Tech Ed ANZ Web Track - feedback required

dburling — Thu, 17 May 2007 06:48:00 GMT

We are steadily filling sessions for Tech Ed ANZ, and I'm in charge of the web track, so here is what I have so far. Please note that this is not the entire list, just the speakers from the US. I have a few other sessions penciled in but my first priority is to get the right mix of US speakers.

Take a look through this list and tell me what you think. Do you see sessions we should dump/change? Are there any particular sessions you'd like to see in the web track? Any and all feedback welcome :-)

Also note that not all these sessions are locked.

Speaker: Mahesh Prakriya

Just Glue It! Ruby and the DLR in Silverlight

The web was built using dynamic languages. Their plain-text format made it easy to mash up scripts to create the next great app. Similarly, dynamic languages will find a home in Silverlight applications where plain-text formats are common. Silverlight can be easily deployed, which means that a wider range of dynamic languages will be used in building browser-hosted applications. In this demo-centric talk, you will see this happen before your eyes as we rapidly create an application by combining code and markup from existing samples in Ruby, Python, JavaScript, and Visual Basic. This unprecedented level of integration is possible since all of these languages are implemented on top of the new Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR).

Developing Data Driven Applications using the new dynamic data controls in ASP.Net

ASP.NET dynamic data controls are part of a powerful, rich new framework that lets you create data driven ASP.NET applications extremely easily. ASP.NET dynamic data controls do this by automatically discovering the schema at runtime, deriving behavior from the database and finally creating an ASP.NET page. Anything that can be inferred from the schema works with almost no user effort. If needed, the page can be further customized either by using static languages such as Microsoft Visual C# or Visual Basic .NET, or dynamic languages such as IronPython, Visual Basic, Jscript, etc. In this talk, we show you how to build rich, database driven Web applications from scratch, such as TaskList along with other demos.

Speaker:Eric Woersching

IIS7 for ASP.Net Developers

Learn how the many changes in IIS 7 make developing and deploying ASP.NET applications on IIS 7 even better than before. We’ll start by showing how IIS7’s new unified configuration system and administration tools can make deploying and configuring ASP.NET applications for IIS7 incredibly simple (think: xcopy deployment). Next we’ll drill into the HTTP pipeline integration for ASP.NET. We’ll demonstrate how enable ASP.NET core components and 3^rd party add-ons to process requests for static content. We’ll move onto rapid development of IIS7 modules using ASP.NET’s existing .NET APIs; IHTTPModule & IHTTPHandler. Finally, we’ll explain how to take advantage of ASP.NET integration into IIS7 diagnostics and tracing so you can leverage these capabilities when you instrument your own ASP.NET applications.

IIS 7 Extensibility (Part 1)

In IIS7 the server exposes a brand new, powerful extensibility model for building server features that can be used to extend its functionality, or replace any of the default features. With the Integrated Pipeline architecture, managed modules become virtually as powerful as native modules. In part I of this two part session, we will illustrate extending the server in an end to end scenario, building a managed module to extend the runtime and replace existing functionality. We will then extend IIS7 diagnostics to instrument our module with custom trace events.

IIS 7 Extensibility (Part 2)

In IIS7 the server exposes a brand new, powerful extensibility model for building server features that can be used to extend its functionality, or replace any of the default features. With the Integrated Pipeline architecture, managed modules become virtually as powerful as native modules. In part II of this two part session, we will be building in custom administration capabilities for managing the module we added in part I. We show extending the new configuration system with custom properties as well as building custom pages into the IIS Manager user interface to expose these custom properties to administrators.

Speaker: Michael Platt

Web 2.0 Programming

A common theme of the present rash of new web applications, commonly called Web 2.0, is the innovative use and integration of a number of technologies. This session will look at the use of a number of these technologies from a programming perspective by working through a sample Web 2.0 application which provides video and community support. Attendees will gain an understanding of how to program with RESTful Technologies (Ajax, JavaScript, JSON, RSS, STS, Open ID) to build Web 2.0 applications.

Speaker: Joe Stegman

Building Rich Web Experiences using Silverlight and Javascript for developers

Silverlight is Microsoft's solution for delivering rich, cross-platform interactive experiences for the Web and beyond. WPF/E will enable the creation of rich, visually stunning and interactive content and applications that run on multiple browsers and operating systems. In this session, learn more about the benefits of WPF/E from a developer perspective and get an introduction to building WPF/E applications using JavaScript and Microsoft developer and designer tools

Speaker: Nikhil Kothari

AJAX patterns with ASP.Net AJAX

This session takes a deeper look at the AJAX paradigm by discussing key development patterns. It demonstrates implementing them using a combination of out-of-the-box features and as well as features built by leveraging the extensibility of the platform. Patterns covered range from fundamentals such as networking, search optimization, navigation, and unobtrusive script attachment to user interface usability techniques such as visual notifications, and customization. The demonstrations are illustrated in the context of a simple scenario, but are designed to be applied directly to real-world applications.

Developing AJAX Controls with Silverlight

This session demonstrates how you can build a new generation of ASP.NET AJAX controls (server and client-side components) that leverage Silverlight to go beyond HTML to enable a new class of compelling user experiences and scenarios. These server controls represent a powerful paradigm that you can leverage to incrementally enrich your ASP.NET applications while preserving a familiar control-based programming model. Silverlight is a cross-platform technology that brings new user interface capabilities such as vector graphics, media, animations and XAML. This talk shows how Silverlight fits naturally into the AJAX development model.

Building Components and Services for the Programmable Web

Want to learn how to expose components and services like Windows Live Local and Virtual Earth, but not sure where to begin? This session introduces real-world design patterns and best practices for constructing reusable Web components and Web-based services for the programmable Web. Explore how "Atlas" makes it incredibly simple for developers to consume these components and services to build gadgets, mash-ups, and other rich user experiences on the Web. Learn how to deliver functionality for a new generation of Web applications designed around reusable UI, components, and Web-based services

More coming, along with more locking down of speakers, but for the moment that should give you something to think about :-)

Please send feedback either in comments below or via email. I look forward to your feedback!

Tech Ed - Women in Technology

dburling — Fri, 04 May 2007 07:44:00 GMT

While I'm up to my neck in Tech Ed at the moment, I thought I'd drop you a couple of little tidbits...

Firstly we are over 30% sold in terms of total tickets sold, but we've already sold 60% of our early bird tickets (remember how it works this year?) - and we haven't even started advertising yet (look for the first ads next week).

Secondly - the big news this week is about silverlight and the DLR, well, we have some very cool content for both Silverlight and dynamic languages already booked, so if you are interested in this, get your ticket while you can!

The other thing I wanted to mention is that I'm thinking of running a women in technology evening for those females who come to Tech Ed (there were over 160 last year) with a special guest speaker.

But, before I go ahead and make it happen i'm keen to see what the females out there think of this idea. Is it something that appeals? (there are females reading this blog - right?). If you like this idea, please contact me or leave a comment and let me know!

Guys, please... you can't come along so dont ask :-)

Mix, Silverlight and the DLR

dburling — Thu, 03 May 2007 05:41:00 GMT

I’m sure you’ve heard the headline items from Mix.

I thought I’d put up a couple of links for the things that I found interesting.

If you’ve got the time, I’d recommend watching the Mix keynote video (warning it’s 2.5 hours). In this you’ll get an overview of Silverlight, the cross platform CLR, ruby in the browser, and some very, very cool demos (favs include debugging a silverlight app running on a browser from a windows box, installing Silverlight, and that 20 second chess match!)

I’d also check out

Robert Scobles interview with Scott Guthrie,
Steve Gilmours take (who isn't a MS fan at all)
John Lam - one of the guys responsible for the dynamic language runtime (John did the orginal port of Ruby.Net) on what the DLR is and why it was made
Scott Guthrie on silverlight and the cross platform CLR
Michael Arrington from TechCrunch on why silverlight is important.
Scott Hanselmans "putting it all in context" post is worth a read too.
For local context JB and Alex have got some good coverage.

Personally, I'm looking forward to delving into Silverlight and silverlight streaming (4Gb for free!) in the near future, but I'm also liking in the new Live API's.

Darryl Burling @ Work : DLR

Tech Ed ANZ Web Track - feedback required

Tech Ed - Women in Technology

Mix, Silverlight and the DLR