I've heard that Windows Phone 7's user interface (UI) is completely based on Silverlight. Can anybody confirm this? Or it is implemented by other frameworks?
Windows Phone 7 will support developing apps in either Silverlight or XNA.
Are you asking if the shell, etc that comes on the phone itself is written in Silverlight? My first question would be "why does it matter what Microsoft used?" It's probably a good bet that they leveraged it, but I doubt they did everything in SL. At some point they have to get down to the OS. For example, I doubt the built-in media player core or Office apps are SL.
Looking at the unlocked emulator image contents would certainly let you deduce which parts were developed with what technologies. I leave that exercise to you.
Indeed Silverlight is used for third-party apps on Windows Phone 7, plus XNA is supported too as mentioned.
However the Office apps and some first-party applications are written using the Iris framework which is an internal only developer framework similar to WPF, it is the same framework used for the Zune Software (Dorado) which is used to sync to a Windows Phone 7 device.
Yes it is based on Silverlight
I can tell you one thing, they are using Expression Blend (or a modified version of it) for parts of the core UI design. You can see the developers using this on one of their promo videos.
Related
When I create new Windows Phone project I have an option to create a "Windows Phone" or "Windows Phone Silverlight" app. I know that they have different runtimes and different APIs.
I was under the impression that Microsoft wants to unify Windows and Windows Phone platforms so why is there even a Silverlight version? What benefits does it bring?
Also, if I want to create an app just for Windows Phone and never have plans to bring it to Windows, what should I choose, Silverlight or Windows Phone?
I'd suggest you go with "Windows Phone" (non-Silverlight). It's the new API, which works for both Windows and Windows Phone. At some point you may want to port the app or create a new one for Windows and you'll already know the API (and porting will be way easier). Also, the new API will most likely get more updates and features added, and at some point you may even be forced to update to it (either because the old one is no longer supported, or because it does not have some features that you need).
As it was said in the other answers - the Silverlight option is there only for backward compatibility and is likely to be phased out in time. That is - it's good if you already know the API and have many libraries (yours or others) for WP Silverlight, but if you're just starting - you'd better go for the new technology.
Edit
There is one other thing to consider before choosing between the two types of apps. Some features are only available in a Silverlight app, and others (smaller amount) - only in a Xaml app. Here's an article with some info on the differences: Migrating your Windows Phone 8 app to a Windows Runtime XAML app
Windows RT Xaml is quite new and People have to generate some knowledge first.
Silverlight for phone has been around for years and there's a load of tools available: Phone Toolkit, diverse Controls, etc.
Just killing it off would have hurt many developers who built up intellectual property over a long time forcing them to start over.
When starting a project with Silverlight you will have more things around that help you get stuff done.
When starting with WinRT Xaml, you will have better performance, but will have to figure a lot out by yourself.
So the Silverlight option is there to not throw of Silverlight developers.
I recently started a new project on WinRT Xaml and my experience was that I had to recreate a lot of common tools like Caches, etc. But also a lot of things that were in Toolkits previously are now part of the platform itself. Also, when moving over to Windows 8, you get to share a lot of code which is nice.
Unifying the environment(s) would be ideal. In my opinion, it hasn't been very successful. At one point in time, you could only develop under Silverlight, so what you are seeing is just a newer version of the same thing to keep backwards compatibility as well as to keep Silverlight's developers happy. In the future, it will probably be phased out. Plus if you want to support older Phones, Silverlight is basically your only choice (you'll be surprise, how many WP users haven't updated their 8.0 to 8.1)
There really isn't any other real benefit of Silverlight other than maybe the Windows Phone Toolkit which has been tremendously useful (you can see how many SO's answers rely on this simple addon). Once the universal runtime gets fleshed out to the point where the documentation reflects what's actually available -- then I think it would be the default project for developing in Windows going forward.
If you're just starting, I would use Silverlight the knowledge based is much greater. After you get use to the WP environment then switch to runtime.
At my job we are developing a GIS application which will be developed using Silverlight + .NET
But, I heard that Silverlight will not be supported by Microsoft as also they are stopping Silverlight, is it true ?
Is it suggestable to use Silverlight if so with which version of silverlight we can use. ?
Thanks.,
Use Silverlight 5. Current version have 10 year support, and it better than Flash, java or damn it html.
In the future you can migrate to another .NET-based framework by easily porting code.
About silver light support, you can find these answers from Microsoft Silverlight Support Lifecycle Policy.
Keeping in mind that MS would support these browsers till 2021, I would recommend using Silverlight5 if you really have to use Silverlight.
However for new developments I would recommend you to evaluate Html5 as well.
YES! Silverlight is still the best technology to use for web based Line of Business applications. Silverlight will be supported for another 10 years and it will be available within Windows 8 desktop. Silverlight +[Arc]GIS are a great combination. It is so easy to create full functioning application and with little effort. Silverlight is not dead. It is still a great technology to use that is available on (almost) every platform.
Ultimately it comes down to:
1) What do you know: Are you an HTML/JavaScript ninja? Then use that, do you know Flex better then your own children? Or are you a skilled .Net assassin?
2) How much time do you have? Do you want to learn something new and have gobs of time? Then go for that new shiny object (HTML5) and get yourself some street cred.
This probably belongs on programmers.stackexchange.com. However:
Silverlight will continue to be supported for some time, but all signs point to it no longer being actively developed.
If you want a technology that's actively developed, I'd recommend HTML 5 for web based applications and WinRT for Windows 8+ native applications.
Ultimately, though, you should go with what works best for your situation. After all, WinForms is still used on many successful greenfield projects.
Silverlight is based on the NPAPI architecture that is no longer supported on Google Chrome (from browser version 42 upward) though you can still run it on IE and Firefox. HTML5 is supported on all browsers.
From a career standpoint, using Silverlight (which uses XAML) gets you an easier entry into developing apps for Metro/Windows Store/Universal Windows Apps (these can be developed using HTML5/JS too but you'll find a larger developer base using C#/XAML).
Finally if you're already a WPF developer, it's fastest if you develop for Silverlight. See Silverlight vs Flash vs HTML5.
I know this might seem odd for many Silverlight professionals, but alas, thats the case.
I learnt Silverlight just to make app on Windows Phone 7. Hence, for me Silverlight starts and ends with Windows Phone 7.
So, If I have to now design a Silverlight application for a browser, do I have to go back and learn any additional stuff or is the knowledge gained from learning for Windows Phone good enough to dive into creating the browser application.
I do know scope differences like 3.5+ in phone and 4,5 versions of Silverlight in Browser and lack of controls for Windows Phone development.
Also, I come from a development background, not a designing one.
/andy
Andy,
most of what you have learned while developing from windows phone will be applicable to the desktop. There are some differences and you can get a good understanding of those differences here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff426931(v=vs.95).aspx
hth
I have experience coding in C# (console and Windows Form applications). For something to do in my free time, I've been intending to pick up another language, and have my sights on something thats a little more content rich. However, I'm confused about the following:
Windows Forms are used to develop GUI applications for windows. What is WPF and how is it different from Windows Forms
Does Windows Phone development use C#, or exclusively Silverlight? Or does it just use the .NET framework, and you can use either of the two?
Adding to other answer(s):
WPF uses an XML-based markup called XAML to describe the UI, like HTML does for a web page. The XAML file is paired with a "code-behind" (.cs or .vb) file that is compiled together when the app is built. Adding an XML element to the XAML file is equvalient to declaring an object in the code-behind file. For many classes, you can choose to do one or the other.
Use can use C# or VB.NET language to write Windows Phone apps (although currently only C# is available in the free Visual Studio Express that comes with the Windows phone tools on App Hub). Silverlight is a subset of the .NET Framework, whose classes can be used to write phone apps. You can also use the XNA libraries to develop phone applications.
I HIGHLY recommend Charles Petzolds free ebook for more. He does a great job of explaining this in the first couple chapters: http://charlespetzold.com/phone/index.html
Hope that helps!
Win Forms are a light object oriented wrapper around the basic Win32 GDI primitives.
WPF and Silverlight do their own rendering, don't use GDI and are built on XML-based layout and the MIL.
Windows Phone Development uses Silverlight with C#. The WP7 version of Silverlight runs on a modified version of Silverlight 3, which in itself uses a modified/minified .NET framework. So WP7 development uses all of what you mentioned in question 2.
I can't give a much better answer than #jeffmaphone for question 1, so please look at his response.
Windows Phone 7 uses Silverlight for the UI but the code can be C# or VB. This page of Code Samples for Windows Phone has both but:
In order to build and run Visual Basic samples, you must install additional developer tools. For more information, see Installing Windows Phone Developer Tools.
For more information see the Windows Phone 7 Developer Guide
1) Windows Forms is one method to develop GUI apps for Windows, WPF is another (for Vista, 7 and XP SP2). In general, Windows Forms is great for simple, quick and dirty applications, while WPF works well for more complex and flashy applications.
2) Windows Phone uses Silverlight for non-game applications and XNA for games. In both cases, you can use C# as the logic layer. In other words, C# code decides where to put things in the UI, while Silverlight or XNA are different ways of talking to a display.
Be careful about searching for Silverlight tutorials, because not all of Silverlight is on the phone.
Here are my suggestions:
1) Check this discussion :WPF versus Winforms
2)Generally Windows Phone 7 supports two frameworks for developing applications– Silverlight and XNA. Check MSDN for reference:
The Silverlight and XNA Frameworks for Windows Phone
Features Supported in Silverlight for Windows Phone
PS: One of the best resource for Silverlight development is the official Silverlight web site: http://www.silverlight.net/
If I want to develop for Windows Phone 7, what should I learn? XNA, Silverlight or other?
Microsoft has not yet announced what the development environment will be. They say they'll get more in-depth at MIX. If I were a betting man, I'd guess you'll get XNA out of the box, followed by some light version of Silverlight.
EDIT
I'd say it's no longer a guess that it will be Silverlight and XNA just based on the MIX sessions for Windows Phone.
If you want to make applications (or even simple games), choose silverlight. If you want to make 3d games, or games with xbox live integration, choose xna :-)