For businesses, a well-defined and highly efficient web strategy is of paramount importance. But what is equally important is the implementation of that strategy with Rich Internet Applications (RIA) so that the applications are user friendly, and immensely functional. A few years ago, development of RIA was an arduous task, which took a lot of time and effort. And at the end of it all, developers were not sure if the application would do what it was supposed to do.

But Microsoft Silverlight aims to change all that. It offers cross-platform, cross-browser plug-in that helps web application developers create highly efficient Rich Internet Applications.

So why are web developers excited about this plug-in? Here are a few reasons.

• Use of Popular Technologies
  
  Microsoft technologies and platforms are widely used by web developers. The benefit offered by Silverlight is that it uses platforms and technologies such as XML application markup language, .Net technologies amongst various other commonly used Microsoft platforms and technologies. What this means is that developers are already proficient in the technologies used by Silverlight. So, there is no need to learn anything new. No wonder developers are heaving a palpable sigh of relief!
   
• Lingua Franca is Similar to HTML
  
  Designing the user interface with Silverlight is quicker and much simpler. This is because its language - XAML resembles HTML. Developers can use the XAML plain text files to give information to Silverlight telling it how to render the look and feel of a file. So, developers are able to create dynamic XAML to create files with information that can be reused at different stages of rich internet application development, if needed.
   
• Same Development Model for Multiple Browsers
  
  Ask developers about that one web development challenge that takes up a lot of time and effort; most of them will point out to the difficulty faced while achieving cross browser compatibility. For this to happen, they need to develop and implement new codes for each browser and will even have to test this code. This is where Silverlight enters the pictures with a solution. It offers web developers a development model that remains the same for all browsers and OS that it supports. No additional code development or testing is required.
   
• Focuses on both Development and Design
  
  The intense competition amongst websites, and increased user expectations have led to website developers giving due importance to the design and aesthetics of the website. But the problem lies in coordinating the efforts of developers and designers owing to the differences in the tools and platforms used for design and development. Silverlight solves this problem. It offers both design and development tools on one solid platform.

Developers are getting to know Microsoft Silverlight better and better through increased usage. They are discovering many more benefits of Silverlight development platform for creating applications that are supremely engaging and extremely interactive.