LightSwitch: Infopath, Browsers and Scalability

One of my friends, who doesn’t normally read this blog, as the following questions of a thread that I was included on:

“I am working with a XXXX team at XXXXXX Corporation and found myself in a call with their IT management. “

They have had some real problems using InfoPath with Sharepoint, and are wondering if Lightswitch might not be a better route.  “

Do any of you know how we might get these questions answered?

• Can LightSwitch be a good replacement for InfoPath
  • LightSwitch is not the same as InfoPath, but at any distance they appear to be very similar:
• InfoPath: Has a “form designer” that allows the designer to line things up, and fiddle around with the screen
  • LightSwitch does the fiddling around with the UX for you
  • Both can be used for form filling purposes
  • InfoPath is included with MS Office
  • LightSwitch is an additional cost
  • Video explaining deployment:
    • https://microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/955ae723-30e5-4f5b-bc92-27ac3035923d
• What is a key difference between LightSwitch and InfoPath?
  • LightSwitch is a Tier 2 and Tier 3 application and can be used with Clients like Excel directly (Tier 2), IIS or Azure (Tier 3), or Browser (again Tier 3). (See video above)
  • Infopath is designed to be used as a Windows Client and can be used with Browsers
    • https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163562.aspx
  • My Answers (as always verify anything I say)
    • InfoPath is a client based forms tool that is used for data entry
    • For more information see: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff604966(office.14).aspx
    • LightSwitch would be used with InfoPath, as tier 3 application, not as a client form
•          How well can LightSwitch intergrate with SharePoint?
  • My Answers:
    • Very well, LightSwitch as the capability of reading Sharepoint lists
    • See: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff852017.aspx
•          What are the pros and cons with using Lightswitch with SharePoint?
  • A Bing search didn’t turn up anything definitive and since I have only used LightSwitch with databases, I got nothing for this question
•          Is LightSwitch scalable?
  • Yes, LightSwitch is a Tier 3 application and is scalable
•          Can LightSwitch be used with other browsers like FireFox and Chrome?
  • No definitive answer, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work with FireFox or Chrome, but that isn’t the answer you want to see.

The person to ask wasn’t anyone on the thread, but rather a frequent and excellent blogger:

Beth Massi: https://channel9.msdn.com/Niners/funkyonex/

 

I like LightSwitch better than InfoPath, which for some reason I have never really liked, but not for any good reason.  LightSwitch seems to turn on my programmer brain and InfoPath doesn’t.