Few Essentials Of Silverlight Application Development For Beginners

By Author: chris togelson
Total Articles: 8
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Learning a new coding language and using the same for application development would mean you will have to first clear the basics of the language. Silverlight is a RIA development language introduced by Microsoft and if you wish to start Silverlight application development then there are a few things you should know.

The best entry point for Silverlight application development is to start with using notepad. This will later help you better understand what is happening at the back while using Visual Studio for creation Silverlight application. Visual Studio contains ready to use project templates but to understand exactly how it works it is important that you start your RIA development using Silverlight on notepad.

If you were thinking Silverlight application development without using any of Microsoft tools is not possible then you were completely wrong as this is very much possible though you will be developing small applications. While you do so remember that you need to save the notepad file in .html format.

To begin with using notepad for Silverlight application development you will have to host the ...
... application using HTML, asp.Net, PHP etc. For example if you wish to host the application using HTML then use the Object element to help you configure and embed Silverlight plug-in. The browser will then support the plug-in for the development of RIA solution using Silverlight.

The Silverlight developer needs to configure two important properties in the plug-in and those are 1) type and 2) param. In type you are required to mention the version of your Silverlight. In case if you do not include it then it will automatically take the version from the software installed in your computer. Parameter tag for XAML code reference is included in param. You can use the # with the ID to ensure that it looks for XAML source ID inside the same file.

Now it is time to create user interface using XAML (Extensible Application Markup Language), an easy to learn extension of XML and is useful for initializing and creating .NET objects with scaling relations. Though originally introduced for WPF, XAML is also used for Silverlight application development. Here it is advisable to maintain all the files in a single folder for easy reference.

After configuring the properties in the plug-ins it is time to write business logic using JavaScript. For this you will have to create a special file with the .js extension and include a reference for it in .html file. Though Javascript is a favorable language alternately you can also use VB.NET or C#.

For Silverlight application development using Visual Studio first you will have to create an atmosphere suitable for the development. Using Visual Studio for the project will make the process much faster, easier and less cumbersome. The drag and drop option does not require you to type in the code for each small thing. Simply drag whatever you need from the menu. This helps you to concentrate more on coding the core parts of the application. Ease of use has resulted in the popularity of Silverlight.

iFlexweb is known in the industry for developing highly interactive rich internet applications using the latest Silverlight application development techniques.