Review of Visual Studio Lightswitch
Starting a project
Visual Studio Lightswitch installs either standalone, or as an add-on for an existing Visual Studio 2010 installation. When you start a new Lightswitch project, the first task is to create or select a data source, which can be either a SQL database, a SharePoint list, or a data feed served by Microsoft’s WCF RIA Services middleware. There is a visual table designer which uses common-sense data types, including e-mail address, phone number and money, though users are still expected to know the difference between a short and long integer. You can also specify validation requirements and whether a field is unique and/or searchable.
Visual Studio Lightswitch is a simplified self-service development tool,” says Microsoft’s corporate vice-president of Visual Studio, Jason Zander. Microsoft has its eye on the Access market, a tool for non-specialists who need to throw together a quick database application