One of the most lauded features of HTML and JavaScript is how easy it makes it for hobbyists and novices to get started simply by looking at the source code for a feature they want to copy.
With Silverlight, viewing the source isn't as easy. Unlike JavaScript, Silverlight can send compiled assemblies to the client instead of the raw source code.
Fortunately, this isn't the end of the story. Using a technique called decompiling, Lutz Roeder's Reflector can turn these compiled assemblies back into code. While the resulting code isn't identical to the original source code, it is functionally the same. On the plus side, it doesn't have to be returned in the same language. This makes Reflector a pretty good language conversion tool.
In order to make viewing Silverlight assemblies easier, Ernie Booth has created a Reflector plug-in that downloads the correct assembles based on a URL.
