Darryl Burling @ Work : Silverlight

MSDN Flash - Silverlight, Rugby and Visual Studio 2008

dburling — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 04:52:00 GMT

I know - the last one only just came out yesterday. I'll blame the spam legislation :-) Here is this weeks - should be in your mail box Friday or early next week.

Silverlight, Rugby and Visual Studio 2008

Silverlight 1.0 is out! The final release of Silverlight was announced a couple of weeks ago, and means that if you’ve been waiting for the production release of Silverlight, it’s here and you can get into it.

You might have heard about a small Rugby tournament that is going on somewhere else in the world at the moment too. Obviously the New Zealand Rugby union is pretty focused at the moment, keeping AllBlacks.com up to date with interviews, match highlights, table standings and scoreboards. To help you keep up to date, AllBlacks.com launched its new Rugby World Cup Windows Vista sidebar gadget a couple of days ago – built entirely in Silverlight 1.0. The cool thing about this gadget is that if you don’t have Vista installed yet, you can access the web version of the gadget with your web browser and because it’s Silverlight, it will run on Windows Vista, XP and on Macs. Get the gadget here.

One common question we get around Silverlight is what are we doing to get designers interested in this technology? If you are fortunate enough to live in Wellington Nas Khan has set up a user group for designers called ZamDes. We are also kicking off a global design event in Auckland on the 4^th of October called “Expression around the clock”. Places are limited, but please tell any designers in your organization to register for the free half day event. If you can’t make it, you can always follow along on the global website at http://expressionevent.com.

I’ve also kicked off my User Group tour of New Zealand with presentations to more than 70 people at the new .Net User group in Ellerslie (read Jacqui’s summary) and the .Net User Group in the Auckland CBD. My presentation covers a bunch of the new features in Visual Studio 2008 across Windows Client, Web, Office, Mobile, Services and some of the new language features.

Feedback about Visual Studio has been very positive so far. Here’s what Chris Jacques, who runs his own consulting firm - B2B 24-7 in Auckland said:

“B2B 24-7 will be using the Web and Mobility features in Visual Studio 2008 in the development of all future customer solutions. We believe Visual Studio 2008 will allow us to deliver a richer customer experience within an affordable timeframe in an exciting market place”.

If you are interested in learning more about how Visual Studio 2008 will reduce the time you spend configuring and increase the time you spend coding and allow you to build richer applications, come along a user group meeting on my tour. We also announced our community leader of the year award recently – so support your local community leaders by getting along to a user group. We’ll have copies of Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2 for you and I have a few other prizes to give away.

We’ve also updated the mscommunities.net.nz site with a couple of new user groups – so make sure you check it out and stay up to date with community news.

To sign up for Microsoft New Zealand newsletters (including this one) - visit http://microsoft.co.nz/subscribe.

MSDN Flash - What is in Windows Server for developers?

dburling — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 05:19:37 GMT

The last editorial I wrote about Visual Studio 2008's multi-targeting support, however as the Launch coming in February is about Windows Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 I thought I might shed some light on what is coming in Windows Server for developers too. Specifically I want to focus on Web Developers and Internet Information Services 7.

One of the things you may already know about is that the configuration for IIS has been moved from the Metabase to a XML config file called ApplicationHost.config. This means that if you want to modify the config of a server, you just open the file in (say) notepad, edit it and close it again. You can also then copy this file across servers to ensure they all have the same configuration - which is great for web farms.

Given the file is in XML, you can easily write scripts and code to read or modify the server configuration based on some environmental dependencies your application or script may detect as it runs.

Of course, should you want to do this with the manager you can still do this, but having a file instead of the Metabase gives you much easier access to the config of the server(s) in your environment. For more details on this change and the implications, take a look at this overview of the ApplicationHost.config and these articles (1, 2) on compatibility with the metabase.

Another thing you can do is write your own extensions to IIS7. One example that you can take a look through online is replacing the Basic HTTP Authentication module with one that authenticates against an arbitrary authentication systems (such as ASP.Net Membership provider). Another scenario you could write a module to do things like remove hidden text or comments from an Open XML document being uploaded to a server. You'll have ideas for modules that might make sense to your solution, but the point is that this is a pretty cool feature that should allow you to make IIS7 do more than it does today - in fact I expect there will be a community around module development.

Modules can be written in either native code or in managed code by implementing the new System.Web.IHttpModule interface. You can get a walk through on how to build a module here. You can also build administration modules to manage your custom module, details here.

We've also done a lot of work on FastCGI to make PHP (and other languages) really fly under IIS7.

If you are interested in these features (and there are lots more), check out the IIS7 Developer Center or download beta 3 of Windows Server 2008. If you want to deploy IIS7 sooner rather than later, there is a go live license for IIS7 and we have customers in NZ already who are running IIS7 for production sites. In addition Microsoft.com is already running on Windows Server 2008. Let me know if you get into this stuff.

As previously reported, we are running a Women in Technology dinner at Tech Ed for the first time this year. I've had quite a bit of feedback to open this up to people not going to Tech Ed, and I'm pleased to be able to say that, we've responded to this feedback and opened it up.

So - if you are going to Tech Ed, simply put the Women in Technology session into your agenda. If you are not going to Tech Ed, but want to go along, you will need to register by either sending an email to teched@avenues.co.nz or by calling (09) 309 2440. Tickets cost $80, Tech Ed attendees are free. It should be a great event with representation from both technical and non technical women in technology. I'll blog more details in the next few days and more details will also go up on the Tech Ed website this week.

Finally, if you are looking at Silverlight (and it seems everyone is), we are close to RC and there are breaking changes from the Beta - check out the details and download a preview from Tim Sneath's blog.

Anyway, that is enough for one flash - have fun coding!

Into WPF & Silverlight? Local community coming your way!

dburling — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 07:34:14 GMT

There is lots happening in the community and this is great to see.

The latest is that Nas Khan is setting up a XAML based user group in Wellington. She's put up a blog post outlining her current thinking. The long and short of it is that she has a few things she'd like feedback on.

The group she is considering starting would be XAML oriented - which means Silverlight and WPF specifically. She is also interested in getting designers coming along, so this is not the usual user group.

If you are interested in this sort of group, head over to Nas's blog post and give her some feedback on the points she's made.

Good work Nas!

If you do nothing else today...

dburling — Sat, 19 May 2007 11:02:00 GMT

Watch this screencast.

Popfly takes the concept of mashups to the masses. Not only can you create your own mashups without any code, but you can also create your own blocks for others to mash up!

This is all based on silverlight, so it gives you a bit of an idea of what you can do with it.

Very cool!

Its also worth reading what the folks at TechCrunch say about popfly. I liked this quote:

We previously covered the launch of Yahoo Pipes and compared five different applications that let you mix data and build applications online. At the time we mentioned how this space was really heating up - and how Pipes from Yahoo simplified the creation of mashups and mini-applications by providing a drag+drop interface. Microsoft are the latest entrants in this market, and they have completely leapfrogged every other application we have seen so far

I'm looking forward to getting this one...

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.

How we came up with Silverlight

dburling — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:07:41 GMT

Tim Sneath has a great peice on humour on how we came up with the name silverlight.

Check it out. Great work Tim!

Microsoft Silverlight announced

dburling — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 01:14:26 GMT

We have a number of things coming around WPF/e in the next few weeks, but here is the first. WPF/e is now called Microsoft Silverlight.

Key points to take away:

Supports IE, Firefox, Safari (cross browser and cross platform)
Enables WMV/WMA playback cross platform
Integrates with Windows Media technologies
Enables mobile through to HD media scenarios
Is DRM capable built on Microsoft PlayReady

The other juicy bit of the announcement was this bit:

Based on the Microsoft .NET Framework, Silverlight enables developers and designers to easily use existing skills and tools to deliver media experiences and RIAs for the Web with role-specific tools: for designers, Microsoft Expression^® Studio, and for developers, Visual Studio^®. New tool and server investments for media professionals include the following:

• Expression Media Encoder. Microsoft Expression Media Encoder, which will be a feature of Microsoft Expression Media, enables rapid import, compression and Web publishing of digital video imported from a variety of popular formats, including AVI and QuickTime, into WMV. Capable of running on the desktop or Windows Server^®, Expression Media Encoder is a template-driven system that integrates seamlessly into existing Web publishing workflows for both live and on-demand content delivery. Expression Media Encoder will be a free download for customers of Expression Media when it is shipped later this year.
• Hardware-accelerated video publishing. When paired with a Tarari Encoder Accelerator, Expression Media Encoder reduces encode times by up to 15 times over software alone, a significant capabilities and cost advantage for publishing Web video today.
• Even greater scalability with Windows Server, code-named “Longhorn.” Building on the industry-leading streaming and Web server platform, Windows Server “Longhorn” will enable customers to experience up to twice the scalability on the same hardware when compared with Windows Server 2003. Also being announced today is the Internet Information Services 7 (IIS7) Media Pack, which adds new cost-saving features such as bit-rate throttling and other advanced features designed to help further reduce the cost of media distribution. The IIS7 Media Pack will be a free download for customers of Windows Server “Longhorn” when it ships.

In other words Microsoft is investing in server and tool investments. These represent the beginnings of that. More coming in the next few weeks... stay tuned

There is loads more information on this presspass website. You'll also want to take a look at Tim Sneaths blog article on the announcement :-)