Silverlight is a fantastic tool for designing rich interfaces that work in various browsers. However, its extensive support for data programmability is what makes Silverlight a viable solution for business applications. This book arms the reader with the knowledge to build visually and functionally robust applications with Silverlight 2.
Before diving into any examples in this book, make sure that you have the prerequisites for Silverlight 2 installed and set up. You must install the Silverlight 2 runtime to view and run Silverlight applications in the browser. This runtime works in (and is officially supported in) Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Runtimes are available for Windows and Mac OS X. The following browsers support Silverlight 2:
Microsoft Internet Explorer versions 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 beta
Mozilla Firefox versions 1.5, 2.0, and 3.0
Apple Safari versions 2.0 and 3.0 beta
Google Chrome
Silverlight 2 Tools is an add-on to Visual Studio 2008 that allows you to create Silverlight 2 applications using .NET and Silverlight 2. The Silverlight Tools installation program also installs the Silverlight 2 runtime and the Silverlight 2 SDK. The Silverlight 2 SDK contains examples, documentation, and tools to assist in the development of Silverlight applications.
The following components are required for developing and experiencing Silverlight 2. All of these are contained within a single installation file:
Silverlight 2 Runtime
Silverlight 2 SDK
Silverlight 2 Tools for Visual Studio
The following debugging tools can greatly assist in identifying communication problems with Silverlight 2 applications and services. All are free and can clarify problem points as well as help you to identify solutions. Appendix B discusses tips and tricks when using these tools to debug communications between Silverlight 2 and services.
Firebug (for Firefox)
Web Development Helper (for Internet Explorer)
Fiddler2 (for all network traffic sniffing)
It is also recommended that you install Visual Studio 2008 and Expression Blend with SP 1. Visual Studio 2008 is great for editing XAML, using IntelliSense, and of course, writing .NET code for Silverlight 2 applications. Expression Blend is fantastic for arranging complex designs and layouts within Silverlight 2. Both are valuable tools that you should use side by side when developing with Silverlight 2.
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