Hi,
I've been using the ASP.NET AJAX (Webforms) component of Telerik for quite some time, even though I haven't used them in the last year. As I am now involved in several Microsoft MVC projects I again started to look at the demos of the Telerik components for MVC but I have to admit that I wasn't really that impressed with what I saw with regards to how it looked. I just never got the WOW-factor that the ASP.NET AJAX components offer. Take the demos for Combobox/dropdown as example, in the ASP.NET AJAX demos there are several good looking solutions like easily integrated checkboxes, styling etc but when looking at the same examples for MVC, it kind of just looks like Microsofts standard components to me. So, the obvious question here to the community, is it just that the demos for ASP.NET AJAX are much better or are the ASP.NET MVC components quite limited when it comes to design, visual appeal etc?
I realize that there is of course many other advantages with Kendo UI like mobile support, HTML5 etc. etc. and that the broad support for this might hamper the possibilities to deliver a web experience with that extra WOW factor. But for this project, I am more looking for something that can be used in a "standard web application" to get a user experience that isn't as boring and uninspiring as the standard Microsoft components offer, without having to do it all yourself in CSS etc (ie rapid development).
Or to put it in another way, if I want to convince a decision maker to go with ASP.NET MVC (Kendo UI) to get a richer and more pleasant user experience for a standard MVC web application, is Kendo UI the way to go and if so, how do I convince them as I find that the demos themselves won't really make it an easy sell like with the ASP.NET AJAX components? This is an internal web application for a company in a controlled environment, so mobile support, HTML5 etc won't really impress as much as it might have done for a public site.
Looking forward to hearing your comments on this! Please prove me wrong :)
I've been using the ASP.NET AJAX (Webforms) component of Telerik for quite some time, even though I haven't used them in the last year. As I am now involved in several Microsoft MVC projects I again started to look at the demos of the Telerik components for MVC but I have to admit that I wasn't really that impressed with what I saw with regards to how it looked. I just never got the WOW-factor that the ASP.NET AJAX components offer. Take the demos for Combobox/dropdown as example, in the ASP.NET AJAX demos there are several good looking solutions like easily integrated checkboxes, styling etc but when looking at the same examples for MVC, it kind of just looks like Microsofts standard components to me. So, the obvious question here to the community, is it just that the demos for ASP.NET AJAX are much better or are the ASP.NET MVC components quite limited when it comes to design, visual appeal etc?
I realize that there is of course many other advantages with Kendo UI like mobile support, HTML5 etc. etc. and that the broad support for this might hamper the possibilities to deliver a web experience with that extra WOW factor. But for this project, I am more looking for something that can be used in a "standard web application" to get a user experience that isn't as boring and uninspiring as the standard Microsoft components offer, without having to do it all yourself in CSS etc (ie rapid development).
Or to put it in another way, if I want to convince a decision maker to go with ASP.NET MVC (Kendo UI) to get a richer and more pleasant user experience for a standard MVC web application, is Kendo UI the way to go and if so, how do I convince them as I find that the demos themselves won't really make it an easy sell like with the ASP.NET AJAX components? This is an internal web application for a company in a controlled environment, so mobile support, HTML5 etc won't really impress as much as it might have done for a public site.
Looking forward to hearing your comments on this! Please prove me wrong :)
4 Answers, 1 is accepted
0
sitefinitysteve
Top achievements
Rank 2
Iron
Veteran
Rank 2
Iron
Veteran
answered on 02 Feb 2013, 05:53 PM
The Radcontrols are just pure bloat...you're having to deal with msajax and viewstate allover the place.
The kendo suite is just pure jquery SPEEED...that's why I've moved over. The markup is lightyears cleaner (the RadWindow still renders as a table...it's 2013 now)
Sure the demos aren't as comprehensive, but you have full templatability and the power of jquery on your side.
The kendo suite is just pure jquery SPEEED...that's why I've moved over. The markup is lightyears cleaner (the RadWindow still renders as a table...it's 2013 now)
Sure the demos aren't as comprehensive, but you have full templatability and the power of jquery on your side.
0
improwise
Top achievements
Rank 1
Iron
Iron
Rank 1
Iron
Iron
answered on 02 Feb 2013, 10:41 PM
Thank you for your answer Steve. Even though I as a developer agree with much of what you say, it isn't really the answer to my "how do I impress a decision maker?" question but rather a question like "why would you use MVC instead of Webforms?". Unfortunately, most business decision maker won't really care what tools we developers use to solve the problems as long as they do the job, and look good. And the last item is my main concern here, what I have seen of the demos just doesn't look that good as the ASP.NET AJAX controls. Are there any other better showcases around perhaps?
0
sitefinitysteve
Top achievements
Rank 2
Iron
Veteran
Rank 2
Iron
Veteran
answered on 03 Feb 2013, 01:10 AM
"why would you use MVC instead of Webforms?"
MVC Pages are more responsive (render faster)...and people some prefer the separation of concerns (I do as well, but I can appreciate the RAD of webforms). Page sizes are infinitly smaller, elegantly service-fed, but like you said, that won't sell :)
WebForms+RadControls you could deliver the product faster though.
These are better if you want clean fast controls, but they aren't here to woo you away from webforms :) Radcontrols have way way way more options available. You have an entire client and serverside api at your disposal...and all the serverside binding events let you do a lot more.
I take issue with this though
"ASP.NET MVC components quite limited when it comes to design, visual appeal etc"
Kendos skins are superior to the radcontrols skins in every way. Just about every radcontrol skin outside of Metro are horribly dated and bloated with images (Forest or Sunset make you want to stab your eyes out).
MVC Pages are more responsive (render faster)...and people some prefer the separation of concerns (I do as well, but I can appreciate the RAD of webforms). Page sizes are infinitly smaller, elegantly service-fed, but like you said, that won't sell :)
WebForms+RadControls you could deliver the product faster though.
These are better if you want clean fast controls, but they aren't here to woo you away from webforms :) Radcontrols have way way way more options available. You have an entire client and serverside api at your disposal...and all the serverside binding events let you do a lot more.
I take issue with this though
"ASP.NET MVC components quite limited when it comes to design, visual appeal etc"
Kendos skins are superior to the radcontrols skins in every way. Just about every radcontrol skin outside of Metro are horribly dated and bloated with images (Forest or Sunset make you want to stab your eyes out).
0
improwise
Top achievements
Rank 1
Iron
Iron
Rank 1
Iron
Iron
answered on 03 Feb 2013, 09:59 AM
As you said yourself, RadControls, or at least the demos of them, are a much easier sell, just point a decision maker to the demos and they will usually say "This looks much better than our website, I want this" (I've done this IRL a few times so I know). I tried to do this with the MVC (Kendo UI) demos but mostly got the "I don't see any difference, why bother spending money on this?".
About the "ASP.NET MVC components quite limited when it comes to design, visual appeal etc", you kind made it appear as a statement from my side but it was actually a question :) What I really want is for someone to show me some good examples that it isn't, to make it easier for me to convince a non developer about this, as I myself is already a believer (although I find that often people tend to exaggerate the problems with Webforms and the benefits with MVC, you can still write good Webform applications as well).
About the "ASP.NET MVC components quite limited when it comes to design, visual appeal etc", you kind made it appear as a statement from my side but it was actually a question :) What I really want is for someone to show me some good examples that it isn't, to make it easier for me to convince a non developer about this, as I myself is already a believer (although I find that often people tend to exaggerate the problems with Webforms and the benefits with MVC, you can still write good Webform applications as well).