DevExpress vs infragistics Suites - the ability to switch

Question

We are currently a client of Infragistics NetAdvantage Select and for several years now. Their control is in order, but not what I would call great, but the time spent studying them today is the main reason we stick to them. We use ASP.NET and Winnform controls.

Since we are due to an update, we are considering DevExpress as an option, as they seem to offer pretty much the same functionality.

For those who made this move from mInfragistics to DevExpress, how did you find it? Step forward or backward? Pros and cons to this?

Answer 1

My company uses DevExpress, and we are very pleased with their selection. We never used the Infragistics package, so I can’t talk about the process of moving from Infragistics to DevExpress.

As a rule, I find that DevExpress controls are very easy to use and are implemented in our applications. Some controls have a small learning curve, such as the DevExpress TreeList, but this is not a huge problem.

One thing that I don't like with some of their controls is the Properties property. This property is used to set additional control parameters.

As an example, set the maximum length of a text field (devexpress text field):

textEdit.Properties.MaxLength instead of textEdit.MaxLength

So, their controls are great and have a great look, but I think DevExpress's main quality is their support. You can ask a question on the support page, and you will receive an answer within one day, perhaps two days later, if the question is difficult.

So, if you are not satisfied with Infragistics, try DevExpress. You can download a trial version so you have nothing to lose.

Answer 2

Secondly, you should take a look at Telerik. Their support ranks first in the industry. They give you good examples in the real world, and their documentation, which I feel, is unparalleled.

I entered into a contract with a company rooted in the controls you control, and I would not use them if they were free.

The reasons why I make this expression is their documentation, in my opinion, is bad. When I spend money on a management kit such as RAD, it makes my work easier and faster for production. I found that in some cases it was easier to just figure out how to make inline controls, do what you want, and try to figure out the problems that I had with their controls.

Their patterns are similar to those of Microsoft. They’re fluffy, based on Tech sales, and show how easy it’s to set up something at the seminar, but in the real world, if you used the methods and tracked the viewing status and traffic with their examples, you would be less impressed.

I did not have an account to send support tickets, but I had 4 during the month sent through the account holder, and as far as I know, I did not receive a response to any of them. (This could be broken with the person I had to go through with, but I doubt it.)

When it comes to Telerik, Rad elements for Ajax, it’s very rare that I can’t understand what I need to do, or by looking at the sample web solution for the Visual Studio sample that comes with their documentation.

Good luck with your search, and even if you don't consider Telerik, I highly recommend that you look for other options.

Answer 3

A bit unrelated, but you can also appreciate the Telerik controls . We have been using them for many years. Exceptional control and support. And their controls also work with ASP.NET MVC.

Just a happy customer here.

Answer 4

Not applicable to controls, but with the DevExpress package you get the excellent VS add-ons for free - CodeRush and RefactorPro.

Answer 5

Like Francis, I did not make the transition from infragistics to devexpress, I started with devexpress. I can talk with a learning curve. Depending on the controls you intend to use, and how you intend to use them, the learning curve can be very small.

Data controls (xtragrid, xtrascheduler, xtracharts, etc.) are extremely easy to use when linking to a database. Less if snapping to permanent objects. Their XPO, oddly enough, is not as simple / intuitive as it can or should be when data binding is also not incredibly difficult.

The main advantage for me was the documentation. Their documentation site, as well as their training videos, are top notch and really fit the point without using trivial, or too complex examples.

As Francis said, the response time for tickets and the (usual) clarity and details of the answers — they often include small projects that show what you should do or change your project that you send with a ticket — are unmatched by imo.

Answer 6

Moving from Infragistics to Devexpress is tough! I have been using Infragistics for the past 2 years as a Windows and web developer, and now I am using Devexpress elsewhere.

It’s a little difficult for the developer to use the Devexpress control because of its universal properties. If you take the grid example in DevExpress (in the case of Windows), then there are two parts:

• The main part of the display and
• Part of the view so you can control them while snapping

On the other hand, this was not the case at Infragistics, so it was simple and easy to use.

Similarly, there is a big difference between Infragistics and Devexpress.

Now what I feel is if you are interested in having complex functionality with lots of tedious logic, then Devexpress is good for you! Or, if you want everything to be simple with decent functionality, then Infragistics is good for you.

So, as you know, it is very difficult to say which one is really superior - we must choose them based on our own requirements.

Answer 7

Stick to Express developers. They have a much better upgrade path, and almost all the hacked changes are written. I have been using them since 2003 and still have not found a better match.

Answer 8

I switched from Infragistics to DevExpress. Will never return to Infragistics, as their facilities are much heavier and their productivity is not too great. The documentation is terrible and their examples are very juvenile. Built-in editing of the Infragistics data grid (for example, Excel) is a good feature not available in DevExpress. In addition, DevExpress has a much more streamlined data grid, master setup, detailed configuration, expanding the list of drop-down lists of data and another function.

Answer 9

I have been using Telerik RAD Controls since several years. I am very pleased with the ASP.NET Ajax and WinForms controls. I had not used DevExpress or Infragistics controls before, but I looked at them when I decided to use Telerik.

Answer 10

Maybe it's too late, but when I found this post asking the same question, I thought I'd add a comment on Telerik. I previously used Infragistics, which I found was OK, but I thought the performance was low. I recently worked on a contract with a company that used Telerik for Winforms, and we found that there were a lot of mistakes in their control. There was excellent support, and they quickly responded to questions or comments, but, unfortunately, most of the time, when we raised the question of why something did not work, the answer was that it was a mistake in their control. their documentation also clearly states that their controls are not intended to be inherited, so although you create your own user controls from the top of your controls, they seem to work in most cases, this is not recommended.