Difference between Ajax and Microsoft Silverlight

Difference between Ajax and Microsoft Silverlight

Ajax is a concept that combines Asynchronous JavaScript and XML for developing highly interactive web applications. Microsoft Silverlight creates rich internet applications using XAML with the .NET framework. It can be used with the JavaScript and also work within Ajax-enabled web pages.

Let’s quickly get on to the comparison.

The Ajax side

To get the feel of Ajax, one can check its presence on Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter etc. Its implementation there has raised the bar of user satisfaction due to a rich client-end interactive experience.

With implementation of Ajax, reloading of pages is much faster without the hassle of refreshing pages and waits. Its compatibility with any browser and operating system makes it a better choice over Silverlight. The latter one still has a narrow user base.

Ajax uses JavaScript libraries like jQuery and MootTools that were one of the first technologies to help deploy sleek and interactive rich web apps. It’s good to use if you don’t want to pay for an integrated development environment (IDE) but still want an attractive and professional RIA functionality.

Ajax, no doubt, provides a good enough UI for the vast majority of cases. But, the reality is that now “pure” Ajax, i.e. just HTML and script-based, has given up to the scope of mergers for extra richness. Silverlight can be put to use to spiff it up more. Ajax applications can be made more interesting with capabilities using local storage, accessing user’s files, integrating rich media and vectors graphics, background processing etc. of plug-ins such as Silverlight and Flash. Contrastingly, the ASP.NET server controls extended to incorporate Ajax functionality can also simplify Silverlight to compensate for its shortcomings.

The Silverlight side

The first benefits with Silverlight are to the developers in coding and designing. With Silverlight development, one greatest benefit is true separation of writing business logic and designing user interface (UI). This “separation” improves a developer’s ability to decouple and isolate the visualization of elements from any necessary business logic. The improved designer/developer workflow allows the designer to work on the front-end UI while at the same time a developer can work on the backend (business logic). With Silverlight, you are most likely to benefit through decreased development time and decreased maintenance costs. For more complex scenarios such as that involving interfacing with web services, running complex logic etc., Silverlight can save tremendous development cycles.

On browser and platform reach, Silverlight can cause graceful elimination of certain nuisances with Ajax, things like XML-driven dynamic pages with validations.

If your team has primary expertise in .NET, Silverlight is a good option for custom web application development requiring complex graphics. On this note, Netflix is a credible example for Silverlight.

There is still a very significant percentage of web users who don't have Silverlight installed and who would just get away if they came to a website that relied on it. Where you're dealing with a more specialized audience or need apps for a well-known user group, say an internal app for a company like intranet, Silverlight can be reasonably trusted as a good choice as you don’t have to bother about its installation among the users.

The negative points for Silverlight at the present date are associated with its worrisome compatibility, user acceptance, and SEO. This is somewhat keeping it away from its application for Ecommerce sites or for open, public-facing applications. There, it can well be a plug-in to Ajax to be used where it makes sense or simplifies the development significantly.

Conclusion

1. Both have benefits and drawbacks as mentioned above.
2. Silverlight is easier to write, but Ajax is less frustrating. You can extend the latter with using Silverlight and add richness for the end-user.
3. There are things that can easily be done in Silverlight but not with Ajax and vice versa. One can complement the other to produce many rich apps.
4. Silverlight was released in 2008 and Ajax in 2005. With Silverlight being newer, many developers would not be at the peak of its learning curve.

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