The facility in Reston, Virginia had some unexpected audio/video failures. Because of this, the developer dinner for next week has been cancelled. I am really sorry for this inconvenience. We will reschedule ASAP once the audio/video equipment is successfully repaired. Stay tuned…
Next Wednesday in Reston, Virginia. Details on my team’s blog: http://tinyurl.com/oupyf9.
If you haven’t been keeping up on the ADO.NET team blog, but you want to get up to speed with what’s coming in the next release of the Entity Framework (.NET 4.0), then now is the time to start monitoring their blog. Since 5/11, they’ve cranked out seven posts on new features. I like what they are doing. The post on 5/11 gives you a high level update. Then, they have followed it up with “Sneak Previews” of specific improvements. Definitely worth the time to read through these posts!
Comprehensive whitepaper for Web Development:
I just published a Channel 9 interview with Josh Wall and Josh Blake from InfoStrat about their Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Surface controls that make integrating Virtual Earth 3D a breeze. Check it out:
http://tinyurl.com/Ch9InfoStratVE
“Virtual Earth 3D has many applications, but until recently has only been practical on the web with a JavaScript interface. WPF applications could not use the full potential of Virtual Earth 3D without requiring a WPF wizard and some XAML magic due to Win32 interop limitations.
Information Strategies (InfoStrat) has the solution. They created a WPF / Surface control, InfoStrat.VE, and are sharing with the community on CodePlex. This control provides a WPF interface for the Virtual Earth 3D control, complete with data binding for camera control and WPF-based pushpins. All Win32 restrictions (air space control, no rotation or visual brush) are eliminated. Microsoft Surface is also supported.
Watch the interview to learn the history behind the control, see it in action, learn how to get started, and even contribute back to the community.”
UPDATE: Interested in learning about a pretty cool solution that uses InfoStrat.VE? Check out Sam Chenaur’s post:
John L Scott Real Estate Looks to WPF and Software + Services
This week marks my 5 year anniversary at Microsoft. Five years ago, I stopped being a “real developer” and became an evangelist. Ok, I started with a short stint as a SQL / BizTalk Technology Specialist (what other companies call “pre-sales engineer”), but I’ve pretty much been focused on developers the whole time. I used FxCop back in my days of “real development.” As an evangelist, I spend lots of time writing demo code and samples. Today, I had a rude awakening that I’ve gotten a little sloppy. I’ve used “it’s demo code” as an excuse so many times. In many ways, I think it is a fair excuse. However, I think I have leaned on that crutch a little too long.
We are going through and cleaning up the OGDI codebase preparing it for CodePlex. Part of our internal review is to use code analysis to help us identify refactoring opportunities. Yea, Yea, Yea. I know. We should have been using it all along.
As part of preparing for our code review, I wanted to find out what else is available in the way of analysis tools that are free. I also wanted to review the capabilities in Visual Studio 2008. Here’s what I came across:
Writing Quality Code (various subsections on code analysis)
Code Analysis tools on MSDN Code Gallery
StyleCop Blog (Source Code Style and Consistency Tool)
I also watched this PDC session:
Improving Code Quality with Code Analysis
I’d definitely recommend checking out these resources and using the tools. I hope to learn a lot from using these tools. I also plan on forcing myself to use them as I build out demos, samples, and work on projects in the future.
Interested in learning how to build Virtual Earth solutions and lowering the amount of custom code you need to write? Have a look at the upcoming webcast Jerry just blogged about:
Microsoft Virtual Earth May 2009 Webcast: Virtual Earth & MapDotNet for Economic Development
http://www.pluralsight.com/main/olt/Course.aspx?n=dotnet-csharp-tutorial
I tend to steer away from making recommendations on training companies and books unless I have actually been through the training or read the book myself. I have had the chance to review a number of the on-demand courses from pluralsight. I can say that this is top notch training content. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for training. If you are new to .NET / C#, then here’s a great chance to experience the quality of this training FREE. Check it out!
http://wildermuth.com/2009/05/10/Supporting_ScreenReaders_in_Silverlight
Nice quick post with a video…
I’ve been relatively quiet on the blog lately. I’ve made hints in a couple posts that I’ve been working on a fun little Windows Azure project that has been consuming my time. Well, I can finally talk about it a little more. Keith, a manager on my team, blogged about OGDI on my team’s blog:
Check out the blog post. I’ve had my hand in many parts of the OGDI codebase. I plan on writing a series of posts explaining different parts of the OGDI code. We are also planning a Developer Dinner in Reston, Va later this month that will focus on “how we built it.”
We will be making the entire source code for this solution available on CodePlex. We’re currently going through code cleanup, review, etc. The process for putting code up on CodePlex is a little more involved for Microsoft employees. Rest assured we are working hard to get it up there!
Gold Coast 