Starsoft Our Tools

Microsoft .NET (versions 2007, 2010)

This is a software development framework that runs on Microsoft Windows. It supports several languages including VB, C++, C# and allows interoperability (i.e. each language uses code from other languages). .NET provides the ability to create user friendly interfaces, database connectivity, windows or web based applications, network communications, and links to electronic commerce, encrypted passwords, etc.

Microsoft Azure

This is Microsoft’s cloud platform which can be used to build, host and scale web applications and web sites. Azure is hosted in giant datacentres around the world with thousands of linked servers which are configured to activate as the usage of a web application/web site increases. This scalability is particularly useful for businesses with seasonal or time specific products: think Christmas sales, events promotions (rock concerts, grand final sports games), etc.

Microsoft SQL Server

This is a relational model database server which competes against Oracle, IBM, etc. SQL Server also includes reporting services, data mining server, messaging technologies, XSD schemas, security and encryption of data. SQL Server can be exposed to web services indirectly using SOAP protocol requests which return data as XML. Database mirroring ensures perfect data backup and fail-over functionality.

Visual FoxPro version 9

Visual FoxPro is one of the earliest xbase management and software development tools, starting as FoxPro in the 1980s. This development language evolved to include object-oriented programming, data centric development linking to the FoxPro database or Microsoft SQL Server. This is primarily a desktop solution.

MonoTouch 4.0.2

This software solution enables the development of C# and .NET based applications for the iPhone. The resultant apps (applications) are compiled down to the machine code which is implemented on the iPhone. A variant of MonoTouch is Mono for Android based smart phones.

Xcode 3.2.6

Xcode is similar to MonoTouch in that it is a suite of tools for developing software that will run on the Mac operating system. Xcode has been developed by Apple. Xcode provides a developer environment, a visual interface builder, and graphical user interfaces.

Windows Phone 7 Development toolkit

Windows Phone 7 (WP7) is the operating system which includes the user interface Metro design language. At present it supports five languages: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. Windows Phone Marketplace allows buying and selling applications in 17 countries and regions. The next update to this development platform is Mango, due for release Q4 2011.

C#

C# is the second development language contained in Microsoft Visual Studio. It is one of the software development languages designed for the Common Language Infrastructure. It includes imperative, functional, declarative, class based and component oriented programming. It is a general-purpose development language.

Microsoft Expression Blend 4

This is a user interface design tool which enables the creation of graphical interfaces which can be applied to web (internet) or desktop applications. It can also be used in Silverlight applications and in Windows Phone apps. Expression Blend can work with 2D and 3D widgets.

Visual Basic

Visual Basic has evolved from the early Basic software development language. Visual Basic is now used for web development and for desk top application development. It can link into multiple database types and has an object-oriented programming language.

HTML5

This is an iteration of the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) standard developed in 1990 for the World Wide Web with the new version specifically designed to enable the new Web 2 iteration of web sites. HTML5 supports the latest multimedia developments with increased capabilities: video, audio, and canvas elements and Scalable Vector Graphics.

Java

Java is another software development language which was designed to run on multiple architecture platforms. It has good graphics, threading, and networking features.

SilverLight

SilverLight is the Microsoft equivalent of Adobe Flash – it supports streaming media, multimedia, graphics, and animation. SilverLight can be used on most web browsers and also on the Windows Phone 7 and Symbian phones.

Deep Zoom

Click here to see our example

Cascading Style Sheets – CSS

This is a style sheet language which enables developers to write web based, desk based, or mobile software that is able to quickly change in look and design because the style is held in the Style Sheet and not hard coded into the software. This is a great solution for those who want to constantly update their web site look.

SOAP

This is the acronym for Simple Object Access Protocol – which is a standard protocol which allows data to be exchanged between different applications held on different servers. This information is encrypted by a secure encryption process which makes the exchange of data safe. This exchange of data does not require the two parties to be using the same database or software applications. The two applications may be web based or desktop based.

XML

Another acronym – this one stands for Extensible Markup Language and it is the universally agreed set of rules for encoding documents into a machine readable format. The format is text based and can be read by humans. The universality of XML is that the data is presented in a standard format according to strict rules. In essence, it is a way of passing information (data) from any database or development language to any other database/language.