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Understanding Silverlight: A Comprehensive Guide to Developing Rich Internet Applications

vijay k

Introduction

Silverlight was a rich internet application (RIA) framework developed by Microsoft. It enabled developers to create interactive applications that ran on web browsers and provided rich media experiences. While Silverlight was once a popular technology for web development, especially in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it has since been phased out in favor of more modern web technologies, including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. As of 2021, Silverlight is no longer officially supported, but it remains significant as a part of web development history.

In this guide, we will explore what Silverlight is, its major use cases, how Silverlight works, the architecture behind it, and the basic workflow for creating Silverlight applications. Additionally, we will provide a step-by-step guide for getting started with Silverlight, including development tools and resources.

What is Silverlight?

Silverlight was a web application framework and a cross-platform plugin developed by Microsoft to create rich media experiences in web browsers. It allowed developers to build interactive, multi-platform applications that could run in major web browsers like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari.

Silverlight was primarily known for offering rich graphics, animations, and video playback in web applications, similar to Adobe Flash, but with better integration into web standards, especially in Windows environments.

The framework used XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language) for defining the layout and appearance of applications and C# (or VB.NET) for the logic. This made it similar to developing Windows desktop applications but for the web. Silverlight applications could be deployed within web browsers as plugins and allowed the development of high-performance applications for rich media, gaming, and enterprise applications.

Key Features of Silverlight:

  • Cross-Platform Support: Initially, Silverlight supported multiple platforms, including Windows and Mac OS X.
  • Rich User Interface: It allowed the creation of visually appealing interfaces using XAML, similar to Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).
  • Multimedia Support: Silverlight offered built-in support for video, audio, graphics, and animation, making it ideal for multimedia applications.
  • Asynchronous Programming: It supported asynchronous programming via Event-Driven Programming and JavaScript in combination with AJAX for data retrieval.
  • Integration with .NET: Developers could use C# and Visual Basic to write business logic for Silverlight applications.

The End of Silverlight Support

In 2012, Microsoft announced it would no longer actively develop Silverlight in favor of HTML5 and JavaScript. In 2021, Microsoft ended support for Silverlight entirely, and browsers no longer support the plugin.

Major Use Cases of Silverlight

While Silverlight has been discontinued, it was historically used for creating rich internet applications (RIA) across a wide range of industries. Below are some of the major use cases of Silverlight during its time of popularity:

1. Media and Video Streaming

One of the most prominent use cases for Silverlight was in media and video streaming applications, where it provided rich video playback with integrated controls, adaptive streaming, and support for high-definition content.

  • Use Case Example: Silverlight was used by Netflix in the early days of streaming to deliver high-quality video content over the web, offering better performance than Flash.

2. Rich User Interfaces

Silverlight allowed developers to create visually rich user interfaces with complex layouts, animations, and data binding capabilities. It supported vector-based graphics, animations, and transitions that could be deployed directly within the browser.

  • Use Case Example: Enterprise applications like financial dashboards, data visualization tools, and interactive charts benefited from Silverlight’s ability to create data-heavy, interactive web apps.

3. Enterprise Applications

Silverlight was widely adopted in enterprise applications for its ability to deliver rich interactive experiences within the browser while utilizing existing .NET skills. Businesses could build internal applications, such as reporting tools, management dashboards, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, using the same technologies that were used for Windows desktop applications.

  • Use Case Example: Internal business intelligence tools used by large corporations could run within a browser, allowing executives to interact with real-time data, reports, and graphs.

4. Gaming and Interactive Content

Silverlight offered powerful features for creating interactive games and rich multimedia content. The ability to manage real-time updates and multimedia assets made Silverlight a great option for online games and other media-heavy applications.

  • Use Case Example: Some online casual games and interactive applications used Silverlight for performance benefits, particularly for tasks like real-time rendering and graphic-intensive animations.

5. Rich Mobile Web Applications

For a brief period, Silverlight was used in mobile applications, particularly on Windows Mobile and Windows Phone platforms, enabling developers to build applications that offered a rich user experience.

  • Use Case Example: Mobile enterprise applications in the financial sector and field services leveraged Silverlight to provide users with advanced functionality and rich interfaces.

How Silverlight Works: Architecture

Silverlight applications rely on a combination of XAML, C#, and the .NET Framework to provide a rich environment for creating interactive web applications. Below is an overview of how Silverlight works under the hood:

1. Silverlight Runtime

  • The Silverlight runtime is the core component that facilitates the execution of Silverlight applications in web browsers. It is installed as a browser plugin on the client machine and interacts with the web page to run Silverlight content.
  • The runtime environment includes the necessary resources for running Silverlight applications, including support for graphics, video, and networking.

2. XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language)

  • XAML is an XML-based markup language used to define the UI (User Interface) of a Silverlight application. XAML allows developers to design rich, interactive user interfaces declaratively, similar to the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) for desktop applications.
  • In Silverlight, XAML defines the layout, controls, and data bindings of the user interface, while the logic (C#) handles the business rules.

3. .NET Integration

  • Silverlight applications could use .NET languages like C# or Visual Basic for the application logic. These languages were used to interact with the UI, handle events, and manage business logic.
  • Developers could use the Silverlight runtime API for tasks such as handling media playback, network communication, animation, and user interaction.

4. Managed Code

  • Silverlight used managed code (like any .NET application), meaning that it runs in the context of the .NET Common Language Runtime (CLR). This gives developers access to powerful features such as garbage collection, type safety, and exception handling.

5. Security Model

  • Silverlight uses a sandboxed security model, which isolates the Silverlight application from the client machine. This ensures that applications cannot directly interact with system resources without explicit permission.

6. Media and Graphics

  • Silverlight had integrated support for high-quality media streaming, including video, audio, and interactive graphics (using Silverlight’s media classes and DirectX). This made it ideal for building applications involving dynamic visuals or real-time data rendering.

Basic Workflow of Silverlight

The basic workflow for creating and consuming Silverlight applications involves the following steps:

  1. Design the UI with XAML: The user interface is created using XAML. You define the layout, data bindings, controls, and visual elements.
  2. Implement Business Logic in C#: The application logic is implemented using C#. This can include handling user interactions, performing actions, making network requests, and updating the UI.
  3. Deploy the Silverlight Application: The Silverlight application is packaged as a .xap file, which is a compressed file containing all the necessary components (XAML, C#, resources). This .xap file is embedded in the HTML page and downloaded by the client.
  4. Run the Application: When a user accesses the page, the Silverlight runtime is loaded into the browser and executes the application, rendering the UI and handling interaction with the user.
  5. Communication and Networking: Silverlight supports network communication via web services (SOAP, RESTful APIs) and AJAX. This allows Silverlight apps to interact with back-end services.

Step-by-Step Getting Started Guide for Silverlight

Step 1: Install Development Tools

To start building Silverlight applications, you’ll need the following:

  • Visual Studio: The primary IDE for developing Silverlight applications. You can download Visual Studio Community Edition for free.
  • Silverlight SDK: Install the Silverlight SDK and Silverlight runtime on your machine to begin developing and testing Silverlight applications.

Step 2: Create a New Silverlight Project

In Visual Studio, create a new Silverlight Application project:

  1. Open Visual Studio.
  2. Click on File > New > Project.
  3. Select Silverlight Application under the Visual C# or Visual Basic project templates.
  4. Choose whether to host your Silverlight application in a new or existing web site.

Step 3: Design the User Interface

Use XAML to design the UI for your Silverlight application. You can add controls such as buttons, text boxes, sliders, and media elements. Use data-binding to dynamically bind UI elements to application data.

<Grid>
    <Button Content="Click Me" HorizontalAlignment="Center" VerticalAlignment="Center" />
</Grid>

Step 4: Implement Application Logic with C#

In the MainPage.xaml.cs file, write the logic for handling user interactions, such as button clicks.

private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    MessageBox.Show("Button Clicked!");
}

Step 5: Test the Application

Run the Silverlight application in Visual Studio by pressing F5. This will launch the application within the browser using the Silverlight runtime.

Step 6: Deploy the Application

Once you’re ready to deploy the application:

  1. Build the project to generate the .xap file.
  2. Embed the .xap file into an HTML page.
  3. Host the HTML page and the .xap file on a web server.

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