Java Script vs Silverlight vs Flex

The Javascript API is what you are looking for.

Javascript generally works in any (modern) browser on any device.

All comments

FWIW, I've found the opposite and I'm using jQuery in my "boilerplate" now. Is there any reason NOT to use it?

So many 3rd party frameworks and plugins rely on jQuery, so it seems logical to use it......

For me the reasons not to use it were

1. One less library to load
2. One less framework to learn

These reasons might not be valid for you. There is no technological reason not to use it.

StephenLead

i found myself recently forcing jquery OUT of my code and doing everything in dojo. Think I am better off for that as well

FWIW, I've found the opposite and I'm using jQuery in my "boilerplate" now. Is there any reason NOT to use it?

So many 3rd party frameworks and plugins rely on jQuery, so it seems logical to use it......

we use netbeans, so i don't have code assist. To be honest, I think it has made (forced) me to learn the API more thoroughly.

You loose a lot of handholding/drag and drop/gui/styling etc.. by not using Flex. But you gain control and security. Totally worth it to me.

As far as the jquery/dojo thing, i found myself recently forcing jquery OUT of my code and doing everything in dojo. Think I am better off for that as well, but i don't know jquery very well either. I have yet to find something dojo could not do.

Finally,
We still support IE7. I recently had to wedge client side pdf rendering and printing into ie7 without canvas elements. I ended up using flashcanvas instead of excanvas due to image support. If we ever get to full html5/js I will be a much happier camper.

MattLane

As far as IDEs, you might try Microsoft's WebMatrix

One of the nice features are the emulators for mobile development. Also has template starter sites.

Styling was way easier, the code assist was more robust, you could see exactly what properties and methods were available for any object I created, without having to have another window open constantly reviewing the API reference. If I needed to add an event listener, for instance, I could just specify a function name and if it didn't exist already it would offer to set up some stub code for the new empty function. Since you were developing in an environment where the IDE and the API library were meant to go together, the design environment was much more transparent.

Writing this is sounds like my main complaint is not the way it functions for the end user. Maybe I need to search around again for a different IDE. I'm using Aptana because that's how ESRI laid it out in their getting started. Plus it looks somewhat like FLEX in the way the tools at the top are laid out, creating projects etc. I don't like Notepad ++ because what I'm needing is more of a design environment. I did recently get DreamWeaver, maybe I should try that again. I had an older version, but I never got any good at it.

As far as the HTML 5 comment - if we could ever get there, my life would be easier. Our default browser is IE 8. When you're working with an org that has tens of thousands of computers, any upgrade is an ordeal

ChristopherBlinn1

There's no way I'm going to be able to rewrite these in Javascript to be as nice.

I said the same thing 6 months ago.

But I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with what I could do with CSS3 and HTML5. Animations, transitions, styles, map tools and components, all of these I have been able to recreate in JS (but I must say, I use jQuery as my framework, and VERY little Dojo).

With enough time and money, anything is possible. :cool:

No good reason to have an app, no. In general, people just want to be able to say "go download our app", or "we have an app for that". I haven't been pressed lately, so I stopped pursuing the 'wrapper to make an app' approach. Mostly I'm holding out for every type of phone so I can properly test on all basic phones on the market. 😄

Thank you for the genuine answer. I figured it was something like that.
I was in the same boat at a previous employer. They wanted a native solution, while most of the devs wanted to stick with our polished webapp.

We didn't have enough time to do native and creating a mediocre hybrid solution just to please upper-management seemed like such a waste of time overall when we had a fully functioning webapp already.

Thanks again for the answer 😃

*edit

I have about a dozen very well received FLEX sites that are 4-5 years old now. There's no way I'm going to be able to rewrite these in Javascript to be as nice. I can only hope that eventually there will be more JS equivalents to replace the components that were standard in the FLEX libraries.

I've never had the pleasure of using the FLEX library; is there any particular feature or component you'd miss after migrating entirely to JS? (Pure curiosity at this point).

I have about a dozen very well received FLEX sites that are 4-5 years old now. There's no way I'm going to be able to rewrite these in Javascript to be as nice. I can only hope that eventually there will be more JS equivalents to replace the components that were standard in the FLEX libraries.

ChristopherBlinn1

I wish I was in Jeff's shoes.. I have clients that really loved the Flex Viewer and 3 years ago, it was the hottest solution available. The support and popularity really took off (just look at all of the version updates to the Flex Viewer over the past 24 months compared to any other API or viewer). Web apps were being pushed left and right.

Now, here I am looking at 15+ applications that I have thousands of man hours invested into running on an API (FLEX) that appears to be losing steam quickly. I too saw the writing on the wall and Javascript is now engulfing my life.

Save yourself the trouble of future migration and go with Javascript now.

It sounded like a nightmare to me too, which is why I left it as a mobile friendly web page.

i would/will never write a native app.

1. Licensing
2. Multiple code bases to maintain
3. Testing constraints
4. etc..

No good reason to have an app, no. In general, people just want to be able to say "go download our app", or "we have an app for that". I haven't been pressed lately, so I stopped pursuing the 'wrapper to make an app' approach. Mostly I'm holding out for every type of phone so I can properly test on all basic phones on the market. 😄

Although I have created a mobile friendly web page that works just fine on a phone, I continue to here "But we want an app, not a web page".

Is there any reason they would want a native app over a webapp, technically or functionally?

There are several frameworks that can wrap your webapp in a native-esque shell which then lets you deploy your webapp through the various AppStores (iOS, Android, etc).

These are two examples of such Frameworks:
http://www.appcelerator.com/titanium/
http://phonegap.com/

I developed in Flex for a few years before the writing on the wall made me switch to Javascript. I never looked at Silverlight because in the ESRI community it always seemed to be in 3rd place among the 3 APIs offered. The only scenario I might go back to FLEX/Flash is for the development of a mobile app, which is supposedly possible, although I've never tried it. Although I have created a mobile friendly web page that works just fine on a phone, I continue to hear "But we want an app, not a web page".

Agreed on Javascript.

Flex ruled and by security and being dropped on mobile anyway
Silverlight was a non-started.

The whole web is migrating to JS/HTML5. I get calls (frequently) that start with

"we our migrating our app from <flex/silverlight> to javascript and... "

Just glad I got ahead of the curve.

SunilPalkar

Hi Jay

We are using JSAPI at our end. It works well for all OS.

-Its lightweight than FLEX.
-We customized layout which has responsive design.
-Only thing look and feel (if you compare with Flex)

StephenLead

...until ESRI comes with some cross-platform compatible API that can be utilised on any device

This may be the ArcGIS RunTime, which was mentioned at the UC this year. I haven't used it yet, but the promise is that it will allow the same app to run on any supported device. I'm not sure whether it's actually released yet or is still in beta.

In the meanwhile, the JS API is your best option to ensure your app can run on any advice.

In terms of designing the user interface, you should look at responsive web design, to allow your application to resize dynamically for any device and orientation.

Good luck Jay!
If you have any additional questions, comments or concerns, feel free to bring them up in a new thread or private message. We'll help as best we can.

JayKappy

Thanks for the info.....diving in head first.....
Cheers