How does HTML5 deal with being able to run .NET managed code like Silverlight does?

Question

Ok I am in the infancy stages of understanding HTML5 so bear with me. I understand HTML5 is the obvious future for video, streaming, interactivity, etc. no question. But one of the big pluses for Silverlight (since version 2) is the ability to run .NET Managed code on the client. Yes it requires the Silverlight plug-in, but this aside being able to run managed code is a powerful feature. Using WCF to get back to the server is a cinch, so I like this ability and have embedded several Silverlight controls on my ASP.NET pages because of its rich ability.

With all the talk about HTML5 pushing Silverlight aside (even directly or indirectly from MSFT), is HTML5 going to be able to facilitate the running of managed .NET code client-side from the web like Silverlight does?

Thanks!

Answer 1

HTML will have no facility specifically for running Microsoft executable code in the foreseeable future, no. In order to run .NET code from within the browser, either a plugin is required (such as with Silverlight) or the browser would have to call a local executable (which itself requires something beyond standard HTML/JavaScript, for security reasons).

The point is that HTML/CSS/JavaScript are universally supported out of the box. So instead of writing code that requires the user to install a plugin (.NET code, Flash code, etc.), you write code that runs in a standard browser (JavaScript, HTML, etc.).

You can still run .NET code just fine on the server, and can communicate with the server via AJAX very easily. But for client-side code the push in this particular scenario is away from proprietary technology with plugins to standard technology that's supported by default.