On behalf of the LightSwitch team, I am proud to announce the release of the LightSwitch HTML client in Visual Studio 2012 Update 2! It’s been an exciting journey for us and we thank you for all your valuable feedback that got us here.
LightSwitch in Visual Studio 2012 Update 2 |
(Note: if you are upgrading from Update 2 CTP4 then you can go ahead and install the final Update 2 release. Users of the LightSwitch Preview 2 please read these important upgrade instructions.)
What do you get?!
The HTML5 and JavaScript-based client addresses the increasing need to build touch-oriented business applications that run well on modern mobile devices. LightSwitch HTML clients are built on standards-compliant HTML5 and JavaScript and provide modern, touch-first experiences on Windows RT, Windows Phone 8, iPhones and iPads with iOS 5/6, and Android 4.x devices.
With the new SharePoint 2013 apps model, we’re also bringing the simplicity and ease of building custom business apps with LightSwitch into SharePoint / Office 365. Many enterprises today use SharePoint as a collaboration hub to better people, content, and processes. Although you can still choose to host your apps on your own or in Azure, enabling SharePoint in your LightSwitch apps allows you to take advantage of the app lifecycle management, identity, and access control capabilities within SharePoint – not to mention the business data and processes already running in SharePoint in your enterprise.
Read more about the new LightSwitch features here.
But wait, there’s more!
With the release we have also created new resources for you to check out!
Developer Center – We’ve got a refreshed website with new HTML client resources. The Developer Center is your one-stop-shop for the best LightSwitch team samples, videos, articles and documentation. Start with the basics or go deeper and explore the architecture and hosting options of LightSwitch apps.
How Do I Videos – We also have started a new “How Do I...?” video series that shows you step-by-step how to get started building HTML clients with LightSwitch. Keep tabs on this page as we’re planning a lot more!
JavaScript Samples– We also have created some JavaScript snippets that show you how to achieve many common coding tasks on the HTML client. If you’re new to JavaScript, these snippets should help!
Ask questions in the General Forum – Thanks to everyone who gave feedback on the previews! Now that we have released, we will continue our conversations in the LightSwitch General forum. The team is listening there.
The team is extremely happy to have reached this important milestone and we’re looking forward to hearing about all the amazing applications you will be building!
-John Stallo, Program Manager Lead, LightSwitch Team