I’ve been raving about our great Training Kits for a while now (including last week’s post on the updated LightSwitch Training Kit).
Last week we also released the March 2011 version of the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit and Training Course.
The Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Course includes videos and hands-on-labs designed to help you learn how to utilize the Visual Studio 2010 features and a variety of framework technologies including: C# 4.0, Visual Basic 10, F#, ASP.NET 4, Parallel computing, WCF, Windows Workflow, WPF, Silverlight and Windows Azure. The kit now contains 50 labs, 22 demos, 16 presentations and 12 videos.
New content in this release includes:
All content has been tested to work with Visual Studio 2010 SP1. The setup scripts for all hands-on labs and demo scripts have also been updated so that the content can easily be used on a machine running Windows 7 SP1.
You can download the March 2011 release of the Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4 Training Kit from here: http://bit.ly/auOAzR. We’re also continuing to publish the hands-on labs directly to MSDN to make it easier for developers to review and use the content without having to download an entire training kit package. You can browse to all of the HOLs here:- http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/VS2010TrainingCourse.
Finally, if you’re using the training kit or if you have feedback on the content, the team would love to hear from you. Please drop them an email at vskitfdbk@microsoft.com
I’ve been excited by LightSwitch since I first saw it more than 18 months ago and the recent release of the Beta 2 version and the updated Training Kit has just got me more excited.
The Training Kit includes the following content:
You can download the Beta 2 release of the LightSwitch Training Kit from here: http://bit.ly/coLyVC
Telerik, the developer tools vendor, are setting up shop in Australia and are running a series of seminars for developers and testers.
There are some sensational presenters scheduled including Stephen Forte, Joel Semeniuk, Malcolm Sheridan and Jordan Knight
Here's the note I received from them. Worth a look.
Telerik Australia event: Focus on Developer Productivity
Telerik, the market-leading provider of end-to-end solutions for application development, automated testing, agile project management, reporting, and content management across all major Microsoft development platforms, is coming to Australia.
We invite you for in-depth sessions with industry experts and Telerik Senior Leadership. This event is by invite only, please do not spread the registration link and password. All attendees will receive a copy of Telerik JustCode, valued at $199.
Please note these are 4 separate seminars; you need to register for all those you intend on attending.
The Agile Buffet Table: Implementing your own Agile Process with Microsoft ALM Tools
New to Agile? Having challenges implementing an agile process in your organization? Have you been using Scrum, but need to bend the rules to make it work in your organization? Can’t get the business to “buy-in”? Come and learn about implementing an agile process in your organization. You'll look at the “buffet table” of agile processes and procedures and learn how to properly decide “what to eat.” We’ll start by defining XP, Scrum, Kanban and some other popular methodologies and then learn how to mix and match each process for various scenarios, including the enterprise, ISVs, consulting, and remote teams. Then take a look at agile tools and how they will aid in implementing your development process. You’ll see how Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2010 provides process templates for Agile that facilitate better planning and metrics. Learn how Microsoft’s application lifecycle management (ALM) tools can support your development process. Lastly, we will talk about how to “sell” agile to your business partners and customers. The speakers have a very interactive style so participation is encouraged and there will be plenty of time for Q&A.
PRESENTERS:
Stephen Forte, Chief Strategy Officer of Telerik
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM (GMT+1000)
REGISTER NOW
(by invite only event, use password: Telerik&&ALM2)
Location:
Citigate Central Sydney
169-179 Thomas Street
Haymarket, NSW
Sydney, 2000
Joel Semeniuk, Founder of Imaginet Resources,
Microsoft Regional Director
All attendees will receive a copy of Telerik JustCode, valued at $199.
Agile Testing
As more product teams move to Agile methodologies, the need for automated testing becomes essential to generate the velocity needed to ship fully tested features in short iterations. In this session we will look at the differences between traditional testing and agile testing, explore some tools and strategies that can help make your automation more productive as well as how to get the automation effort started for both new and existing agile projects.
PRESENTER:
Christopher Eyhorn, Executive VP of Telerik’s automated testing tools division
Tuesday, March 15, 2011 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM (GMT+1000)
(by invite only event, use password: TestingTelerik)
20 Things to Consider When Selecting a CMS
Choosing a CMS can be a daunting task. There are plenty of Content Management Systems to choose from; ranging in price from free to extremely expensive. From this crowded landscape it can be difficult to find a CMS that effectively enables an organization to accomplish their goals. In this session, I will identify 20 things to consider when evaluating a CMS that will help you select the ideal CMS for your project.
Gabe Sumner, Developer Evangelist at Telerik
Martin Kirov, Executive Vice President of the Sitefinity CMS division of Telerik
(by invite only event, use password: TelerikAustralia)
Streamline Development with ASP.NET MVC Extensions
Tired of dealing with the bloated pages generated by your WebForms application? Wondering what the whole deal is with MVC? Already into MVC but want to get maximum performance and functionality out of your applications? In this presentation we will take a look at how ASP.NET MVC, together with the Telerik MVC Extensions, can have you developing applications with high performance and functionality, while output light-weight and easily readable HTML.
Malcolm Sheridan, Microsoft awarded MVP in ASP.NET
Speeding up Development Using 3rd Party Controls
Learn how to cut Silverlight development time significantly using your new Telerik RadControls. As a TechDays attendee, you will receive a complimentary license for Telerik’s RadControls for Silverlight. This TurboTalk will demonstrate how you can speed up application development while adding more functionality to your Silverlight applications with the Telerik tools. See how high-performance data controls like RadGridView and RadChart can take your applications to the next level. See how layout controls like RadDocking and RadTileView can add both richness and increased functionality, helping you maximize screen real estate. And see how RadRichTextBox is unlocking Silverlight’s power to enable editing of HTML, DOCX, and XAML content. Jumpstart your development with the RadControls for Silverlight and get the most out of your new tools by joining this developer-to-developer talk.
Jordan Knight, Solution Architect | Microsoft MVP - Silverlight
(by invite only event, use password: DevelopersRock)
I am the guest editor of the (Australian version of the) MSDN Flash for next week. I expound on a view I’ve held for a while - namely that two of the most important attributes of a good developer are boastfulness and laziness.
Boastful, in that a good developer wants to share learnings with as many other interested people as possible. Lazy, in that a good developer wants to avoid doing things repetitively or even redoing work someone else has done. It’s also the sort of lazy that would prefer to spend eight hours writing and perfecting a text import routine than doing two hours of data entry, even for a one-off job.
A great way to encourage and exercise these two essential skills is in the developer community. Of course, this means different things to different people, but generally there is somewhere for everyone.
All around the country, there are groups of like-minded individuals that meet to talk about a range of technical topics, from.NET to SQL to infrastructure to Silverlight and a bunch of places in between. The best way to find a local group is to go to http://www.technicalcommunity.com/ and search based on location and technology from the front page.
Many organisations have a thriving internal technical community with regular meetings and presentations, an active mailing list and great exchange of ideas. If you’re interested in establishing such a group within your organisation, please reply to this mail and we’ll chat about how I can help you.
Of course, there are lots of places online that developers (and other technical folk) hang out. The MSDN forums are a great place to search for answers and ask and answer questions. In Australia, we also have a presence on LinkedIn and Facebook.
A good example of the community helping the community is Michael Kordahi’s new link blog MakeAwesomeWeb. With contributions from some of our leading community members, this is a must-visit site for anyone doing next-generation web development.
It’s often hard to keep up with the news. Michael and I publish a weekly(ish) podcast called FranklySpeaking which spends about 30 minutes discussing current technology and often interviewing someone interesting from the local or international community.
While we’d like to think we’re wherever you’d like us to be, you may have some suggestions as to how or where we can help you develop your boastfulness and laziness. Let us know what we can do and we’ll try to make it happen.
Community stalwart, MVP and Regional Director Adam Cogan is running SharePoint 2010 developer training around the country at the end of this month (and the beginning of next). From their newsletter:
In this FREE 3 hour session, you will learn why Team Foundation Server 2010 (TFS) is the fully integrated solution to manage projects, giving developers, testers and management a single source of truth for all project needs. Using TFS to develop for SharePoint will make the development and maintenance process much more efficient and effective.
More information from their site here.
Another great training/education opportunity for folks in Sydney is being run by Readify on Thursday 17 March. Presented by community experts (and Readifarians) Tatham Oddie and Aaron Powell, Readify promise:
Based on the latest Web technologies from Microsoft, WebMatrix, coupled with patterns and practices from Readify’s extensive hands-on experience, you will start from an empty screen and build a complete web application over the course of a day*. What’s more, you’ll be able to take the techniques, tricks and tips you learn back to your workplace for immediate application. You won’t need to re-write your application, just implement what you learn, piece by piece. Each topic covered during the Dev Day will demonstrate techniques you can use individually or together as part of a single narrative. This intensive Dev Day will cover the following technologies, pillars of Microsoft’s WebMatrix: NuGet IIS Express Razor MVC3 Orchard CMS IE9/HTML5/CSS3 jQuery SQL CE4
Based on the latest Web technologies from Microsoft, WebMatrix, coupled with patterns and practices from Readify’s extensive hands-on experience, you will start from an empty screen and build a complete web application over the course of a day*.
What’s more, you’ll be able to take the techniques, tricks and tips you learn back to your workplace for immediate application. You won’t need to re-write your application, just implement what you learn, piece by piece. Each topic covered during the Dev Day will demonstrate techniques you can use individually or together as part of a single narrative.
This intensive Dev Day will cover the following technologies, pillars of Microsoft’s WebMatrix:
For more details and to register, go here.
Hi, my name’s Andrew and I’m an AlphaJax Addict. It’s been 15 minutes since I last played and that’s only because I’m waiting for my 15 opponents to get of their lazy backsides and have their turn.
On the upside, AlphaJax has led to this comment from my anti-smartphone wife:
Wow, this isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be!
I just spotted Nigel Parker’s update to his “Road to 100 Apps” post announcing that AlphaJax had won the 2011 ONYAS award.
If you have a Windows Phone 7 and you haven’t played AlphaJax, do yourself a favour and download it now.
I’ve been on the NSW.NET committee for a little while now and have been to (and presented at) a few of the breakfast sessions. They’re generally a great mix of useful technical and business information and this month’s is no exception.
Business opportunities in the cloud; journeys of Microsoft and its partners Our April event features both Tim Molloy, Online Strategist at MYOB and Gianpaolo Carraro, Director of Developer & Platform Evangelism at Microsoft Australia. Tim will discuss the challenges overcome in transitioning a large customer base to the cloud using Azure, whilst GP will describe journeys which several Microsoft customers and partners have taken towards cloud computing, the problems they faced and the solutions they adopted. Booking Information Venue The Grace Hotel Level 2, 77 York Street Sydney, NSW, Australia Date 5 Apr 201 Time 7:30 AM - 9:00 AM Member $35.00 Non Member $55.00
Our April event features both Tim Molloy, Online Strategist at MYOB and Gianpaolo Carraro, Director of Developer & Platform Evangelism at Microsoft Australia. Tim will discuss the challenges overcome in transitioning a large customer base to the cloud using Azure, whilst GP will describe journeys which several Microsoft customers and partners have taken towards cloud computing, the problems they faced and the solutions they adopted.
Book here.