Managed Code Shines in Silverlight 1.1

n addition to the XAML and JavaScript combination supported in Silverlight 1.0, this Silverlight 1.1 Alpha client also supports managed code written in a language such as C# or VB.NET. That single addition brings many more development possibilities into play, and also pulls in a host of exisiting .NET developers, who can immediately take advantage of the new managed code feature.

As an illustration of the power available by combining .NET code, JavaScript, XAML, animations, web services, isolated storage, and of course, HTML, this article shows you how to build a "user viewer" application using Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 that displays user information via a rich and intuitive interface. The user viewer application shows a list of users in a card-like view, much like a Rolodex. Each card contains baseline information about a user. When a user can select a specific card to view, it flies out and enlarges, displaying a detail view.