The developers behind Dot Net Outsource, the leading Chinese provider of global outsourcing services, specialize in in both "Web-based" and Client-Server technologies on the Microsoft .NET platform. Here they look at Silverlight and compare it, for their particular needs, with DHTML/AJAX and Flash.
RIAs offer the flexibility and ease of use of an intelligent desktop application, and add the broad reach of traditional web applications with an entirely new kind of web experience that is engaging, interactive, lightweight, and flexible.
DHTML and AJAX
We used DHTML and AJAX technology in HTML pages in some of our .NET outsourced projects. However, we encountered problems of browser incompatibility. (For example, DOM is quite different in IE and in Safari.)
Although it is possible to make this kind of web application work in all browsers, it will take the developer much time and it is very difficult to maintain when the browsers update.
Flash
Another very popular technology is Flash, it doesn’t have any browsers compatibility problems, but it’s very hard to integrate with .NET. Integrating Flash demands that .NET developers make a special effort, and since our specialty is .NET software outsourcing, Flash is not the best choice for us.
Silverlight
Silverlight is a cross browser technology, so there's no browser compatibility problem. Plus it integrates with .NET very well, so it is easier to use and develop. Silverlight does not have controls at present, but in version 2.0, many controls will be released for Web designers. Those controls will make Web development easier and faster.
Based on the features supported by Silverlight (see our chart below) more web page elements and properties can be controlled than DHTML&AJAX. Silverlight also offers a good user experiences.
Item | DHTML & AJAX | FLASH | Silverlight |
User Experience | Normal | Very Good | Very Good |
Browser Compatibility | Hard to support and maintain | IE, Firefox, Safari, etc. Popular Browsers | IE, Firefox, Safari, etc. Popular Browsers |
Popularity | N/A | High | Normal(New) |
Version | N/A | Normal, version 9.0 | New Tech, version 1.1 |
Study Efforts | Normal | Normal | Normal |
Ease of Use | Easy (If do not consider compatibility) | Normal | Normal |
Integration with .NET | Easy | Hard | Easy |
Network Performance | High | Normal | High |
Client Performance | Some Code - High Most Code - Low | High | High |
Designer Tools | Use CSS | Flash CS3 PhotoShop CS3 | Blend, Expression Designer |
Sample Silverlight sites:
Silverlight official home page: www.silverlight.net
ComponentOne silverlight controls page: http://labs.componentone.com/sapphire
Infragistics silverlight controls page: http://labs.infragistics.com/silverlight/
Source: http://www.dotnetoutsource.com/