New Javascript Engines and Silverlight 3.0
There is some serious competition mounting now for development platforms the next generation of RIA will be built with. Flash and ajax/javascript are well established currently with ajax/javascript leading in terms of availability and Flash in terms of creative presentation and performance. The new generation of javascript engines in first safari, chrome and firefox are showing some serious performance improvements and coupled with the growing use of canvas indicate that the dividing line between the two is shifting. It will be interesting to see if any good design tools for UI start to emerge.
Microsoft are pushing ahead with the latest version of Silverlight, 3.0, announced at mix 09. Thats 3 versions in 2 years - it doesnt look like they are going to give this up easily (and this may be the reason they haven't done much with the javascript engine in Internet Explorer 8?), the poor quality of the first version and the lack of Mac authoring tools was a serious set back, but the latest version is starting to raise the bar and raise some interest in the Flash Development community (I noticed a twitter from Grant Skinner yesterday admitting he would have to revise his earlier opinion). Still no Mac version of the Expression suite though.
This firmly places the focus back on Adobe and what they can do with their next version......
I’ve added a link to an article on smashing magazine previewing IE8.1 and its improved javascript engine.
Looks like IE8.1 was only an April Fools joke!
It’s a shame they’re not in a position to actually implement these much needed improvements.
Ahh yes – but it was dated March 31st – Thanks Tom!