I am starting a project in which I hope to create a web application with similar elements to Google Maps, such as zooming, panning, displaying tiles, etc. The idea would be for it to have a very fluid and dynamic feel.
Some possibilities that I have encountered are:
-Flash
-Silverlight
-HTML5
-Google Web Toolkit
-Javascript/jQuery
Being proficient in C# and .net, I feel that Silverlight may be the easiest for me to work with. I am worried however with regards to the penetration of Silverlight (this is a consumer-facing application).
Please note that I am not asking to implement Google Maps into my web application. Rather I am attempting to create a new similar website (not mapping, but similar concepts).
Thank you very much.
Seeing how Google Maps itself is an HTML/JavaScript/CSS application I’d suggest going the HTML5 route. The main advantage is penetration into the mobile market, especially on Android/iPhone/iDevices which support HTML5 out of the box.