Shine Draw

After implementing more than 60 samples, I start feeling that I am running out of good ideas. Therefore, I have spent some time to research and organize new ideas.

Below are some of the comparisons I will make in the coming days. If you have any nice suggestions, please do not hesitate to leave me a reply!

List of upcoming comparisons

• Data binding
• Using datagrid
• Calling web services
• Upload file
• Posting multipart data
• Compares JavaFx with Flash and Silverlight
• Image manipulation (Rotate and Scale Image)
• JavaScript (Flash connect to Silverlight)
• Game: Bejeweled
• Particle engine
• Physics engine
• Deep linking application
• Localization/Internationalization
• Cross domain security
• Working with bitmap
• Search images from Flickr
• More image transition effect
• Mapping application
• Accessing all the text on a page
• Charting
• Interactive tree menu
• Drawing curves
• Event Handlings
• Working with XML
• Working with sound

Don’t forget to give me your suggestion!

An Open Source, feature-rich and professional RIA application development environment for Microsoft Silverlight in Eclipse.

Eclipse4SL has been out for a couple of months since the release of Silverlight 2. However, I didn’t do any testing on this tool until yesterday. I have a lot of findings and let’s see it one by one.

Installation

If you are currently doing Silverlight Development using Visual Studio, that will be great. You only have to download the latest version of Eclipse and install the plug-in on the fly. The complete installation guide can be found via http://www.eclipse4sl.org/download/.

Please note that if you are using Eclipse 3.3 or previous version, you will encounter plug-in missing error during the installation. Don’t attempt to solve it, just go to grab the latest version will save your time!

Eclipse Tools

Once you have completed the installation, go to the top menu and select File->New->Other->Silverlight Project. Then you will see something like this.

Generally, you will have all the basic tools you needed for development. They are namely Project Explorer, Control List, XML Editor, Application Preview, Coding Tool, etc.

There is no code suggestion?

The next thing I attempt to try is the code editor. It has syntax highlight, auto formatting. Oh, but where is the code suggestion?

Well, I am not C# expert, I give up coding immediately.

(No code suggestion for XAML editor as well.)

Debugging Tool

There is no debugging tool. That’s all.

Compatibility with Visual Studio

When I move to the Project Folder, I found that it contains a .csproj file. That’s what I anticipated. I can open the project by Silverlight and move on my development.

Let’s try the reverse order. I attempt to move my ColorPicker Sample into the Eclipse Workspace. A new Eclipse Silverlight Project is created successfully. However, when I run the application, nothing shows up.

I think the problem is probably caused by encoding problem of the files. After certain copy and past procedures, I can finally compile it!

However, I believe if your project is complicated, you will definitely have a lot of troubles.

Summary

Frankly speaking, it’s not fair to compare such a new plug-in with Visual Studio (which exists for years). However, I think this plug-in still has a lot of rooms for improvement before it can be adopted by the developers.

This is just the beginning, I believe it will continue to evolve and become much more powerful.

Finally, there are total of 105 entries submitted to  MIX09 - 10K Challenge! I am shocked how creative for those newly added entries. Most of them are very funny and interesting. I have selected some of my favorite entries here. I am sure you will love them as well.

The deadline of the community voting is 13 February 2009. Select and rate for your favorite entry now!

Chain Reaction

This is a very simple game. All you have to do is to create a chain reaction and link up all of the dots. There are all together 12 levels. I am not able to pass for the last level. Can you beat it?

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0117

CatchOsama

Another game that will blow up your mind. You not only have to escape from Osama Bin Laden, but also catch him using the rocks. It really needs a lot of your intelligence. Are you ready for CatchOsama ?

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0123

Spike

This is one of my favorite game when I was young. May be that’s the main reason I love this entry.

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0089

10k Forest

Another simple piece of application. The author created a 3D world where you can add additional trees by right clicking on the application. I wish we could plant more real trees using such a simple method as well.

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0101

Turtle#

Turtle! What a historical name! I used to play with it during the computer lesson. Can’t you imagine you can play it again in Silverlight?

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0093

SilverRubix

I am sure everyone knows Rubix! Here we have a 3D version in Silverlight. I love the complexity of this application. Nevertheless, the usability of this Rubix has yet to be improved.

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0096

More than 60 creations have been submitted to the MIX09 - 10K Challenge!! Everyone must spare some of their time to take a look on all the entries. They are brilliant and creative! I am sure you can get a lot of inspirations there!

The deadline of the entry submission is 30 January 2009. If you want to win for 1500 USD and free entry to MIX 09, create and submit you entry now!

Below are some of my favorites entry in the competition. Vote for them if you like it!

Sokoban

This is of my favorite game when I was young. I used to spend a lot hours in completing all the stages. This Silverlight version provided 30 stages. That’s really a new challenge for me! Can’t you believe that the file size is just 10K?

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0054

We are bugs!

This game is simple, but yet creative! The game logic is similar to Snake Snacks. You have to control a flying bug and eat all the food on the stage. However, the main difference is that, once you have collected one food, it will create an enemy which attempt to kill your life!

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0072

Paper Ball

That’s a fantastic game. In this game, you have to use your rugby players and get the ball into enemy field. Similar to real rugby, your player can also collide with enemy as well.

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0076

Warp Jumper

This is a 3D style game. You have to move your ball reaching the destination using minimal time. Writing 3D stuff in Silverlight is not easy, that’s why I love it.

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0083

Bitster

Another funny application. The application can load up a bitmap image and display it with a funny grid style. Actually, there is no native bitmap API in Silverlight. This entry is intelligent and requires a lot of skill!

http://2009.visitmix.com/MIXtify/TenKDisplay.aspx?SubmissionID=0086

Here are the real statistical results extracted form Google Analytics. The visitor results are collected from the past 30 days.

As you can see, there are about 500-1500 people visiting my site per day. There was a sharp increase in Christmas. That’s mainly because there are many users got into my Ecard Sample when they are looking for greeting cards.

Search Engine contributed almost 50% of the visits. I think it’s doing quite well.

Finally, here are the source where people came from. I think you have noticed that silverlight.net is actually my biggest supporter! That’s also explain why Silverlight always got higher voting.

Share Your Data

I think it’s quite interesting to look into the visitor record. If you have a blog or website, please let me know if you want to share more analytics details with me.