Building business apps for Web, PCs and cloud

Introduction Microsoft is positioning LightSwitch as a way to build

business applications for the desktop, the Web and the cloud. It’s a tool that relies on pre-built templates to make building applications easier for non-professional programmers. It’s so easy, it’s like flipping a switch, quipped.

Visual Studio LightSwitch is a new tool aimed at building data-driven applications, like an inventory system or a basic customer relationship management system incredibly easy.

LightSwitch automatically generates the user interface in Silverlight for a data source and, with no code, you can create, read, update and delete data.

LightSwitch looks like

Introduction – Cont… With LightSwitch, you can build custom applications

that rival off-the-shelf solutions. Get a head start by using pre-configured screen templates that give your application a familiar look and feel. LightSwitch also provides prewritten code and other reusable components to handle routine application tasks, along with helpful step-by-step guidance. However, if you need to write custom code, you can use Visual Basic .NET or C#. You can deploy to the desktop, browser, or cloud (post-Beta) to share your application with others more easily without the cumbersome installation processes.

Supported Datasource

Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Azure SharePoint Microsoft Office Access (post-Beta) Other third-party data sources.

BUILD FOR TODAY, PREPARE FOR TOMORROW

With LightSwitch you can create custom applications for the way you do business. Keep your technology and business options open, while building a practical yet scalable application that matches your current needs now and in the future. The pre-built templates and components in LightSwitch are fully extensible, so you can get the specific functionality your application demands. In addition, your application can grow to meet the increasing demands of popular applications using the Microsoft Windows Azure Cloud Hosting option.

Release

Microsoft is expecting to release the final version of LightSwitch in 2011. It will be a standalone dev tool, but also could be part of one of the larger versions of Visual Studio.