See SQL Server Developer Tools, Codename “Juneau” In Action

  • Article

This blog has been dark for 7 months as I’ve been working on the next generation of Microsoft’s database development tools – SQL Server Developer Tools, Codename “Juneau” (which I will abbreviate as SSDT for obvious reasons ;-). As SSDT has reached a point of public disclosure, I feel the time is right to open the blogging floodgates on SSDT. I know there is a lot of interest in the community, especially from those folks who are familiar with Visual Studio 2010 database projects (aka “Data Dude” or “TSData”), so I hope that folks will find my posts helpful/interesting and also generate community feedback.

As this is my inaugural post on SSDT, I figured I would talk a bit about my background and the philosophy I will be following in subsequent SSDT posts (hopefully this doesn’t seem overly egomaniacal). Additionally, there will be a collection of links for folks to presentations on SSDT so they can see the bits in action.

About Me

I’m a Program Manager on the SSDT team with a tenure of around 8 months. Previous to the SSDT team I worked for 10 months on the Oslo Repository team focusing on the UML Domain and spent a year in Microsoft IT as an Enterprise Architect. Before coming to Microsoft in October 2008 I worked for several years as a consulting software/solution architect for medium-large IT shops. Before that I spent a number of years working as an architect for a Fortune 500 insurance company. I’m not a T-SQL expert, nor am I an expert on administering SQL Server. However, I have designed and built many enterprise systems using SQL Server and I am intimately familiar with the enterprise space. Just for the sake of full disclosure, I’m a unabashed UML junkie, OOA/D bigot and a big fan of many Agile practices (e.g., Continuous Integration), but not necessarily a fan of all Agile methodologies (e.g., XP).

My SSDT Blogging Philosophy

The philosophy I will be taking regarding my SSDT blogging is this – if I started consulting again tomorrow how would I advise my clients to think about and adopt SSDT to make their SQL Server development better, cheaper, and faster. This view should, hopefully, give an air of credence to my posts. Quite frankly, a product as significant as SSDT isn’t going to be all things to all people in every situation. I fully plan on blogging about the features of SSDT that would appeal to my previous enterprise IT customers in a broad range of scenarios.

OK, enough blather. Some links to where you can see the SSDT bits in action are listed below. The subject of my next post will be how to think about the SSDT program model so as to get the most out of the product. Until then, feedback most welcome.

SSDT Links