LightSwitch vs WCF RIA

I've just found out about Visual Studio Light开发者_如何学编程Switch, Microsoft's new Silverlight-centric RAD tool.

Does this occupy the same space as WCF RIA Services?

Is WCF RIA effectively dead?

I've been doing some reading, and it seems that LightSwitch actually builds on top of RIA. I saw the following in a review in The Register -

Database connectivity and user authentication in LightSwitch uses WCF RIA Services, Microsoft's web service framework for Silverlight, though developers are shielded from the details. This means there is a middle tier running on Microsoft's IIS web server.

Lightswitch does not make RIA Services obsolute. They are both valuable but are aimed at different audiences. RIA Services is aimed at professional programmers that want a high degree of control. Lightswitch is aimed at non-professional programmers. You can think of it as a Microsoft Access for building Silverlight applications.

I don't know where you found that quote "LightSwitch is targeted at professional developers and power users looking to create custom LOB applications", but that's NOT what LightSwitch was intended for at all. Power users, yes, professional developers, no.

LightSwitch is targeted at the non-developer, the type of user who creates "departmental" apps, who would perhaps currently use Excel, or Access. Though a number of professional developers (myself included) have recognised that LS is a fantastic tool for us to use as well, we were NOT the target audience at all.

As for RIA services being dead? Not at all! In fact RIA services is one of the main ways of accessing data that LS currently has trouble with (aggregation, projected entities etc). Using RIA services in LightSwitch is VERY easy. We're hoping, with the interest expressed by developers, that things will improve in that direction in future versions.

I agree with Phil, I tend to think of LS as Access.NET, even though it's far more than just that. Think of "forms over data" with all the latest technologies. Silverlight (both in browser & desktop), MEF, Entity Framework, RIA services etc.

Yann