The structure of your application determines the files and resources that you will deploy to your server. These components vary depending on your application's complexity and resource usage patterns. For example, your application might be entirely self-contained within a single application package file. Alternately, it might use a variety of separate resources, such as data or media files, deep-zoom image collections, or Web services.

For more information, see Application Structure and Resource Files.

Application hosting requires configuration settings on the host Web server and within the host Web page. The only server requirement is to associate the .xap file name extension with the MIME type "application/x-silverlight-app". (For IIS 7.0, this value is pre-configured.) To host a Silverlight-based application within a Web page, you embed the Silverlight plug-in and specify configuration settings that depend on your preferred embedding technique.

For more information, see Integrating Silverlight with a Web Page.

When you create a localized application, you also create one or more satellite assemblies that contain resources localized for specific cultures and locales. You can deploy all satellite assemblies within a single application package, or create application packages that target one or more cultures and provide logic on the server that downloads the appropriate package to each user.

For more information, see Localizing Silverlight-based Applications.

Globalization is closely related to localization. It involves designing and developing applications that support localized user interfaces and regional data for users in multiple cultures. A globally aware application, for example, presents data using the symbols (such as currency or decimal symbols) and formats familiar to a user in a particular culture.

For more information, see Creating Globally Aware Applications.