What does Windows 8/WP8 mean for .Net developers

Go-To Prescriptive Guidance for .NET Developers Building on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and HTML5

Telerik, a market-leading provider of end-to-end solutions for application development, automated testing, agile project management, reporting, and content management across all major Microsoft development platforms, has recently released “Platform Guidance for Microsoft.NET”. And , you know, it worth reading. It has been shared hundreds of times socially and is at the top of the list for Google searches. This document is easy to read and it highlights best practices and tips for .NET developers looking to leverage the latest Microsoft technologies. The advice is spot-on, and although somewhat basic, still worth your time.

I’d like to present a short overview of it. The goal of the document is to provide clear, direct guidance when picking a .NET platform. Platforms are suggested based on their ability to provide the most benefit for specific application scenarios relative to other .NET options. Platforms discussed within the guidance document include:
· Desktop Applications -WPF

WPF is still the choice for rich, beefy, custom Windows apps. However noticeable fact is that it wasn’t recommended for any of the other five scenarios. It’s comforting to hear that Silverlight is still a recommended technology however with some caution: Silverlight is also a good candidate for building desktop apps, sharing many of the same characteristics of WPF. While it seems clear that Microsoft will not release a major version beyond the recently released Silverlight 5.

· Dashboard/Reporting Applications – ASP.NET MVC with HTML5

Combination of ASP.NET MVC and HTML5 may be an ideal variant to maximize reach: ASP.NET MVC with HTML5 can give developers the power to build applications that are usable on any PC or mobile device. As we see HTML5 has surrounded us: assimilate or die 🙂
WinForms can be a viable alternative for applications that do not need the power and richness of HTML5 or XAML

· Data-Driven Websites – ASP.NET MVC and Web API

ASP.NET MVC provides developers with maximum control over website rendering and helps to maximize performance.

· Interactive Web Applications (Forms over Data) – ASP.NET WebForms

In this case Telerik suggests using ASP.NET WebForms. It’s the most mature ASP.NET variant and it’s the fastest way to build “desktop-like” rich application with web technologies.

· Mobile Website – ASP.NET MVC HTML5

ASP.NET MVC with HTML5 is considered to be an ideal choice for mobile websites: HTML5 helps mobile websites deliver more functionality in a single view and ASP.NET MVC, with its highly configurable views, provides the simplest path for delivering HTML5 to devices.

· Tablet Applications – XAML and .NET

Since Microsoft is making it clear that Windows 8 is their ideal platform for tablet apps, the bigger question developers must answer is how to develop tablet apps. Tablet apps can be built with either XAML/.NET or HTML/JavaScript. Both approaches have access to the full capabilities of the device and share a common Windows Runtime API. However the primaly recommend and focus on XAML and.NET. High-performance games may be developed using Direct X.

When this document was published Windows 8 was still in pre-beta and it didn’t get any recommendations; Telerik said it will update the document in time to reflect that. Also they promised to dwell on mobile development later.

Those were the recommendations from Telerik. And what are you personal recommendation regarding the choice of correct .NET technologies for a project?

Look forward to you comments.