So I take a few weeks of family leave to welcome our second child into the world and what happens? Microsoft goes mad releasing new developer tools like Silverlight 2 and ASP.NET MVC. I’ve also returned to tight sponsorship deadlines for the long awaited PDC 2008 in LA this October - the site has a countdown timer as if the pressure to sign up wasn’t great enough! Talk about making my gentle ramp back into a full working day difficult…thanks for that, Redmondites.
So what is all the fuss about Silverlight 2 you ask? Many have been impressed by the slick demos and hot new features like “DeepZoom” (coming soon to a movie theater near you), as showcased by the excellent Vertigo Software team. Microsoft has given Silverlight the full court press as the next big thing in defining rich web applications, and media companies like Netflix and Fox Television have jumped into the Silverlight showcase zone.
For battle weary .NET developers, I’d imagine this is all very well but how about some basic orientation before letting our web app imaginations run riot? In its own very meager way, my blog is here to help ease the Silverlight anxiety out there. I’ve pulled together a list of my top Silverlight resources, with the aim of giving web developers some orientation in this much hyped software release from Microsoft, including its beauty spots, blemishes, warts and all.
The first stop for a solid grounding in Silverlight is, as always, Scott Guthrie’s excellent Microsoft insider blog. Scott does his usual deep dive (or zoom, if you like) into new Silverlight 2 features, complete with handy screenshots and product team insights. Where does he find the time, I wonder aloud? Is there indeed a band of Microsoft elves that crank out these dense and very informative posts with his blessing? Read it and you decide…
You’ve probably guessed that I’m a fan of the DeepZoom feature in Silverlight 2, so here’s a more balanced real world example of that feature in action. You can always count on Scott Hanselman for some solid working code and neat examples of his latest code meanderings:
Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t plug our own learning content in the company of these 2 industry heavyweights. You should absolutely check out InnerWorkings’ new Drills for C# developers in Visual Studio 2008 – we’ve created 6 hours of intense coding challenges for developers looking to learn the nuances of building Silverlight 2 web applications:
For the visually minded among you, take a peek at this MIX08 poster (courtesy of Brad Abrams’ blog) that shows the Silverlight shell including controls, tools, languages, and platforms. Only Microsoft could jam this much information into a single image, but somehow it works for me:
Dan Wahlin is another good source of Silverlight 2 information, delivered in his usual clear and businesslike writing voice. I’ve selected two of Dan’s articles — how to create your first Silverlight application and moving onto using the Grid, Panel, and StackPanel controls:
If you’re still (barely) conscious and following my list, I’ll recommend one final article from Patrick Hynds. He focuses on the impact of Silverlight on IT Managers, who need to support the applications that developers create with each shiny new technology that is released. Patrick is ”objective” on Microsoft to a fault, so his perspective on the Silverlight vs. Flash war (read Microsoft vs. Adobe) is worth considering:
OK, I’ve run out of steam with this list…you’re officially on your own. Please add to my shortlist of Silverlight 2 resources if you dare!
