An Introduction To Silverlight Gergely Orosz http://GregDoesIT.com @gergelyorosz In this presentation  What SL is capable of  How it is different  Learning curve overview  Why use SL  Non-traditional way What is Silverlight?  Rich Internet Application (RIA) platform  Capabilities are similar to   Flash  Java FX Web-based subset of WPF Flash vs Silverlight Flash Silverlight Animation model Frame-based Time-based Language ActionScript CLR-compilant (VB.NET, C#) Platform All major Limited Linux (Moonlight) Multithreading No (from programmer perspective) Yes Flash vs Silverlight Flash Silverlight Image support Most formats JPG and PNG Video, audio Multiple formats, low-level APIs VC-1 codec, WMW, WM, no low-level APIs More costeffective Deep Zoom Streaming Other More mature Flash vs Silverlight  Features: almost identical  Development environments  Streaming  Mobile: ? WPF  Descendant of Windows Forms  Built on .NET 3.5  XAML: descriptive markup language WPF / Silverlight features  Vector graphics & bitmap effects  Data binding & UI update  Animations  Rich content: videos, images, sounds  Styling, templates Silverlight: lightweight WPF  CLR within Browser  Limited CLR:  Not all libraries  Local filesystem limited  Networking limited XAML  Separate UI and logic  XML markup, clean syntax  XAML and code behind files  Does not support generics XAML: a simple example  Code UI Basics  Layout   Controls   TextBlock, Image, MediaElement Brushes   Button, HyperLinkButton, ComboBox etc Text, images   Grid, Canvas, StackPanel Solid, linear, radial, image, video User Controls UI Basics: Example  VideoBrush Example  Use MSDN/references to look up UI elements Styling and templating    Defining styles:  TargetType  Setters that are valid on the target Templates  Customize controls  Uses ControlTemplate class Easy to define in XAML Styling and templating: example  Code Dependency Properties   Extend CLR properties  Property changed notification  Data Binding  Animating  Default value and ClearValue Has to inherit DependencyObject Dependency Properties: example  Registering, default value, Property Changed  Animating  Data Binding Attached Properties  Global property that can be set on any object element  Static Dps  Used by the owner, defined on the child  E.g. Canvas.Left, Grid.Column Attached properties: example  Code MVVM  How to effectively build large applications in WPF  Lots of UI markup, lots of data binding  Variation of MVC MVVM  Model   View   BL, UI independent Visual elements + input processing Data binding  View and model can be bound directly  Usually direct binding is not possible MVVM  ViewModel  “Model of a View”  Abstraction of the view: contains state and behaviour  Data binder/converter:   Model information → View information View commands → Model MVVM: Example MVVM in Silverlight  Worth using on larger projects  Frameworks  MEF   Official Prism  Non-official, but MS Summary  Similar to WPF  XAML  Styling & templating  DPs  Attached properties  MVVM for larger applications Effort learning SL  Project structure: small  UI: significant  Media: moderate  Data binding: moderate Effort learning SL  Network: moderate  Events: moderate  Other: moderate - significant  Dependency Properties, Attached Properties  MVVM  Navigation Framework  Out of Browser applications Why It's Worth It  Things you couldn't do before!  Good looking controls & pages  Animation  Video & vector graphics Why It's Worth It  Silverlight client for Facebook  Silverlight Toolkit (with source)  http://www.jumpman23mosaic.com  http://silverlight.net/showcase/  http://nokola.com/ (with source) Suggested Learning Curve  C# / VB experience  Web  http://silverlight.net/getstarted/  MSDN: Getting Started with Silverlight  Books  WPF Thank You