Are you a newbie and don't know where to start from? Here are some useful tips for
you. Please keep in mind that this tutorial covers Silverlight 2.
Runtime
To start with Silverlight first you have to install the Silverlight runtime. Download
Silverlight 2 Runtime Windows/Mac
Tools
If you want to begin playing with Silverlight you will need some tools.
Go here
and find out both development and design & content creation tools.
If you are a developer you will need
Visual Studio 2008 with installed
SP1 on it. There is a free evaluation copy for Windows. Express editions
doesn't work with Silverlight for now. To create Silverlight applications you will
need to download the
Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2008. This will add the Silverlight
project templates. The
Silverlight 2 SDK is also included in the package. The SDK contains documentation
and samples along with Silverlight ASP.NET controls. You don't need
the SDK if you are installing the Silverlight Tools.
Also you can find the newly released Silverlight
Toolkit very useful. This is an open source project of Microsoft that intorduces
additional controls that can be used when developing in Silverlight.
As a developer you will need additional debug and error information. To get it you
need to install the Silverlight 2 Developer Runtime. Choose the
Mac or Windows
version.
For the designers there is a
Microsoft Expression Studio 2 - free evaluation version that works with
Silverlight 2. The studio includes:
Code Silverlight Applications
The best way to start coding Silverlight applications is to read the
available tutorials and watch the
"How Do I?" videos. There are
QuickStart topics in Silverlight.net to demonstrate how to create
Silverlight-based applications. For complete end-to-end learning series you should
check out the hands on labs
page.
Check out the
breaking changes since Beta 2. Read the
Scott Guthrie's walkthrough for the final release of Silverlight 2.
Also don't miss the Get Started
section on Silverlight.net.
Subscribe!
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External Sources of Information
Silverlight.net - Microsoft official Silverlight
community site
ScottGu's Blog - great tutorials and
source of breaking news
Tim Sneath - next best place for breaking
news and clarity of information
Jesse Liberty - The Silverlight
Developers best friend
John Lam - Dynamic Language Runtime
Jose Fajardo
- User Experience and Design
Andy Beaulieu - games and physics
Sparkling Client - a podcast about
Silverlight and other RIA technologies.
Adam Kinney's Blog - Microsoft Technical Evangelist
for Silverlight and WPF