Chris Bowen's Blog

Learning XNA: A Guide for .NET Rocks Show 501 on XNA Game Development

2009-11-30T17:29:24Z

If you’re a listener of .NET Rocks! (“The Internet Audio Talk Show for .NET Developers”), you may have heard Show #501 on XNA that Michael Cummings and I recorded last week.

You can download the show here (59 minutes – MP3/WMA/AAC).

We mentioned a lot of things on the show, so here are core resources to help you create that game you’ve always wanted to try making.

So, What’s XNA?

XNA is the name for resources, software, and frameworks for creating games for the PC, Zune, and Xbox 360.

The XNA Framework makes game creation easier by abstracting gaming concepts to help you be more productive. What’s great is that you can put your existing .NET skills to work since the XNA Framework is based on the .NET Framework.

While games are of course about fun, developers may find making a little money can be fun, too. If you think your game has what it takes, look into Xbox LIVE Indie Games (now one year old), which can place approved XNA games on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for purchase.

Getting Started with XNA

First, head to the XNA Creators Club, which is a central place for working with XNA:

Downloads
Learning & Help
Resources
Community

XNA Game Studio is what you’ll use to create your masterpiece. Head to the Download page and get XNA Game Studio 3.1 (for free). It’s based on Visual Studio, so you’ll also need either the free Visual C# 2008 Express Edition, or Visual Studio 2008 installed.

Creating games for the PC and Zune is free, but if you’re interested in creating games on the Xbox 360, then you’ll need a Premium Creators Club membership. Read the Creators Club tour for more.

XNA Screencast

I recorded a screencast on getting started with XNA that features a bit of background, then dives into a demo of creating a (very) basic 2D game:

XNA Game Development Screencast

Learning XNA

If you’re new to game development, I recommend you try your hand at 2D game creation to learn the basics, then expand from there. There’s plenty to help you get started.

Tutorials

The Getting Started page features two tutorials to get you going:

2D Tutorial (start here or with a Starter Kit below)
3D Tutorial

These feature code, assets, documentation, and step-by-step videos to walk you through.

Starter Kits

One of the best ways to learn XNA is to look at how existing games work.

Take the time to download a couple of XNA Starter Kits, full games to help you learn. Play right away, then explore the code and assets – it’s all included and ready for you to modify to help you learn XNA.

Games include a 2D RPG, 3D racing game, a puzzle, and others.

Education Catalog

There’s a ton of help available on the Creators Club site, and it’s collected together in the Education Catalog. Content is organized by dev area and type:

Physics, 2D, 3D, AI, Gameplay, Graphics, Audio, Storage, and more
Samples, Tutorials, Articles, Utilities, etc.

Boston Area Game Community

If you’re in New England, here are some ways to connect with the area game development community:

Boston XNA Developers Group – Run by Michael Cummings, offers a monthly look at different game development topics. No experience necessary to join.
Cape Cod XNA Group – For those of you near the Cape, this group is run by Tom Kennedy, also offering a chance to learn XNA.
Boston Post Mortem – Meeting monthly in Waltham, MA, this is for professional game developers to meet, share, and network. It is also the Boston chapter of the IGDA.

Thanks!

Thanks to Carl Franklin and Richard Campbell for their incredible work on the .NET Rocks! series, passing an amazing milestone of 500 shows!

And I hope you enjoyed listening to the show as much as we enjoyed being guests!

If you have any questions, just let me know.

-Chris

A Cloudy December in Massachusetts

2009-11-24T18:04:07Z

Though I clearly won’t win any cleverness prizes with this post’s title, I do want to pass along details of some cloud computing related events coming to the greater Boston area in December.

Boston Azure User Group – 12/3

December 3rd (6:30-8:30 PM) will be the second meeting of the new Boston Azure User Group, dedicated to learning about and sharing experiences with cloud computing and the Windows Azure Platform.

The meeting, held at Microsoft NERD in Cambridge, will feature Mike Werner and Michael Stiefel, detailing announcements made at last week’s Microsoft PDC.

Boston Cloud Services Meetup – 12/9

The Boston Cloud Services Meetup is holding their next meetup on December 9 and will feature several speakers on different cloud computing topics.

The group meets in Waltham at 6:30 PM. See the Boston Cloud Services Meetup profile for details and to RSVP.

CloudCamp Boston 2 – 12/10

Returning after a the first CloudCamp Boston earlier this year, CloudCamp Boston 2 is a free “unconference” focusing on cloud computing.

It will be hosted at Microsoft NERD on December 10 from 2-7 PM, with a joint event lunch from 12:30 to 2 with Cloud^3 (see below).

Xconomy Forum: Cloud^3 – 12/10

CloudCamp Boston 2 is being held in partnership with Xconomy, which is hosting a forum event called Cloud^3, held the morning of CloudCamp starting at 8:30 AM, also at Microsoft NERD.

Cloud^3 will feature three keynotes, six short “Cloudburst” sessions and more. Separate registration is required, and see the CloudCamp site for details of the partnership.

-Chris

Friends, Books, and Roadshows

2009-11-23T08:16:21Z

With three cities done, Jim and I have four more stops remaining on our “Don’t Fear the Coder” Northeast MSDN Roadshow:

December 3 - Farmington, CT

December 8 - Waltham, MA

December 9 - Providence, RI

December 15 - Augusta, ME

In an attempt to maximize the amount of stuff we need to carry from place to place, we’re testing out a new idea, “Bring a friend, get a book”.

For any of these remaining events, if you bring along a friend to the Roadshow, we’ll give you both a copy of Introducing Microsoft Silverlight 3.

How? When registering online (with the above links), you’ll be asked for a Referral Code…

Just enter the name of your attending friend (or they can list you if you’ve already registered), and you’ll each get copies of the book when you both sign in at the event.

Can it be that easy? Pretty much, but here are The Official Rules:

Government employees are not eligible for promotion
Both parties must be present to win
If onsite supply runs out, books will be mailed to recipients

See you on the road!

-Chris

Elite Web Optimization Event – Cambridge 12/9

2009-11-18T23:18:16Z

A good opportunity to learn about the Microsoft Web Platform, interoperability, the WebsiteSpark program and more is coming to NERD in Cambridge, presented NaviSite and Microsoft.

Elite Web Optimization Event
December 9th 2009 10:00AM-6:00PM
New England Research and Development Center (NERD)
1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142

Free registration at http://microsoftandnavisite.eventbrite.com

Come spend a day with us to explore the Microsoft Windows Web Platform and the many managed hosting services provided by NaviSite, Inc., based in Andover, MA!

During this event, we’ll review what’s new in the Microsoft Web Platform and tools, the interoperability improvements in the Microsoft Web platform and the value that NaviSite Managed Hosting can add to your project/business.

We will discuss:

MS Web Platform – IIS management Console, Hyper – V and the Dynamic Data Center, SQL Server 2008 Web Edition, IISMedia Services3.0

WebsiteSpark Program

MS Interoperability – PHP on Windows, Web-PI, PHP Drivers in MS SQL Server 2008

NaviSite services and value add

The Great PHP on Windows Contest

MS Web Tools – Visual Studio, Expression, Silverlight

Microsoft Partner Evangelism Initiative

All attendees will be entered into a drawing to win one of the following:

Copy of Win7

Xbox360 Elite

ZuneHD

8GB Zune

FREE NaviSite Windows Dedicated Server for 2 Months

-Chris

ASP.NET MVC Resource Guide

2009-10-31T16:28:05Z

This post is inspired by the presentation that Patrick Hynds and I gave on ASP.NET MVC at StackOverflow’s DevDays conference in Boston. Whether you attended DevDays or happen on this from the web, I hope this is useful for you to learn more about ASP.NET MVC. (Let me know if you have additions or questions.)

Getting Started

ASP.NET MVC is an implementation of the Model-View-Controller pattern on ASP.NET and is freely available via:

Direct download (binary or source)
Web Platform Installer - makes installations simple

ASP.NET MVC 2 Preview 2 is also available, providing a look at the next version. Note that ASP.NET MVC 2 will also ship with Visual Studio 2010 (itself available as Beta 2).

Learning ASP.NET MVC

So, why is this useful? There’s a 3 minute overview "Why ASP.NET MVC?" for decision makers, and a 10 minute technical “ASP.NET MVC How?” video for developers.

To start learning ASP.NET MVC, go to www.asp.net/mvc/learn. There’s tutorials, videos, sample applications, etc. to get you underway.

Then, grab a cup of coffee and sit down to study the Nerd Dinner sample application. It has plenty of intermediate concepts like testing, repository, validation, and more.

I highly recommend you work through creating Nerd Dinner with the 196-page walkthrough by Scott Guthrie

Here are some other places you can turn for more:

MVC Cheat Sheets – Great compilation by Elijah Manor
ASP.NET MVC Forum
StackOverflow ASP.NET MVC Tag (which as you may know is itself based on ASP.NET MVC)

Going Deeper

These are intermediate topics we touched on in the Boston session, and pointers for learning more.

Routing

Learning the M-V-C of ASP.NET MVC is only part of the story. Routing is what takes an inbound web request and maps it to a controller action (and arguments). There are routing tutorials on the ASP.NET site and on MSDN.

You can also define custom routes, route constraints (a route that is satisfied only when constraints are met), and custom route constraints.

T4 Templates

Code generation in Visual Studio is customizable via T4 templates, and ASP.NET MVC uses these as well. Need a different view or controller created in your projects? Change them or add new ones. They can change for all projects, or you can add/override them in specific projects.

Learn more at T4 Templates: A Quick-Start Guide for ASP.NET MVC Developers.

MVC Contrib

One of the key features of ASP.NET MVC is flexibility in implementation. Head to MVC Contrib to find additional options for extending and modifying how ASP.NET MVC functions, including:

Filters
View engines
Controller factories
Model binders
Routing
Controllers
and more

Key Bloggers Covering ASP.NET MVC

Attendee Questions

We had good questions during and after the DevDays session and I wanted to share details for some of the key ones:

Model Binding

There were a few questions about taking data from a submitted page and getting it to arguments in an action method. This is well supported via model binders, which let you map posted form data to classes passed as arguments to action methods.

Learn more about model binding at:

“6 Tips for ASP.NET MVC Model Binding” – K. Scott Allen
Models and Model Binders in MVC Applications
“Splitting DateTime – Unit Testing ASP.NET MVC Custom Model Binders” – Scott Hanselman
Video - “Using ASP.NET MVC Model Binder”

ViewModel Pattern

Using the ViewData dictionary is one way to get data to a view, but you can also create classes to contain that data. Called the ViewModel pattern, these classes help to structure and identify the data needed.

You can learn about ViewModel here:

ASP.NET WebForms vs. ASP.NET MVC?

If you’re wondering whether/when to use ASP.NET WebForms or ASP.NET MVC, Rachel Appel has a good blog post and a session recording from Mix ‘09 on the topic.

It’s important to keep in mind that you can mix ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET WebForms in an application, so this isn’t necessarily an either-or proposition.

Let me know if you’ve found something else particularly helpful in learning about ASP.NET MVC. I’ll be happy to add it.

-Chris

Five MSDN Roadshows Touring the East Coast

2009-10-30T21:07:58Z

Back in February of 2007, we kicked off the Northeast MSDN Roadshow with a tour of five cities to wax poetic about the then sparking-new .NET Framework 3.0. We drove many miles, threw things at audience members, showed a lot of code, and had a blast.

Fast forward 2 years 8 months and we’re nearing the start of our eleventh Roadshow series, the “Dont’ Fear the Coder” Tour, but what’s equally cool is that there are five MSDN Roadshows reaching audiences up and down the east coast (each with a spiffy new logo as well.)

Here’s the full list (painstakingly CTRL+C and CTRL+V’ed from my New Jersey based teammate Peter Laudati's blog. Thanks, Peter!)

Register for any of these at http://www.msdnevents.com

	MSDN “Northeast” Roadshow with Chris Bowen & Jim O’Neil Cities & Dates: 11/10/2009 – Burlington, VT 11/12/2009 – Albany (Troy), NY 11/13/2009 – Rochester, NY 12/3/2009 – Farmington, CT 12/8/2009 – Waltham, MA 12/9/2009 – Providence, RI 12/15/2009 – Augusta, ME
	MSDN “Metro” Roadshow with Peter Laudati & Asli Bilgin Cities & Dates: 11/12/2009 – Parsippany, NJ 12/10/2009 – East Windsor, NJ 12/15/2009 – New York, NY
	MSDN “Mid-Atlantic” Roadshow with G. Andrew Duthie, Dani Diaz, and Dave Isbitski Cities & Dates: 11/12/2009 – Pittsburgh, PA 12/1/2009 – Harrisburg, PA 12/3/2009 – Reston, VA 12/8/2009 – Roanoke, VA 12/10/2009 – Malvern, PA
	MSDN “Southern Fried” Roadshow with Brian Hitney & Glen Gordon Cities & Dates: 11/4/2009 – Greensboro, NC 11/5/2009 – Raleigh, NC 11/6/2009 – Columbia, SC 12/8/2009 – Atlanta, GA 12/9/2009 – Montgomery, AL
	MSDN “Tiki Hut” Roadshow with Joe Healy & Russ Fustino Cities & Dates: 11/30/2009 – Tampa, FL 12/2/2009 – Fort Lauderdale, FL 12/14/2009 – Orlando, FL

I hope you enjoy the next Roadshow, wherever you may be*! (*As long as it’s somewhere along the east coast.)

-Chris

Professional Developers Conference (PDC) Update

2009-10-29T20:05:11Z

The Professional Developers Conference (PDC) is November 17-19 in Los Angeles, and will be one of the best ways to get your fill of the latest developer tech:

I went last year (and just confirmed I can make it again this year) and it’s several intense days of conversations and content. You can get an idea of what’s in store by reviewing the session recordings from PDC 2008, available for free.

Birds of a Feather Sessions

The Birds of a Feather (BOF) sessions are a great way to connect with other attendees and build from each others’ experiences. ("What is a Birds-of-a-Feather Session?") A number of BOF sessions will be selected and scheduled throughout PDC.

Though some sessions have been scheduled, it’s not too late to propose a session idea of your own! Submissions are open through tomorrow (Friday 10/30) at 5PM PDT.

You can also follow BOF on Twitter.

Free Pre-Conference Windows 7 Bootcamp

The day before PDC (11/16) is an opportunity to attend a number of excellent paid pre-conference workshops on a variety of topics.

You can also sign up for a free Windows 7 Developer Boot Camp that’s open to everyone (not just people attending PDC.)

Other Goings On

Hands-on Labs, Ask the Experts, The Big Room
PDC Tweet Up
Women in Technology Networking Luncheon
Meet the WCF, WF, and “Dublin” Teams
Windows 7 Application Compatibility Testing and Logo Program
Screening of the Visual Studio Documentary

$300 Discount Ends Friday, 10/30

There’s a tiny window remaining to register for PDC with a $300 discount. Make sure you register by the end of Friday, 10/30.

-Chris

Code Camps in Albany, NY and Stamford, CT Coming Soon

2009-10-28T06:28:13Z

Next Saturday (November 7th) will bring two more Code Camps to the northeast, one in Albany, NY and the other in Stamford, CT.

Code Camps are free, community events for connecting with and learning from fellow developers. If you can make it to one of these, it will be a day well spent!

Tech Valley Code Camp 2009

Back after last year’s first event, Tech Valley Code Camp 2009 will be hosted at SUNY Albany and is organized by the Tech Valley .NET Users Group.

    Tech Valley Code Camp 2009
    November 7, 9 AM – 3 PM
    SUNY, Albany, NY
    http://www.techvalleycodecamp.com

Register today to attend and while you’re at it, why not throw caution to the wind and volunteer to share your interests in a session as well?

Fairfield/Westchester Code Camp 2009

For those of you in the southern CT area, Fairfield/Westchester Code camp returns for a 2009 edition, organized by the Fairfield/Westchester .NET User Group.

    Fairfield/Westchester Code Camp 2009
    November 7, 8 AM – 6 PM
    UConn, Stamford, CT
    http://fairfieldwestchester.net/Code-Camp.aspx

Hats off to the community for putting these events together!

-Chris

New Cape Cod XNA Group – First Meeting Friday 10/23

2009-10-20T11:56:50Z

The new Cape Cod XNA user group will offer a chance to learn and share knowledge about creating games with XNA (which builds on .NET to make games for the PC, XBox 360, and Zune.)

The group’s first meeting is this Friday, October 23rd, at Venture in Hyannis:

      Cape Cod XNA
      October 23, 6:30 PM
      Venture
      Suite 14, 540 Main St, Hyannis, MA [map]

If you’ve always wanted to try your hand at making a game, then drop by and put those .NET programming skills to work (er, play)!

-Chris

Northeast MSDN Roadshow - “Don’t Fear the Coder” Tour

2009-10-13T22:17:05Z

As in 2007 and 2008, we like to run a pre-winter Roadshow series before the really deep snow blankets the roads. I’m glad to say everything’s lined up for us to to get the word out for the next series!

These are free events, running 9:30 to 3:30, featuring five sessions for developers and architects. Topics include Expression/Silverlight MVVM, ASP.NET Webforms/AJAX, LINQ, finding developer help, and WCF. The full agenda (in all of its themed glory) is below.

We’ll be piling into whatever vehicle we can find (that has plenty of cup holders for coffee) to visit seven cities in November and December:

November 10 - Burlington, VT [Register] New Venue
November 12 - Troy, NY [Register]
November 13 - Rochester, NY [Register]
December 3 - Farmington, CT [Register]
December 8 - Waltham, MA [Register]
December 9 - Providence, RI [Register] New City!
December 15 - Augusta, ME [Register]

P.S. There’s now a directions/parking/updates page to help with any venue updates before each event.

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And now the full agenda (prior Roadshow attendees know we just love a theme). Read on if you dare, but you’ve been warned…

MSDN Events Presents

The MSDN Northeast Roadshow:
"Don't Fear the Coder" Tour

It was a dark and stormy night. Your heart races as you wonder how you'll survive the looming deadline. Technology questions abound. A cat jumps at you for no reason. The stack of unread developer magazines casts a threatening shadow. What to use? When? How?

Worried? Don't be. Road and code warriors Jim O’Neil and Chris Bowen will clear up the fog surrounding key developer technologies. From current practices and tools, to glimpses of the near future, you'll escape with new insights and many stories to tell.

The Northeast MSDN Roadshow is a free series of deep technology sessions for developers and architects. Join Chris and Jim for these relaxed events to gain practical insights (and of course they’ll use their wits to transform “horrors” into “har hars”).

Registration is required, and seating is limited, so register today and join the Roadshow!

The Agenda: Clever Hacking, Slashed Efforts, and Killer Applications

Something WCF This Way Comes

The mysterious figure of Windows Communication Foundation approaches from the swirling mist, but are its intentions good? Rumors abound that it can be complex and not for the faint of heart. We'll take a renewed look at WCF, discovering a practical tale of services, connectivity, integration, and more. Our focus will be on WCF’s current nature, but we'll briefly preview what’s in store for us with .NET 4.0. WCF turns out to be a great ally, so you’ll be glad you stood your ground.

RIA Window – Expression, Silverlight, and MVVM

You’ll code your next Silverlight application with grace after you catch this session, which presents the primary motives for using the MVVM pattern. Focusing on the use of Expression Blend, we’ll cast a designer’s lens on Silverlight development enabling you to plot a hitch-free course for your future projects.

"Help!" – Grasping at Lifelines

In the fight to slay invading bugs and put fearsome requirements to rest, sometimes you need a helping hand. In this brief lunchtime session, we'll review options for finding assistance – ways to report and view issues you find, help systems, websites, team options, communities, and more. Breathe easy, there’s no need to wander alone in the dark.

LINQ De-crypted

Although it’s part of the foundation of the .NET 3.5 release, many developers have yet to uncover the amazing power buried in LINQ (Language Integrated Query). This session will bring to light important concepts found lurking in the shadows of the technology: the IEnumerable and IQueryable interfaces, extension methods, lambda expressions, and more. With LINQ’s defining components unearthed, you’ll vault to new heights in your development efforts.

Tales from the Webside - ASP.NET WebForms, AJAX, and More

Your journey through web development may at times seem like a montage of foreboding images. There are many paths to consider, but in this session we return to the main roads of essential ASP.NET development. From WebForms and server options, to scripting, AJAX, and other tools, we’ll catch up with the latest developments and take a quick glimpse down the road at what awaits us ahead. Until next time, enjoy trying your new web development options.

Code Camp 12 – The Schedule!

2009-10-12T13:56:26Z

We’re on the home stretch for this Saturday’s New England Code Camp 12: “The Developer Dozen” (what is Code Camp?), a free day filled with with technology sessions given by the area developer community.

       New England Code Camp 12
       Saturday, October 17th
       8:30 AM to 6:40 PM
       Microsoft, 201 Jones Road (6th Floor), Waltham, MA

Registration is still open!

http://TheDevCommunity.org

Sessions and Schedule

CC12 will feature 45 sessions by 29 speakers in 7 rooms, all for free!

The session grid (as always, subject to change) is below, and session descriptions are online.

We’ll have printouts of the grid and descriptions waiting for you at registration.

The Schedule (click to expand):

Saturday Evening Geek Gathering

A Code Camp tradition for years, we're informally gathering over at the Waltham Westin's lobby bar for a chance to unwind on Saturday night.

Drop by after sessions are over to relax, chat, and network with fellow New England devs!

Thanks to Our Contributors!

Last but certainly not least, thanks to the contributing companies who have made this event possible:

Lunch courtesy Magenic

O’Reilly

Pearson/Addison-Wesley

Pluralsight

Red-Gate

Wiley/WROX

See you at Camp!

-Chris

New England Code Camp 12 Update

2009-10-02T16:33:06Z

Things are rolling along well toward Saturday, October 17th, when New England Code Camp will descend for a twelfth time upon Waltham, MA! An update on sessions, the Call for Speakers, and contributing companies:

Camp is now up to 39 sessions by 25 different speakers, with more coming, all packed into one free day!

The schedule is coming next week, but here’s the current list of sessions.

All are welcome, and it’s free, so register soon at:

       http://TheDevCommunity.org

       New England Code Camp 12
       Saturday, October 17th
       Times TBD, but likely 8:30 AM to ~6:30 PM
       Microsoft, 201 Jones Road (6th Floor), Waltham, MA

Join hundreds of fellow developers for this semiannual favorite!

Call for Speakers Closing 10/7

We will assemble the final schedule soon, so if you’d like to deliver a session, please submit it by Wednesday, October 7th.

To join in the fun as a speaker, just follow these steps:

Sign in to an existing account or create a new one at TheDevCommunity.org site.
Complete a Speaker Registry profile (if you don't already have one.)
Go to the Code Camps home page.
Next to the CC12 entry, you should see a "Submit a Session" link.
Submit as many sessions as you'd like.
Please ensure that you also register as an attendee

Contributor Update

Sincere thanks to the contributors who have stepped up to make this Code Camp possible via financial support and/or supplying swag & giveaways:

Please join me in thanking these companies for their community support!

See you at Camp!

-Chris

P.S. As always, thanks to Bryan Phillips of Grey Wolf Design for the Code Camp logo!

A Guide to the Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools

2009-09-30T22:47:00Z

This is a follow up post for a talk I recently gave at the The Ajax Experience conference in Boston about using the developer tools included with Internet Explorer 8.

Want to see the tools in action? I have a screencast on Internet Explorer 8 from a dev perspective on Channel 9. I also cover new features and compatibility, but skip to 24:30 for just the developer tools:

Getting Started with the Developer Tools

Simple enough! In IE8, hit F12 or choose Tools-> Developer Tools to start.

You can either run the tools in browser or press the double window icon at top right to detach for a second monitor or to use side by side with the browser.

The tools offer a full menu and four tabbed sections of features: HTML, CSS, Script, and Profiler.

Working with HTML and CSS

The first tab (HTML) gives access to inspecting the structure of the page, selecting and searching elements and HTML, modifying values, saving locally-made changes, and more. Tip: click the button that looks like a mouse pointer to quickly select a page element (or press CTRL+B).

The right-hand pane shows a per-element CSS summary (Style) and hierarchy/trace (Trace Styles), offers a visual layout tool, and a way to set custom attributes. Tip: Trace Styles is particularly effective way to diagnose style inheritance issues (e.g. “why is that text red!?”).

The second tab (CSS), displays current CSS classes and styles, allowing you to view specific CSS files in use by the page, make changes, and search.

For details, see Debugging HTML and CSS with the Developer Tools on MSDN.

Debugging Script

The Script tab lets you work with script, setting breakpoints, debugging through code and breaking on errors.

To debug, just set any breakpoints you need (you can choose other files using the drop-down list) then press “Start Debugging”. You can also enable Break on Error mode (CTRL + Shift + E). Once at a breakpoint, step into/through with the buttons or F10, F11, and Shift+F11.

There’s a console in the right-hand pane which supports Console.Log/Warn/Info/Error output from your script. The console also supports direct script execution. Tip: this is a great place to learn/test commands from various Ajax and Javascript libraries.

The pane also lets you view breakpoints, local and watch variables, and the call stack.

See Debugging Script with the Developer Tools for more.

Profiling Script

One of the most useful features is the ability to analyze code to measure it’s performance. Just select the fourth tab (Profiler) and click “Start Profiling”. Use the part(s) of the application you’d like to analyze, then click “Stop Profiling”.

You’ll see a summary report showing functions, how many times they were called (Count), timing. Inclusive time is the function plus any called functions, and exclusive time is that function only. Tip: there are other columns as well (% time, min/max time, etc.), but by default they’re collapsed, so click between column headers to expand them.

Use the Current View drop-down to switch between a list of functions or a call tree view.

You can also click the “Export Data” button to save the profiling report externally (e.g. to load into Excel).

See Profiling Script with the Developer Tools for more.

Menu Options

On the right side of the menu, you’ll see options to change the Browser Mode and Document Mode. This lets you modify the browser behavior and page settings to test under different rendering and display conditions. See this MSDN article for more.

Don’t forget to look through the many options in the various menus. For example:

Image and Link reports
Element outlining (tables, divs, etc.)
Cache management
Pop-up blocker, script, and CSS disabling
Tools to resize the browser, measure items, and select colors
Options to send a page for validation
Clear/view cookies

Questions

Some details for questions asked during and after the session:

The Search bar supports the W3C Selectors API, but you need to type an “@” symbol before your expression, otherwise it’s treated as a literal text search.
The script profiler works on a usage basis, profiling all code executed between using the “start profiling” and “stop profiling” commands. I have not seen a way to affect which scripts code is profiled during that time (like you can with using the Profiler APIs to affect Team System’s instrumentation profiling).

Internet Explorer Resources

Finally, a summary of resources to get you underway:

IE 8 Home
IE 8 Developer Center
My screencast on IE8 for developers
IE 8 Dev Tools Tutorial sample site
IE 8 Dev Tools Articles
For keyboard fans, the Keyboard Shortcuts guide

I hope you enjoy using the developer tools!

-Chris

Free Antivirus Protection with Microsoft Security Essentials

2009-09-30T08:15:29Z

A short and simple post…

Need antivirus and antimalware protection? Want it for free? Then download Microsoft Security Essentials now:

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

-Chris

WebsiteSpark – A Jumpstart for Web Development and Design Companies

2009-09-29T00:42:09Z

Having just posted about a Boston-area opportunity for BizSpark companies, I realized I hadn’t yet mentioned the new WebsiteSpark program, so…

WebsiteSpark

Similar to BizSpark, WebsiteSpark is a new program for web development/design companies and offers (from the FAQ):

The program helps Web Pros drive new business opportunities through increased visibility and connections with partners (including Web Hosters) and customers around the world; WebsiteSpark also provides Web Pros with Microsoft tools and hosting solutions, as well as support and training.

What Do You Receive?

From the WebsiteSpark support page:

Design Tools/Development Tools/Testing Tools. Each Web Pro firm will be entitled to :
- Visual Studio® 2008 Professional Edition 3 user licenses
- Expression® Studio 2 (or 3) 1 user license, available only to the Primary Contact for the Web Pro
- Expression® Web 2 (or 3) 2 user licenses
- Windows Web Server® 2008 (or Windows Web Server 2008 R2 when available) 3 user licenses
- SQL Server® 2008 Web 3 user licenses
Production and Deployment. If self-hosting, each Web Pro firm will be entitled to four processor production licenses each (requires enrollment in SPLA Essentials):
- Windows Web Server® 2008 (or Windows Web Server 2008 R2, when available)
- SQL Server® 2008 Web

What Does This Cost?

From the FAQ:

“There is no upfront cost for Web Pros to join WebsiteSpark or receive its benefits; a Program Offering Fee (USD 100) is required when the Web Pro exits the program.”

How Do I Learn More and Join?

Full details, including how to qualify and join, are on the WebsiteSpark site and program guide.

If you’re a web development and/or design firm, it’s definitely worth a look.

-Chris

Chris Bowen's Blog

Learning XNA: A Guide for .NET Rocks Show 501 on XNA Game Development

So, What’s XNA?

Getting Started with XNA

XNA Screencast

Learning XNA

Tutorials

Starter Kits

Education Catalog

Links

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Kodu Game Lab

Microsoft Gamefest

Boston Area Game Community

Thanks!

A Cloudy December in Massachusetts

Boston Azure User Group – 12/3

Boston Cloud Services Meetup – 12/9

CloudCamp Boston 2 – 12/10

Xconomy Forum: Cloud^3 – 12/10

Friends, Books, and Roadshows

Elite Web Optimization Event – Cambridge 12/9

ASP.NET MVC Resource Guide

Getting Started

Learning ASP.NET MVC

Going Deeper

Routing

T4 Templates

MVC Contrib

Key Bloggers Covering ASP.NET MVC

Attendee Questions

Model Binding

ViewModel Pattern

ASP.NET WebForms vs. ASP.NET MVC?

Five MSDN Roadshows Touring the East Coast

Professional Developers Conference (PDC) Update

Birds of a Feather Sessions

Free Pre-Conference Windows 7 Bootcamp

Other Goings On

$300 Discount Ends Friday, 10/30

Code Camps in Albany, NY and Stamford, CT Coming Soon

Tech Valley Code Camp 2009

Fairfield/Westchester Code Camp 2009

New Cape Cod XNA Group – First Meeting Friday 10/23

Northeast MSDN Roadshow - “Don’t Fear the Coder” Tour

Code Camp 12 – The Schedule!

Sessions and Schedule

Saturday Evening Geek Gathering

Thanks to Our Contributors!

New England Code Camp 12 Update

Call for Speakers Closing 10/7

Contributor Update

A Guide to the Internet Explorer 8 Developer Tools

Getting Started with the Developer Tools

Working with HTML and CSS

Debugging Script

Profiling Script

Menu Options

Questions

Internet Explorer Resources

Free Antivirus Protection with Microsoft Security Essentials

WebsiteSpark – A Jumpstart for Web Development and Design Companies

WebsiteSpark

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