Is Silverlight the 'same' as jQuery?

Question

Could Silverlight be used for the same things as jQuery, or are they intended for different things?

For example, vb.net could be used for the same stuff as C# while C# is intended for different things than what JavaScript is. Is Silverlight and jQuery like vb.net and C#, or more like C# and JavaScript?

Answer 1

Interesting riddle. No, Silverlight and jQuery are two different things entirely. If you want analogies, Silverlight is more akin to Adobe Flash. jQuery is a Javascript library akin to Prototype, Dojo, etc.

Answer 2

Silverlight can be used to create rich interactive media, and is more akin to Flash than anything else. jQuery is a javascript library.

Answer 3

It's more like the difference between C# and JavaScript. Silverlight and jQuery at the high level are intended for similar things - rich user interaction in a web browser. However, Silverlight can do some more interesting things by using the .NET framework, and allows you to muck around with with WPF so you can add 3D rendering, advanced printing, playing back movies, DRM (ugh), and more things that jQuery just can't do yet. That said, I have no doubt that JavaScript and JS frameworks like jQuery will eventually catch up to most of the things Silverlight can do.

Another thing to mention is that Silverlight requires users to download and install a browser plugin, while jQuery works with any modern JavaScript-enabled browser. I think Silverlight is more comparable to Adobe Flash than to jQuery.

Answer 4

It's not the 'same' thing.

It's more like C# and Javascript.

jQuery is a javascript framework that helps with writing javascript

but Silverlight is an interactive media technology of its own... which is... IMO... totally different.