I am starting to develop a facebook game using ASP.NET + Silverlight
Which architecture would you use? ASP.NET MVC or MVVM or RIA Services?
ALso what do you think about using XNA with Silversprite?
The game won't be a arcade game. It will be more strategy/RPG.
Thanks a lot in advance.
If you are developing a game then I doubt you'll have a great deal of the sort of navigation that MVC helps you with. Hence if anything you should be looking at MVVM and even that may not be applicable to game dev, it really does depend on the sort of game you are creating.
It might be worth you considering Silversprite which enables you to use XNA to develop a 2D Sprite based game and then deliver it on silverlight.
There's no reason you can't use a combination of almost all of those.
Your web application could be an asp.net mvc web app
The silverlight app could be implemented using mvvm
silverlight/server can use ria services for communication
That leaves whether to use silversprite or not ... that really depends on the kind of game. If your game is going to use lots of menus and text, then you might want to avoid silversprite (which is based on xna). However, if you want a more graphical/interactive experience then silversprite is a great choice as it's basically just writing the game with xna.
And then, you could always port your game to windows, xbox360, windows phone 7, and even iphone (via xnatouch) since silverlight is based on XNA ;-)
Related
I know I´m late for this party.
Currently migrating form asp.net webforms to newer coding technologies and paradigms. Barely got started with asp.net mvc and now I´m noticing all this fuzz about mvc vs webapi. I'm an oldschool programmer and don´t really feel confortable with the "use both" approach, if there´s no need to. Please consider this:
My web projects focus on dynamic dashboards/admin sites to manage CRUD operations for tons of SQL records, generate reports on demand, statistics, etc.
No static websites at all (like info sites, portfolios and such).
Performance over UI design. Actually bootstrap basic UI is enough for me.
Pure ADO over entity framework, whenever possible.
Any tip or guidence on what I should choose would be very much appreciated.
* Edit/Closing *
Hi again and thank you for your feedback.
After a lot of reading and experimentation I´ve decided to give a real hard tryout to asp.net webapi + angular.js, mostly because I want to leave the door open for multiplatform/device usage (not web only).
Also, I found a very interesting article/tutorial in https://superdevelopment.com/2013/12/16/building-rich-web-apps-jquery-vs-angular-js/
It may be a little old but I think it´s worth reading, specially this extract right here: "Angular.js and WebAPI is a new way to build rich interactive web applications that fully embraces what can be done with a Web browser, JavaScript and C# rather than relying on out-dated paradigms that complicate the process for all but simple use cases. If your users and clients are expecting an application in a web browser that behaves like a native app on their desktop or smart phone, then jQuery + ASP.NET MVC is not the most straightforward way to build it."
Anyway, thanks to all and I hope this info helps others in the programming community.
if your application is going to be consumed various type of devices then prefer web api.
if your application is like website or portal where user has very little interaction then go for MVC
Closed. This question is opinion-based. It is not currently accepting answers.
Want to improve this question? Update the question so it can be answered with facts and citations by editing this post.
Closed 8 years ago.
Improve this question
Our team is divided on this and I wanted to get some third-party opinions.
We are building an application and cannot decide if we want to use .Net WPF Desktop Application with a WCF server, or ASP.Net web app using jQuery. I thought I'd ask the question here, with some specs, and see what the pros/cons of using either side would be. I have my own favorite and feel I am biased.
Ideally we want to build the initial release of the software as fast as we can, then slow down and take time to build in the additional features/components we want later on. Above all we want the software to be fast. Users go through records all day long and delays in loading records or refreshing screens kills their productivity.
Application Details:
I'm estimating around 100 different screens for initial version, with plans for a lot of additional screens being added on later after the initial release.
We are looking to use two-way communication for reminder and event systems
Currently has to support around 100 users, although we've been told to allow for growth up to 500 users
We have multiple locations
Items to consider (maybe not initially in some cases but in future releases):
Room for additional components to be added after initial release (there are a lot of of these... perhaps work here than the initial application)
Keyboard navigation
Performance is a must
Production Speed to initial version
Low maintenance overhead
Future support
Softphone/Scanner integration
Our Developers:
We have 1 programmer who has been learning WPF the past few months and was the one who suggested we use WPF for this.
We have a 2nd programmer who is familiar with ASP.Net and who may help with the project in the future, although he will not be working on it much up until the initial release since his time is spent maintaining our current software.
There is me, who has worked with both and am comfortable in either
We have an outside company doing the project management, and they are an ASP.Net company.
We plan on hiring 1-2 others, however we need to know what direction we are going in first
Environment:
General users are on Windows 2003 server with Terminal Services. They connect using WYSE thin-clients over an RDP connection. Admin staff has their own PCs with XP or higher. Users are allowed to specify their own resolution although they are limited to using IE as the web browser.
Other locations connects to our network over a MPLS connection
Based on that, what would you choose and why?
I am especially interested in hearing from developers who have experience with both ASP.Net and WPf.
Reasons to choose WPF:
Much faster and easier development than ASP.NET and jQuery
Much easier to implement quick incremental background loading of data
Much easier to implement client-side caching of commonly used data (important for remote offices)
More efficient data transfer from server (can use advanced WCF features unavailable to web browser)
Keyboard navigation better, since you can easily define shortcuts, etc, and not be limited by browser
Maintenance overhead much better using MVVM pattern
Softphone integration easy
Reasons to choose ASP.NET and jQuery:
None that I can see
In your scenario I would definitely choose WPF.
First of all, I would sit down and write the business requirements and specifications. It really doesn't matter what tech you use - proper planning will affect your project timeline more than technology choice. This is especially true for an in-house custom built app.
As far as development, I would take the requirements and lay out the backend functionality. I would actually implement the backend in WCF, regardless of the client technology - that way you could use best of both worlds if needed (for example for phone integration you could write a stand-alone WPF app). ASP.NET with jQuery can easily use WCF services (JSON or XML version) together with desktop client.
As far as development of the client forms, this highly depends on developers experience and your future plans. I am not going to go into advantages/disadvantages of developing web software here - there are a ton of articles in the last 10 years about cloud/web based software (for example salesforce). I would rather concentrate on deliverables - what is your team most comfortable with today and in the future. There's a huge difference between WPF and web development, from development standpoint, and it requires completely different experience.
Why not consider a hybrid solution - Silverlight
With Silverlight you get most of the goodness and statefullness of WPF (with almost exactly the same XAML and code), plus you get the deployment characteristics of ASP.NET
Many people consider Silverlight the next step after ASP.NET/AJAX, and it would definitely deliver all of the benefits of WPF relevant to your scenario.
WPF is the way to go, without a doubt. I agree with all that #Ray Burns has said.
Because:
You will get a richer, slicker, faster application.
It will be easier to build1.
Softphone/Scanner (i.e. hardware) integration is going to require browser plugins etc. and this can be a nightmare with a browser based application.
Keyboard navigation is still better with native applications.
IME Maintenance is easier with WPF applications.
Definitely use WCF to provide the backend via The Entity Framework, see The Entity Framework In Layered Architectures. You can do have a better integration with the backend in a native application because it can be called inline - no need for callbacks or ajax. I've built components for WPF that are linked via EF to the business logic to provide aware controls for simple stuff like validation. It's stunningly good to drop a customer name field onto a form and it just works.
To add additional components you need to build it with a proper well thought out plugin architecture. This is the same in both environments. I've got some thoughts on this I jotted down in my journal entitled Designing a plugin architecture for an application
When building a WPF application you will be writing in one language (e.g. C#) + markup (XAML). When building asp.net you endup with two languages + markup, as you always have to code some Javascript.
So, based on your requirements it has be to WPF / WCF (EF). A web based application will be a lot more work, more complexity, and not be as nice.
About 12 months ago I was fortunate enough to be given a free hand to choose the technology for a new application. I spent almost a month evaluating all of the options and came to the conclusion that it had to be C#, WPF, Entity Framework. After writing the application I can confirm that it was the right choice...
1. It will still be easier even if your programmers have to learn WPF first. WPF is much better thought out, great and lovely. very lovely. It just works right.
Hi
I think The question at issue is Windows-application or Web application(WPF for win-app VS asp for web-app), Which one is better for you and your project?. In this case your platform is network and your program must work on the net. so for this usage Web-app is better but there are a lot points existing which can make decisions hard. Network platform has great challenge.(according to my personal experience)
Working with web-app by asp.net is nearly hard. you must try to handle many thing's for web-app(request time, session management, even poor UI in comparison to WPF, j-query, etc ). Remember this is not as easy as simple web site.
But win-app is good for network with this condition: "local network"(mpls is almost the same). Absolutely developing win-app is easier than web-app ("At least number of users expert in net-program developing"). for this case WPF has many good things(UI , command, etc) also has many challenging point(like multi-threading and lack of expert developer in this field ) . I'm rather with wpf than asp but decisions is yours
And chalk point to good thing Silverlight but if you want to use this you must look at prism framework : http://compositewpf.codeplex.com/
I have recently developed a project separately with asp and silverlight(prism framework). developing silver-light version is too hard and takes more time than asp.net version but at the end SL-ver have great look nothing else!
Burns pointed to good issues about wpf. also consider Artemiy's post. your environment conditions is same for both of them. WPF/ASP can work with scanner and soft-phone cuz the base of both is on C# and .net library
Finally what ever your decisions is you must hire advance developer at least develop one business-app for the network platform.
Is your app a desktop app or web app.
If Desktop wpf is best.
If web based asp.net is best.
Don't front load your development with your get it up quick scenario. That never works well and results in a sloppy deployment. Take your time, cover all the steps (Business Requirements, System Design, Program Design, Code, TEST and TEST some more, Deployment)
Some points to be made for ASP.NET:
The pool of ASP.NET developers is much larger then the pool of WPF developers.
Which means you can probably find qualified ASP.NET developers easier.
ASP.NET is probably more future proof, chances of WPF getting large changes and being hard to port to later versions is probably larger.
Also keep in mind that the focus of MS seems to be on Silverlight so there might be a consolidation down the road which makes WPF obsolete.
More mature eco system of ASP.NET makes for more out of the box solutions to use to solve problems.
With multiple locations you might be able to skip a few layers and go directly to a website?
I am developing a Facebook Card Game for my thesis and i am wondering which architecture fits best?
I am going to develop the game using Silverlight + ASP.NET.
On the one side the game should contain player vs. player card games.
On the other there will be also a lot of contant similar to Mafia Wars(or any other game like that) where you just interact with the server (incl. database)
I read a lot about ASP.NET MVC, Silverlight MVVM and that stuff.
But what fits best for a game like that?
Also i am not sure if i should go with Silverlight 4 already?
I don't want to start the wrong way.
I really appreciate your help.
I would choose a rich media architecture that you are familiar with. A card game can (and has) been done in just about every client + server architecture that exists.
However, here are some considerations:
The Facebook platform has a rich developer history with PHP, not to mention a decently vetted API library in PHP5.
Choose your rich media options carefully if you are concerned about platform support. Flash has a much deeper user install base than silverlight. If you are concerned about IPad support, go with HTML+CSS and use a good JS toolkit like JQuery.
Any decent Facebook game that has a large amount of traffic will need an object caching strategy. Choose a server architecture that has one natively, supports one, or integrates with one (like memcached)
Let's say you have an intranet development team where it is in your best interest for each developer to be happy with their work - one person leaving will negatively impact the others. Some developers wish to embrace the Web (i.e. ASP.NET MVC). Others wish to work in a stateful environment where Web is merely the medium for delivery (i.e. SilverLight).
I don't want to argue the merits of either (I have my opinion). Rather I want suggestions for legitimate arrangements such that we can have our cake and eat it too. Is it possible for some members of the team to work with SilverLight while others work with ASP.NET MVC without ending up in pandemonium?
I'm thinking that MAYBE we could have ASP.NET MVC for the majority of our applications and then have the SilverLight people develop components that can be used in the UI? But according to this question that didn't turn out so well.
I'm just looking for a scenario that would allow the team to effectively use SilverLight and/or ASP.NET MVC in their work (not necessarily in the same app) without imploding.
Any links to articles with information pertaining to how well a given scenario works would also be appreciated.
Unfortunately you can't make all of the people happy all of the time.
...which is what it sounds to me like you're trying to do. You have to pick the best technology that suits your application and roll with it. Trying to mix and match technologies just to keep people that want to use one or the other is going to fail.
If your application has legitimate uses for both ASP.NET MVC and Silverlight, then by all means give the Silverlight development to the people that want to do it and let the ASP.NET MVC people handle the rest. Just don't introduce Silverlight to give the developers who want it something to make them happy.
We have a mixture of Silverlight and regular ASP.Net on my team. It's a pretty big application but about 50% of it is Silverlight apps. People who want to work on Silverlight do that and the rest of us do web development. There is one big .sln that has all the projects and a bunch of smaller ones that have projects related to specific functional areas in the app. We have a build process that compiles everything and puts it all together.
Which parts of the application are SL and which parts of the app are HTML depends on a combination of business requirements and end user capabilities -- NOT whether the dev just want's to do SL or HTML.
If you want both do co-exist in your environment, you will need a process and it should revolve around business requirements and not just what fun toy a dev wants to use.
I think you should re-examine your assumptions. In particular:
One need not develop with MVC to embrace the Web; Web forms + Ajax works great in many scenarios.
Silverlight apps don't need to be stateful. In fact, Silverlight apps don't even require a UI.
IMO, the best approach is to start with a detailed architectural design for your site, and to look carefully at where each technology might be best applied. With an architecture in-hand, you can begin design and agile development, and let developers choose which areas they would prefer to be involved with, subject to overall project management constraints. But the key is to have the architecture drive the technology choices, not the other way around.
I'm wondering if anyone has tried to use Flex to power the front end of an enterprise level application at all, and if so, what advantages/disadvantages did you find when doing so. I'm currently looking into a possible project that would have global users requiring enterprise level access and performance, and wondering if it would be prudent to call upon some of my contractors flex experience with this project.
Flex and Flash is a great tool for enterprise level applications.
Our general rule of thumb is to use Flex or Flash when the type of rich interface required cannot be achieved using html/javascript/ajax. In this event the rich UI in flash/flex should be built keeping in mind that its the "Presentation Layer" and apart from basic front-end validation all the work (server side validation and logic) should be done by the underlying application. I would say that flex/flash should be used ot build component parts of an interface, not the whole interface.
The advantages are mainly in achieving a much richer and more stable interface than html/javascript/ajax type interfaces. In my experience the development time may not neccessarily be quicker, but the end result can be much greater!
The disadvantages I have experienced come in the form of finding the right kind of developers and finding developers to take over projects if contractors are used.
I have been using it for exactly that and, like anything, it has it ups and its down. One thing I have found impressive is its support for SOAP based web services. Your requirements here are very vague - but I would say that using Flex has been a positive experience for me.
There are thousands of production Flex enterprise apps out there. If you are looking for help check out these companies:
Gorilla Logic
Cynergy Systems
Universal Mind