Why I'm Excited About Silverlight - Part 1

At this point, I feel confident in saying there is a lot of excitement swirling around Silverlight 2.0. I think it is to the point where individuals are counting down the days until Mix08. The timing of this conference will coincide with the next public release of Silverlight 2.0 and a non-commercial go live license. Because of this, I think that now is as good of a time as any to explain one reason why I am so excited about Silverlight.

Why I am Excited About Silverlight

I think there are a lot of individuals who are excited about the rich user interface possibilities created by Silverlight. At the same time, I believe there are a lot of individuals jazzed about the .NET features we have started to see with the Silverlight 1.1 Alpha. This is where I come in. I hope to provide a simple explanation of why this is such a big deal.

Before you read any further, I want you to answer the following question: "What is .NET?"

Your response to this question will probably determine where you fit on Scott Barnes' RIA Role Spectrum. Personally, I am slightly more to the developer side, however, I would definately consider myself an RIA Architect. Because of this, both aspects are important to me. So, when I'm asked "What is .NET?", I have to have a response that fits both sides of my personality (sounds like a frosted mini-wheats commercial). Well, I believe that .NET is about two and exactly two things.

1. Integration and
2. Innovation

I refer to these as the two I's of .NET and these are why I want to be associated with it. I think if you understand that .NET is about these two things, it is pretty easy to get excited about Silverlight. The reason why is because the value in learning the .NET components of Silverlight go far beyond user interface scenarios. It really enters the realm of desktop applications, system-wide services, workflow applications, and many others (this one is really cool).

I realize this post isn't very deep. However, my writing juices are focused elsewhere. I posted this simply to start some discussions. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. In regards to comments on this blog, they are moderated. However, I will publish ANYTHING, positive or negative, that is related to this post. I have recently rejected comments related to a "FREE PS3" and "Testing". I want to make sure that everyone feels welcome to post their opinions. However, it has to be relevant to this post to respect everyone's time.

Thank you for reading!
Chad

Silverlight - Presentation

Hello,

I presented on Silverlight 1.0 and Silverlight 2.0 (previously 1.1) this evening. The presentation was given at the Kentucky .NET Developers Association meeting. As promised during the meeting, my slides are available here.

Overall, I was really encouraged to see the excitement swirling around Silverlight. The content in the presentation is slightly modified from the presentations I have given in the past. Regardles, there is one thing that I feel I need to reiterate to those who are just reading the slides.

As Tim Sneath has mentioned in his recent post, Silverlight 1.1 is not ready for use in production.

With that said, I hope to turn the content of the presentation into a webcast in the near future. This will allow those outside of the locations I've spoken at to see the content. When this occurs, you can bet I will make a post here. Because of this, make sure you are subscribed to the RSS Feed.

Silverlight - Updates

• On November 29, Scott Guthrie announced that Silverlight 1.1 will now be known as Silverlight 2.0. This is really exciting news. I think it will really help clear up some of confusion that is currently surrounding 1.0 vs. 1.1. Because of this...


• May the book title Silverlight 1.1 in Action rest in peace. However, this does not mean the book is cancelled. Oh no! Instead it is being appropriately named:


• Silverlight 2.0 in Action. The book cover and information will be updated to match the new title shortly. When this book is in your local book store, it will have been in development for over a year. That is a pretty long time for a technical publication. This should be a hint as to breadth and depth of content you should expect. Because of this, I think there will be a number of individual who will want to discuss the content. To help assist in this, I would like to announce the
• Silverlight 2.0 in Action Facebook Fan Page. Become a fan today (man I get cheesier each and every day, just ask my girlfriend's dog, Buster):