Browser App - RAD UI Development - Is it possible?

Question

I've been away from building browser applications for a long time. I'm now interested in creating one for a hobby of mine. I dread having to deal with HTML, JavaScript etc. to build a high quality browser based user interface. I've got the full suite of Telerik controls. Is it possible to build a polished, somewhat feature rich browser UI while being sheltered from the archaic environment of HTML and JavaScript? I'd love to be able to simply drag-drop components, much like building a Win UI and have the exact HTML, JavaScript code created for me.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Since you have the telerik controls suite, I suggest you have a look at the control demos or the sample applications, to see what's possible without having to program a lot.

In my experience, you can achieve a lot without having to program javascript or HTML (when using the telerik controls). But as soon as your application gets bigger and more complex, you will want to take care of things such as ViewState optimizations or taking advantage of the client-side programming APIs of the telerik controls to optimize your app (e.g. to get a more AJAXy kind of user-experience).

Answer 2

My sentiments exactly, so I now fully recommend to build Web apps with Silverlight (or Flash, but I am .NET guy, so my first thought goes to SL). Using HTML/Javascript is too much work.

SO is a fantastic Web app but I cannot imagine the number of hours spent to achieve this result, especially compared to a "real" programming environment.

Answer 3

MVC + JQuery + Telerik will allow you to be sheltered from a very large amount of the nasty HTML/JavaScript stuff. Silverlight is an option but you'll lose very large potential audience segments that may or may not be important to you (mobile web users, for example).

As somebody else mentioned, the Telerik demos pages are your friend - use them a LOT and you can avoid much of the HTML nastiness.