JavaScript vs Silverlight

Thursday 18 March, 2010 by justinbmeyer

Recently, we've found ourselves part of a Silverlight vs JavaScript debate.  I think that JavaScript is a better long term approach to web application development.  But, I found myself stumbling the first time I needed to articulate my reasons.  It was just a gut feeling.  But after spending a few minutes sketching my thoughts, I've proved my intuition to my brain.

There are 3 main reasons to not use Silverlight: future web development needs, development time, and user experience.


The Future

  • Plugin Lock-In - When IE started to suck, it started loosing market share to better browsers.  This was only possible b/c IE ran off accessible standards.  It's unlikely that someone will develop a "better" version of Silverlight.  What happens if Silverlight doesn't get updated for 10 years, just like IE.

  • HTML5 - HTML5 is going to provide a lot of the same goodies that Silverlight provides.  It already has support of Google and Apple.

  • Group Standards - Yes, group standards move slow.  But things seem to be picking up lately.  however compare IE's DOM standard to the W3C's.  Oh, don't forget IE's implementation -> Damn you Peekaboo Bug!

  • Competition - With Flash, Flex, Titanium, JavaFX, Silverlight is not at all the clear winner.  There is only one JavaScript.

  • Backend lockin - If you want to develop flex, you pretty much have to be running WCF services from a .NET backend.  The great thing about Thin Server Architectures is that your back end becomes replaceable.  

Development Time

  • Tools - I'd rather use Firebug than the overweight Visual Studio any day.  Also, errors from other people can be much easier tracked.

  • Open - There is tons of open-source JavaScript code to learn from.  jQuery won open-source project of the year!

  • Community - I'll admit I am not down with the Silverlight community.  But there are tons ofJavaScript meetups and conferences.

  • Scripting vs Compile Languages- Scripting languages produce less code.  Less code almost always means more maintainability.  But, this is a matter of preference.  I just don't think Compiled wins by default.

  • Testing - It's very hard to test silverlight.  Selenium does not work.

User Experience

  • Percieved Performance - Load time is pretty much the most important thing to a user.  JavaScript lets you progressively load only what you need to.  This is more important than smooth animations in IE6.

  • In the Box - Silverlight is mostly trapped in its box.  Either this, or you have to make the entire page silverlight.

  • Mobile Support -  Good luck getting this on an iPhone.

  • OS Support - There's a project for it for Linux.  But considering how bad flash is on Linux, why would Silverlight be different?

  • Plugin Download and Install Base - Currently about 50% of people have Silverlight.  Are you going to make 1/2 your users install the plugin?

  • Accessibility - You can't highlight text.

Phew, that was quite a diatribe.  There are some good reasons to use Silverlight / Flash ... when you need to do something that JavaScript can't do. Also, some considerations should be made to your organization's skill set. Otherwise, stick with JavaScript.

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