DevExpress vs infragistics Suites - looking to possibly switch...

Question

We are currnetly an Infragistics NetAdvantage Select customer and have been for a few years. Their controls are ok but not what I would call great but the time invested in learning them to date is the main reason we stick with them. We use both ASP.NET and Winnform controls.

As we are due to renew, we are considering DevExpress as an option as they seem to offer much of the same fucntionality.

For anyone that has made this move fro mInfragistics to DevExpress, how have you found it? A step forward or back? Pros and Cons to doing so?

Answer 1

Slightly unrelated but you might also want to evaluate the Telerik controls. We have been using them for years. Exceptional controls and support. And their controls work with ASP.NET MVC as well.

Just a happy customer here.

Answer 2

Not related to controls, but with DevExpress suite you get superb VS addins for free - CodeRush and RefactorPro.

Answer 3

My company is using DevExpress and we are very satisfied with their suite. We have never used the Infragistics suite, so I can't talk about the process to switch from Infragistics to DevExpress.

Generally, I find the DevExpress controls very easy to use and implement in our applications. Some controls have a small learning curve like the DevExpress TreeList but it is not a huge issue.

One thing I dont like with some of their controls is the property "Properties". This property is used to set additional options to the control.

Per example to set the max length of a textedit (textbox of devexpress) :

textEdit.Properties.MaxLength instead of textEdit.MaxLength

So, their controls are great and have a great look but I think the main quality of DevExpress is their support. You can ask a question on the support page and you will receive a answer within one day, maybe two days if the question is complex.

So, if you are not statisfied with Infragistics, try DevExpress. You can download a trial version so you have nothing to lose.

Answer 4

Like Francis, I haven't made the move from infragistics to devexpress, I started with devexpress. I can speak to the learning curve. Depending on the controls you're going to use, and how you intend to use them, there can be very little learning curve.

The data manipulation controls (xtragrid, xtrascheduler, xtracharts, etc.) are extremely easy to use when binding to a database. Less so when binding to persistent objects. Their XPO, oddly enough, isn't as easy/intuitive as it could or should be when databinding though also not incredibly hard.

The major benefit for me was documentation. Their documentation site as well as their tutorial videos are top notch and really get to the point without using trivial, nor overly-complex examples.

As Francis said, the response time on tickets, and the (usual) clarity and detail of the replies - they often include small projects showing what you're supposed to do, or will alter your project that you submit with a ticket - is second to none imo.

Answer 5

I will second that you should give Telerik a look. Their support is top notch in the industry. They give you good real world examples and their documention I feel is second to none.

I took on a contract with a company entrenched in the controls you're considering and I wouldn't use them if they were free.

The reasons I make this statement is their documentation in my opinion was bad. When I spend money on a RAD type control suite, it's to make my work easier and faster to production. I found in some cases it was easier to just figure out how to make built-in controls do what you want versus trying to figure out the problems I was having with their controls.

Their samples are kind of like Microsoft samples used to be. They are fluff based for Tech sales to show at a seminar "how easy something is to setup" but in real world if you used the techniques and monitored viewstate and traffic their examples generated, you'd be less than impressed.

I didn't have an account to submit support tickets but I had 4 over the course of a month submitted through the account holder and to my knowledge didn't get an answer back on any of them. (That could have been a break down with the person I had to go through but I doubt it.)

When it comes to Telerik's, Rad controls for Ajax, very seldom I can't figure out what I need to do by either looking at the sample Visual Studio sample web solution that get's installed combined with their documentation.

Good luck in your search and even if you don't consider Telerik, I would strongly suggest you look for other options.

Answer 6

Stick to Developers Express. They have much better upgrade path and almost all breaking changes are in written. I have been using them since 2003 and still ahven't found a better match.

Answer 7

I migraged from Infragisitcs to DevExpress. Will never go back to Infragistics as their objects are much heavier and performance is not too great. Documentation is terrible and their examples are very juevneile. Infragisictis datagird inline editing (Excel like) is a nice feature which is not available in Devexpress. Other than that, data grid, master, detail setup, datagrid droopdownlist declration and other feature are much more streamlined in devexpress.