I'm in Seattle, WA this week attending a Microsoft internal training event. While traveling to the US I've been working hard on the agenda of our upcoming Belgian . This annual primary developer event on Microsoft technologies takes place in the ICC in Ghent, .

 

For the first time we're organizing a pre-conference on March 27th. The pre-conference will discuss the Microsoft Web Platform and its related technologies.

Web, Microsoft, and You: Introducing ASP.NET AJAX and WPF/E:

ASP.NET AJAX is a free framework that simplifies the development of AJAX-enabled Web pages and Web applications. It is both a set of server-side extensions to Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 and a client-side library written entirely in JavaScript that is agnostic to browser types and server platforms. WPF/E enables developers to build even richer browser-based applications by escaping the bonds of HTML and JavaScript.
Together, these two frameworks represent the cutting edge of Web development and comprise the future of Web programming on Microsoft platforms. In one action-packed day, you'll learn about ASP.NET AJAX and WPF/E and come away with an understanding of where to target your development efforts for years to come. The future of Web development is today!

  1. Session 1: The Microsoft Web Story: ASP.NET 2.0, ASP.NET AJAX, and WPF/E
    If you build Web apps for Microsoft platforms, times are changing--and fast. First there's ASP.NET 2.0, which is arguably the richest server platform available for building scalable, high-performance Web apps.
    Then there's ASP.NET AJAX, which extends ASP.NET 2.0 with a rich AJAX framework. Finally, there's WPF/E, which extends browsers to support incredibly rich and interactive content. This session surveys these technologies, overviews their features and capabilities, and sets the stage for the drill-downs in subsequent sessions.
  2. Session 2: The ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions
    The ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions are the half of ASP.NET AJAX that run on the server. They include a suite of server-side controls that make AJAX programming as simple as dragging controls onto a form, and a set of ASMX extensions that enable Web services to serve as endpoints for asynchronous XML-HTTP requests from JavaScript clients. This session drills down into the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions and provides critical information not only about they're used, but how they work.
  3. Session 3: The Microsoft AJAX Library
    The heart of ASP.NET AJAX is the Microsoft AJAX Library, which is a JavaScript framework that runs on the client and is not only browser-agnostic, but server-agnostic as well. This session takes a deep dive into the client-side framework and demonstrates how developers can leverage it and extend it to build cutting-edge Web apps. Among other things, you'll learn how the Microsoft AJAX Library adds OOP to JavaScript and how to use this knowledge to implement features that aren't possible from the server side
  4. Session 4: Introducing WPF/E
    WPF/E, which is short for "Windows Presentation Foundation Everywhere", is a subset of WPF that combines XAML and JavaScript to create incredibly rich browser-based content, and it's the perfect medicine for boring, plain-vanilla Web pages. This session introduces developers to the wonderful world of WPF/E and provides a glimpse at the future of Web programming on Microsoft platforms.

This pre-conference consists of 4 breakout sessions will be delivered by . Jeff is not only an excellent speaker and teacher, he also delivered the at in Barcelona last year. The sessions that Jeff will deliver in Belgium will be different talks from those delivered at TechEd: Developers. Meanwhile the  bits have been RTM'ed and thus new material and best practices are available. In the 4th session Jeff will take a dive in the WPF/e set of technologies. Using these technologies anynone will be able to build rich interactive applications that integrate AJAX like functionality with media (video, audio, etc).

 

Register before February 28th and get 15% off!

If you plan to attend and already registered: !

More info on the pre-conference and the main conference can be found on . I'll be posting updates on the agenda of the main conference soon!