Silverlight for Flash Experts

Flash, Silverlight.  Silverlight, Flash.  The debate started a little over a year ago when Silverlight was introduced and as time has passed, the debate continues stronger than ever.

While some people are attached to a specific RIA toolset and platform due to a strong preference or sense of loyalty to a company or its technology, in most cases people are pragmatic and try to choose the tool that best suits the problem they are trying to solve.  This pragmatic approach is also beneficial to you as a designer or a developer building RIA applications because the broader your skillset, the more valuable a resource to your company or your clients you become. 

If you happen to create RIAs using Flash for a living and you are interested in learning about the Silverlight platform, it may be a little daunting to find the right resources to get up to speed and start learning the technology.  So where do you start?  There are a few resources out there that can help you learn the Silverlight platform, particularly if you are a Flash professional.  My colleague Tim Heuer (a Microsoft Program Manager for Silverlight) in the US has created a great blog post with some resources and I’ve listed them below for your convenience:

  • Project Rosetta:  A site built by Microsoft to provide guidance to Flash RIA creators on how to build Silverlight RIAs.  A great beginning of a series of articles on this topic can be found here on the website.
  • Shine Draw:  A great blog for Flash and Silverlight RIA creators to learn more about both platforms.
  • The New Iteration:  A great article on how Silverlight and WPF enhances designer/developer workflow.

Do you know of any other great Silverlight learning resources for Flash RIA creators?  Let us know through the comments section!