REDLANDS, Calif., Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Esri won twice in the Mapping and GIS Components category of Visual Studio Magazine's (VSM's) 2012 Readers Choice Awards. ArcGIS API for Silverlight received second place, and ArcGIS for Desktop received third place.

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"We're honored to see our mapping tools acknowledged for the third straight year by VSM readers," says Jack Dangermond, Esri president. "It's gratifying to see the developer community take advantage of our powerful, easy-to-use solutions for incorporating geographic information into applications."

Esri created ArcGIS API for Silverlight for developers who want to create web-based mapping applications quickly and easily with minimal coding. Many governments and businesses use the API because it provides an intuitive framework for creating geographic information system (GIS) web applications, such as data portals and interactive map viewers, and combines multiple technologies into a single development platform. Esri received the same recognition for the API in the 2011 VSM Readers Choice Awards.

This is the second year Esri has received recognition for ArcGIS for Desktop in the Mapping and GIS Components category. ArcGIS for Desktop is a complete system for producing, analyzing, and sharing maps and geographic information.

The VSM Readers Choice Awards are based on the responses of hundreds of select VSM subscribers. The online ballot, which was compiled by the editors of VSM, included more than 400 products.

The winners are highlighted in the November 2012 issue of Visual Studio Magazine. Visit Visual Studio Magazine to see the full list of award recipients.

About Esri
Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.

Esri, the Esri globe logo, GIS by Esri, ArcGIS, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

SOURCE Esri