silverlight or jquery ajax for complex asp.net data form

Question

hi,

So part of my web app centers around this very important form which is used to create a form. Its like google docs form. The user keys in a type (checkbox, textfield, numericfield) and a label and slaps it into the system, and it generates a form somewhere.

Its a little more complex than google forms, the field types are complex and theres a lot more to that form (It happens to be a form generator for a finance plan)

The app is asp.net, I was thinking of using jquery and jquery's own ajax methods to post the data, but I think it would just turn into a very hairy situation, I then thought silverlight, but Ive never done silverlight before but I am an experienced .net guy.

So what do you guys think, will silverlight be too tough for a first timer for this kinda thing? Or should I stick to jquery. Plus points for silverlight is its an inhouse lan app and this particular page will be used by people with very high bandwidth.

Also I'm on .net 4 btw.

Thanks so much.

Answer 1

If you have the time to get up to speed on Sliverlight I'd say it could be a great learning experience for you. Learning how to use Silverlight is a skill that will prove to be helpful for you later on.

If you need true async functionality, it is also a bit easier to manage in Silverlight, just keep in mind that you have more things to think about than just Silverlight, you also have WCF/Security to think about with regards to your client communication.