Silverlight 2 and Rich Internet Applications

Abstract

This series of articles takes a look at the current state of RIA development leveraging Silverlight 2. The series will focus on the architecture of RIA's, the use of XAML for resolution independent user interface layout and design, Windows Communication Foundation for Web Services, Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Blend for the design/development environment and Windows Server 2008/IIS7 as the deployment environment.

• Part 1 - Rich Internet Application Architecture
• Part 2 - Developing, Deploying and Invoking WCF Services from Silverlight 2 Applications
• Part 3 - Silverlight Controls, Data Binding, Templates and Styles
• Part 4 - Resolution Independent User Interface, User Controls and Deep Zoom

Silverlight 2 Resources

• Silverlight 2
• Scott Guthrie's Silverlight 2 First Look Series
• Brad Abrams complete end to end Data Centric Application in Silverlight
• Brad Abrams on Leveraging ASP.NET Auth Services from Silverlight
• UX Musings Blog (great samples on creating custom skins)
• David Isbitski on Deep Zoom
• Linsday Rutter WebCast Series on Silverlight 2
• 50 Silverlight Video Tutorials by Mike and Mike (Mike Taulty and Mike Ormond)
• Silverlight and Accessibility
• Silverlight Documentation on MSDN
• Silverlight 2 Quick Starts
• Silverlight 2 Runtime
• Silverlight 2 Tools Installation Instructions
• Woodgrove Financial's Sample Application - source code

Sounds Familiar

As these articles delve into the architecture and implementation of Silverlight 2 applications, I use the Sounds Familiar music portfolio application as the source of implementation and design examples. It demonstrates several new Silverlight 2 controls and leverages a WCF Web Service for data access.

The application lists out the set of music projects that I have produced over the past 7 years and when one is selected, you get a list of tracks. These tracks can be played, paused and stopped. When in play mode, the next track is started automatically. For some projects you can download a zip of the MP3’s to add to your own music collection.

There are photographs of the studio that you can zoom into for greater detail and the liner notes for the currently playing CD will appear when you mouse over the music notes image. The menu will float in from the right when you mouse over the menu tab. From the menu you can find selections for visiting my blog, the Silverlight home page and a download link for the currently playing CD if that is an available option.

 Sounds Familiar demonstrates the following:

• Resolution Independent User Interface
• Grid, StackPanel and Canvas Layout
• Button, ListBox and DataGrid controls
• Custom User Controls
• Invoking WCF Web Services
• Data Binding, Templates and Styles
• Animated Fly-Out Menu and PopUp Window
• Using the MediaElement to provide progressive download of audio
• Image Reflection Effects
• Rendering Dynamic XAML
• HTML DOM Integration
• Deep Zoom

Source Code for Sounds Familiar

Technorati Tags: Silverlight,RIA,Architecture

Comments

• Anonymous
  April 04, 2008
  A colleague of mine is running a 3-part series of architect on Silverlight 2.0 Architecture and Development.

• Anonymous
  April 07, 2008
  Looking for a great, concise, just-get-to-the-point, intro to programming RIA's using Silverlight 2.0?

• Anonymous
  April 27, 2008
  Another geek musician, Bob Familiar, has decided to start working with Silverlight to revamp how he displays

• Anonymous
  April 28, 2008
  If you're looking to get you started on developing RIAs with the Silverlight 2 stack, you should check

• Anonymous
  April 29, 2008
  Want to create a nice Silverlight 2.0 app using WCF services for data? Check out Bob Familiar's post

• Anonymous
  April 30, 2008
  Our very own Bob Familiar has been cruising the seas of Silverlight and has recently posted a very nice

• Anonymous
  May 01, 2008
  Check out Bob's blog , which includes a 4-part series on Silverlight 2.0. Wow, monster blog entry, Bob!

• Anonymous
  May 04, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  May 08, 2008
  If you want to get a nice comprehensive overview of Silverlight 2.0 Architecture Development and Deployment

• Anonymous
  May 22, 2008
  The comment has been removed

• Anonymous
  May 22, 2008
  My colleague Bob Familiar has a nice series on the subject : This series of articles takes a look at

• Anonymous
  June 16, 2008
  It was great fun to visit Burlington, VT, Portland ME, Hartford CT, Waltham, MA and Rochester NY in our

• Anonymous
  August 25, 2008
  can some one explain to me what this is. Im into music production and the instraments sp* caught my eye. I was curious what this program is, what its for, who can use it ect? hope this isnt to stupid of a question for you comp wiz'z thanks, CHRIS chris_krumholt@hotmail.com

• Anonymous
  August 26, 2008
  Hi Chris. The article is about Silverlight (see http://www.silverlight.net for details) and how I used that technology to implement a web site that allows you to listen to my music. Silverlight has the capability to stream audio and video. -bob familiar

• Anonymous
  September 10, 2008
  Yes, the new Silverlight 2 (beta) offers quite strong audio and video streaming features. This new beta version supports WMA, and offer Media Stream Source API for adaptive streaming of media.

• Anonymous
  December 31, 2008
  I have read this post. This is very much true. Even I own a blog account on video conferencing. Video conferencing is indeed a great innovation in technology and communications. One day video conferencing will be like an ordinary house-hold item in the next 5-10 years.I will mention your post in my blog.