What would be the best for developing rich internet applications? FLASH or Microsoft Silverlight?
IE must die in order to make HTML5 survive! :D j/k but can HTML5 really works well in IE? um haha
Unreality
2010-01-22 11:54:49
I think Google may come to be the big PITA actually. e.g forcing Youtube to only work in Chrome when they decide what HTML5 should be like
John
2010-01-22 12:39:50
+1: I see more potential in HTML5 than in Flash/Flex/Silverlight for RIA apps. For now you can use XHTML + Flash/Silverlight where Flash/SL will help you implement the functionality not possible with plain HTML/CSS but create almost all UI elements in HTML.
Koistya Navin
2010-08-17 21:17:53
+1
A:
Are you familiar with any of these? As always on this kind of questions; it depends!
What kind of RIA-application are you developing? What server technology are you going to use?
Flash (of Flex) has been around for some time and has proven to be a good candidate for RIA-s, but on the other hand Microsoft is putting a lot of resources into Silverlight so they are doing some great progress in their development.
You need to check what they provide in terms of functionality and see what is best suited for solving your needs.
This is not a yes or no question!
code-zoop
2010-01-22 10:24:13
+2
A:
It's Not Flash Vs Silverlight. It's Flex Vs Silverlight. Flex compiles to a Flash 'binary' but is not the same thing.
And my answer is that because everyone has the Flash plugin, Flex is currently the best bet, unless your software is targeted at techies who aren't afraid of installing plugins.
EDIT: to clarify on the "everyone has Flash" point... if you are launching an app with users who you support, and 'control', then you don't have this issue. Pick whatever tech is best on its own merits.
By contrast suppose HSBC changes its online banking service to require the latest release of Silverlight. Can you imagine how many support calls and complaints they'll get from typical (ignorant) PC users who think they're subject to 'fishing [sic] attacks'? it would be a nightmare and quite possibly lose them customers.
John
2010-01-22 10:37:00
We have shipped Silverlight stuff to customers and have had zero problems with them installing the Silverlight plugin - it's a non-existant problem. Installing the Silverlight plugin is basically identical to installing the Flash plugin, and it isn't big (see my post).
slugster
2010-01-22 10:47:43
No, sorry but you're wrong. If you provide support to users then fine. But most web-apps are just web-sites for users who know nothing about computers. Shipping to customers is not the most common use scenario for RIA, so unless the poster clarifies he is working that way, I stand by my comments.
John
2010-01-22 11:01:14
The Silverlight install and version update process is actually a particularly smooth one. So you have the 40%ish vs 99% argument for the time being, as more high profile sites use it, that argument is going to fall by the wayside.
TreeUK
2010-01-22 11:26:02
Up to 40% penetration already, really? But yes SL may be as ubiquitous as Flash one day... however when do you expect to release the new app?
John
2010-01-22 11:42:23
47% according to www.riastats.com today. You always have to take into account the friction of new installs, show you're offering an interesting enough experience and you'll get signups. That's one way that flash got so prevalent, casual flash games etc.
TreeUK
2010-01-22 11:57:17
+1
A:
This also depends on your personal preferences and what you want to develop.
I recently had the choice between Flash (well, Flex) and Silverlight - and we chose Silverlight. The main reason is that to me - as a developer - I prefer the backend I have to support Silverlight. With Flex you'll write your code in ActionScript. With Silverlight you can have e.g. C# behind the view itself - which I really see as a big benefit. On the server side you can of course have whatever you like independent of whether you use Flash or SL.
Anyway; you should find good information to make a decision in existing posts. E.g.:
stiank81
2010-01-22 10:42:56
Good links, but note the date on some of the replies - they are around 1.5 years old for some of them.
slugster
2010-01-22 10:57:27
Good point! Didn't think about checking the date - just figured there must be many existing questions on this.. Sure, a lot has happened since then - especially on SL - but there seems to be some relevant info anyway..
stiank81
2010-01-22 11:13:50
A:
Whichever you choose, do not be sucked in with the old "Flash has been around forever, Silverlight is only new" argument, because it is totally irrelevant.
Silverlight is only a small 4.5 MB download, it is very simple and fast (you can actually ship the Silverlight runtime as a separate install if you wanted). Silverlight also has an immense amount of functionality built in to it, including the new Out Of Browser feature.
The RIA i am currently working on has had complex Silverlight components built into it for approx a year now, and i have nothing but good things to say about it. The only caution i would give is to shop around and choose the right third party components - some of the major vendors are very good, and some are total crap.
Edit: i just want to point out that i'm not suggesting Silverlight over Flash/Flex for your RIA, because i don't know your requirements. All i'm doing here is clearing up a few misconceptions about Silverlight.
slugster
2010-01-22 10:44:15
It's not irrelevant. Penetration of plugins to your target audience is a big deal if they're typical PC users. Users are scared of being told to install plugins, thinking it's a virus. Even Flash9 hasn't got everywhere yet, after years and after it already having a huge user-base. The download size is not the hard part, getting users to click "OK" is. Neglecting this factor can be a big mistake.
John
2010-01-22 10:59:01
It's not totally irrelevant, but it's decreasingly important as penetration increases. 50% is still a huge proportion of people.
TreeUK
2010-01-26 14:39:01
+1
A:
A key point here is in existing investment.
Silverlight allows end to end .NET development. If you're already invested in .NET, Silverlight is a nice developer centric sideways jump. It has mature designer friendly features with a decent separation between design / development.
Flash has very mature design tools, but is only now becoming more developer centric.
That said, both are reasonable decisions and both can pull data from external sources which allows for separate data tiers.
TreeUK
2010-01-22 11:46:27
As a pure techy question for coders, SL seems much more exciting and means you don't have to learn a new language. However I wouldn't say Flex lacks developer tools. Flash is a horrible thing to develop serious code in, since it supports code only as a way to better control animations. Flex is a pretty nice environment and the Eclipse-based tools are quite good.
John
2010-01-22 12:38:00
It's good to know that Adobe are working hard to get their tooling up and running. Competition is usually a healthy cause of innovation and we're the ones who benefit.
TreeUK
2010-01-22 13:25:11
A:
Current plug-in penetration stats are available at http://riastats.com/ - ie:
Flash Player: 97% of browsers - vs - Silverlight: 50% of browsers
As John has pointed out, plug-n installation is a big barrier in the wild. It's less of a problem if you are targeting a known user base (like a company intranet, or a set of users who you know have already installed silverlight in their browser).
You need to balance the ease-of-use of your users (ie whether they will bother installing a new plug-in) against your own ease-of-use (ie what's easiest for you to develop and maintain.)
Richard Inglis
2010-01-22 12:20:06