Microsoft Silverlight is a technology that allows you to create an  RIA  (Rich Internet Applications);that run in a web page.

When the silverlight plug has been installed into a web browser, browsing to any site that has Silverlight application in it will cause the browser to download and execute the application in the Silverlight plugin. This could be used to display anything from a menu system, advertising banners, games or video. It is really up to the author to decide how creative they want to be.

Another way to look at Silverlight is that it is akin to Adobe Flash. The most compelling thing about it is; if you are already writing applications using the Microsoft .net platform, you are going to be able to pick Silverlight up and run with it very quickly. Silverlight seperates logic from presentation by using XAML for the layout and display, and code behind files such as .cs and vb, to implement the logic and drive what the application needs to do.  Silverlight is based on the Microsoft.NET Common Language Runtime.

Now that I have finished the look and feel of my website, I'm going to create a few simple Silverlight applications to enhance it and give it a bit more eye candy, and share with you how each application has been put together.

See you for part one in the next post.