What is Silverlight ?

It is a cross-browser, cross-platform technology. It runs in all popular Web browsers, including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari, Google Chrome, and on Microsoft Windows etc.


It enables you to create Windows Phone applications. To learn more about creating Windows Phone applications with Silverlight.


It is supported by a small download that installs in seconds.


It streams video and audio. It scales video quality to everything from mobile devices to desktop browsers to 720p HDTV video modes.


It includes compelling graphics that users can manipulate—drag, turn, and zoom—directly in the browser.


It reads data and updates the display, but it doesn't interrupt the user by refreshing the whole page.


The application can run in the Web browser or you can configure it so users can run it on their computer (out-of-browser). In addition, you can use your knowledge of the Silverlight framework to create Windows Phone applications.


Features


WPF and XAML. Silverlight includes a subset of the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) technology, which greatly extends the elements in the browser for creating UI. Silverlight lets you create immersive graphics, animation, media, and other rich client features, extending browser-based UI beyond what is available with HTML alone. XAML provides a declarative markup syntax for creating elements.


Extensions to JavaScript. Silverlight provides extensions to the universal browser scripting language that provide control over the browser UI, including the ability to work with WPF elements. 


Cross-browser, cross-platform support. Silverlight runs the same on all popular browsers (and on popular platforms). You can design and develop your application without having to worry about which browser or platform your users have.


Integration with existing applications. Silverlight integrates seamlessly with your existing JavaScript and ASP.NET AJAX code to complement functionality you have already created.


Networking support. Silverlight includes support for HTTP over TCP. You can connect to WCF, SOAP, or ASP.NET AJAX services and receive XML, JSON, or RSS data. 


LINQ. Silverlight includes language-integrated query (LINQ), which enables you to program data access using intuitive native syntax and strongly typed objects in .NET Framework languages.


New in Silverlight 5


Silverlight 5 includes several new features that are based on customer suggestions. This topic introduces some of the new features and improvements in Silverlight 5.


The following sections are:

1. Controls
2. Media
3. Graphics
4. Text
5. Trusted Applications
6. Printing
7. User Interface
8. Data
9. XAML
10. Performance Improvements
11. Related Topics