Flash vs Silverlight

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Some interesting observations I read recently from a Flash blogger:

  • Flash was not intended for RIA applications.
  • ActionScript was created for animated vector graphics; queuing messages on a single thread.
  • It was hijacked to support Flex with complex content; but the threading model didn’t change.
  • But Silverlight was built from the start for fully fledged applications.

I’m looking forward to the MVP Summit and MIX to see what’s coming in Silverlight 3. Currently, I’m developing real – world application with Silverlight. I’m putting together pieces and utility classes that I expect to be able to use going forward.

For me, the clear winner is having a feature – complete subset of the .NET Framework to code with, being able to share my creations in both Silverlight and the full .NET Framework, and not having to deal with the intricacies of the ActionScript learning curve to get what I want. I’ve been coding C# since 2001 and at this late stage of the game I feel pretty comfortable. I’m not particularly interested in learning Python, and certainly not the idiosyncrasies of ActionScript, whether compiled or not.

There’s no question in my mind that Silverlight was built with a view toward enterprise-level, multithreaded LOB application capabilities. I think the playing field is primed to get a lot more interesting in the next six months or so.

I’m giving two presentation at the MVP Summit in Redmond next week, one on Silverlight Object Encryption, the other on Silverlight Fast Binary Serialization over the wire.  We’ll see where everything leads.

Peter has been active on the C# and other MS newsgroups, has had samples at gotdotnet.com (now codegallery.com) that have been downloaded over 56,000 times, and has written numerous articles for eggheadcafe.com, for which he is a co-founder, and MSDNAA sites. He has also been a technical reviewer on books from Prentice Hall, Manning and other publishers. Peter was a Microsoft MVP for 10 years. Peter was born and raised in New York City, and after a stint as a jazz musician playing contrabass with the Robert Hunt Trio, migrated to sunny Florida, where he was hired as a rookie Financial Consultant at Merrill Lynch in Orlando, specializing in Corporate Services. It was at Merrill that Peter realized computers and technology were his forte. He spent his last few years at Merrill developing real – time computerized trading and and stock charting program using advanced technical analysis indicators, some of which are his own inventions. In 1997, he moved on to architect and serve as lead developer on a number of innovative web-based and middleware solutions for the healthcare and financial services industry.

Comments

  1. Anonymous2:36 PM

    Peter - an interesting post. While you don't explicitly say which one is the winner in your book, I'm able to figure it out. :)

    But it seems your reasons for declaring SL the winner seem to be programmer-specific. Things like user-client penetration and operation are key in RIA's.

    ReplyDelete
  2. peterbromberg9:19 PM

    @Anonymous,
    I'm not really saying one or the other is "the winner". Most Flash / Flex programmers aren't going to change. I'm just saying why Silverlight is a win for me. And yes, it is *very* programmer -specific.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown10:43 AM

    Dude, your post is just wrong man...I don't know where you're getting your info...could you provide a link to the post that you are referring to (I have a feeling that it is severely outdated)? Flash 9 and above is a completely different animal than flash 8, Adobe has completley overhauled the virtual machine. As for the intricacies of flash, I think you will find it almost identical to c# in syntax. The perfect RIA architecture model is flash front end, .net business logic and sql server backend...silverlight just isn't there yet...sorry microsoft.

    ReplyDelete
  4. peterbromberg11:10 AM

    @Robert, Everybody has an opinion, and you're cerntainly entitled to yours. With Silverlight 3 beta out now, I'm even more convinced that it is Silverlight that makes the optimal RIA front end. Besides, I've been coding in C# since 2001, and I really don't have the time to learn the intricacies of ActionScript.

    ReplyDelete
  5. michael - romania5:41 AM

    I wonder why Microsoft delayed so much Silverlight developement. It was clear many years ago that Windows need some kind of mixed (raster+vector) animated render. Adobe filled the gap very rapidly - in fact some fancy buttons and vector capability were enough. Integration with Windows is close to inexistent...how to save a movie? Oh, I have to download some 3rd parties.
    Silverlight is good but it came too late. At least in Romania (which I am from), there are far fewer opportunities to develop on Silverlight than to Adobe products.
    A very smart move for MS some years ago could has been a simple control in Powerpoint that save a ppt to a vector animation. It's amazing that other did that (see Camtasia, or adobe presenter - which IS a ppt add-on, a very simple one). It is very basic - everyone needs some kind of nice, dynamic presentation.
    Best ragard, Michael
    LE: I appeciate validation flexibility for comments - a lesson for usability ;)

    ReplyDelete

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