are things I'd use ASP.net mvc for and other things I'd use silverlight for and not just for mobile development. With Silverlight 5 the differences between SL and WPF are less. SL is still a nice way to build a really rich client experience with the feel of a native client app and not just something running in the browser.