WCF and Silverlight

We are experimenting around with WCF vs .Net RIA Services at work. Here is a pretty good entry level tutorial on getting started with WCF and Silverlight. One WCF method is exposed and consumed by a datagrid. Also so SQLtoLinq is used as well.

MSDN Switzerland Blog

Google Makes Another Raid into Web 3.0

Ok, I track what is going on in the web world, though I need to spend much less time tracking and more time doing, I did find something very interesting.

We have a battle for next generation web apps that currently is between Silverlight and Flex/Flash, with Unity 3D and some other plugins on the fringes.

But now Google enters the fray…

Google's new Open GL Web API

Source: Ajaxian.com

Torque to Offer Unity3D Alternative

Torque looks to offer a web plugin with similar capacities as Unity 3D. The browser wars are heating up. Web 3.0, the game web, or the 3D web, is on the Horizon.


http://drawlogic.com/2009/03/24/torque3d-to-offer-web-based-export-similar-to-unity3d-improved-pipeline/

Future: Javascript 3D Capabilities On the Horizon

Looks like the Mozilla foundation is looking to bring Open GL capabilities to Javascript.

http://dusanwriter.com/index.php/2009/03/25/3d-in-a-browser-mozilla-and-open-gl-to-build-plug-in-free-virtual-world-access/

About time! Why mess with all these 3rd party plugins (Flash/Unity/Silverlight) when we can do things directly from the web browser? Especially when 3D will become more and more common.

VRML is dead...but its successor could finally be on the horizon.

Disappointment with Silverlight 3 Beta's 3D

OK, it is just a Beta, but I was hoping for a full on programmable 3D engine in Silverlight 3. I might have been naive, but I had high hopes. We do now have Unity 3D, but for business aps Unity 3D lacks many features, as it is targeted solely for Game Development. I was hoping I could have one app to do it all. There are some nice 3D features in Silverlight, don't get me wrong, but nothing that can't be duplicated with Flash/Flex/Papervision etc...

I guess I will have to wait...but beggers can't be choosers.

The Shape of Things To Come?

A lot of us have heard about RIA's (Rich Internet Applications). They are the way of the future, though even with broad band speeds I think the responsiveness of RIAs needs to be as snappy as desktop applications for RIAs to really take off. They are getting close.

We now have Silverlight, Flash/Flex, and improvements in Javascript/Javascript Frameworks to make things start to happen. Many visionaries have invested a lot of time in Flash/Flex/Actionscript because they see this as the way of the future. Here is one minor example or a RIA that just came online.

http://www.windowshop.com/ (Amazon run shopping site that uses Flex I believe).

Another trend is the blending between the desktop and the web. Adobe Air is an example, and now Yahoo has come out with their own plaform.

http://browserplus.yahoo.com/

Grrr...I swore off yahoo 'cause they pissed me off, but I guess I will have to check it out.

Some even argue that RIAs are Web 2.0, and that Web 3.0 will be the "game web" (virtual reality, game like interfaces, big use of 3D, increased responsiveness). This is where I'd like to be developing, but just like VRML in the 90ies (which still lives, kinda) user acceptance of this type of stuff isn't quiet there yet, and probably won't be for a long time. Too bad, because developing these technologies could be actually easier. Hacking out websites using a combination of HTML/JavaScript/Server Script/Action Script etc... tend to be complex and take a lot of time. Gametech, though complex, could produce through competition some really good Web 3.0 tools. There are some great start ups working on this (I can't for the life of me right now remember my favorite one, which right now is Mac only on the dev side, I was going to post a link to it), so I keep watching and hoping.

App Accelerator: Something Worth Checking Out

I had not heard of Appcelerator until recently, but it looks like it might be worth a look. It is a framework for building AJAX/RIA applications. It is compatible with .Net, PHP, Ruby, and more. Just at a glance it looks like it uses JSON for data loads and Appcelerator has its own built in messaging queue that keeps data communication back and forth to the server as light as possible.

Learn more here-

http://www.appcelerator.org/