OK, mea culpa. TechEd 2008 North America has been over for a few weeks now, and I have not yet posted my wrap up. I'll keep it short and sweet, but there are some cool resources I want to point out.
This blog has moved to http://www.dougseven.com/blog
Seven (7) new white papers focused on the key benefits of Visual Studio Team System are now available in both Word and PDF format. The white papers expand on the seven key benefits outlined in the summary paper "Key Benefits of Microsoft Visual Studio Team System." These white papers are intended for Technical Decision Makers (TDM) and the Business Decision Makers (BDM), rather than the traditional developer audience.
The seven white papers are:
- Communicate and Collaborate with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
- Drive Predictability with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
- Manage Team Workflow with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
- Use Familiar Tools with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
- Ensure Quality Early and Often with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
- Integrate Frequently with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
- Make Real-time Decisions with Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008
These white papers have been published on MSDN and will be available to TechEd 2008 USA attendees on a USB key that will be given away on the show floor.
You can find the white papers in DOCX and PDF format here.
TechEd 2008 Developers is less than two weeks away, and of course that means we are down to crunch time. I am a co-Track PM for three tracks - Developer Tools & Languages (TLA), Development Practices (DVP), and Windows & Frameworks (WIN). That makes up about 200 different pieces of content (sessions, chalk talks, pre-con's, hands-on-labs and instructor-led-labs).
We've done most of the dry-runs for the breakout sessions and this week and next we are doing dry runs of the pre-cons. The HOLs are on the servers and on a truck to Orlando, and I am wrapping up a couple extra tasks - the ALM & Development Practices booth, the sessions I will be the speaker for, and oh...a demo for the BillG keynote!
Go to http://www.dougseven.com/blog to read more.
Let’s face it, going to technical conferences is good for your career, but it’s not a whole lot of fun. What you need is an outlet. You need to have fun. That’s where we step in.
Cheap beer and lousy pizza!
We are bringing back GeekFest!
This Blog has Moved
Find the details and learn how to register for this free party at http://www.dougseven.com/blog.
Recently I was involved (only a little) in preparing some of the Visual Studio Launch content for the February 27th launch event (and subsequent worldwide events). During the preparation we held "train-the-trainer" meetings where people who would be presenting launch sessions around the world could learn more about the sessions and ask questions. During one of these TTT events a question was raised about a LINQ demo that was written for a session named "Breakthrough Software Development Challenges with Visual Studio 2008".
The Question
Is there a performance impact to joining result sets in LINQ from two different data sources?
This question came up because this is exactly one of the scenarios we demo.
This blog has been moved. Go to http://www.dougseven.com to see a video of the demo and find out the answer to the question.
D7
In March and April I am actually a bit busy espousing prolifically about topics near and dear to me. I have a couple internal Microsoft events I am speaking at - one to what we call our Inner Circle Partners, and the other to System Integrators. In both events I am speaking on Visual Studio Team System and Application Lifecycle Management. The topics I am covering internally include topics I am speaking on in public venues as well.
My blog has moved. Go here for the rest of this post.
For years I have used DougSeven.com as a test URL - a place where I could throw up some demo apps or test some things. For a long time it hosted a demo of the Codezone Community Search (the same Community search in the Visual Studio Help System). The time has come for a change.
I am moving my blogging to DougSeven.com. I plan to post regularly, and my focus will be on screencast demos of Visual Studio Team System and other Microsoft technologies.
See you there (I will cross post for a short amount of time).
Doug
Seattle Code Camp is coming up in a couple weeks - January 26th & 27th. They have identified both a VSTS track and an Application Lifecycle Management track this year. I am preparing to submit some session and thought I'd ask you...
What topics would you like me to cover at Seattle Code Camp?
Boise Code Camp is not too far away either - March 8th.
What topics would you like me to cover at Boise Code Camp?
A colleague just emailed me a pointer to this 'comic video' explaining what software architects do, what a plan is and why an organization needs architects. I love it!
View Video
Technorati Tags:
Architecture
With the release of the Visual Studio 2008 SDK, software vendors can now build IDE's on top of the Visual Studio 2008 Shell. This enables software vendors to build IDE's that leverage the power of the Visual Studio 2008 IDE, without requiring the end user to have a copy of Visual Studio 2008.
SapphireSteel has just launched a version of its Ruby In Steel IDE using the VS08 Shell.
"We put all our support into Visual Studio so the end-user gets a Ruby-flavored edition of Visual Studio," with its attendant capabilities, said Huw Collingbourne, SapphireSteel technology director.
Read it all here.
Here's another nugget from Jeff...
One of the things that we quietly rolled out yesterday along with the release of Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System code name “Rosario” November 2007 CTP is the program to share selected Team System specifications and get your feedback on them. We have created a new forum specifically designated to promote discussion of these specs within the community.
Check out the Rosario November 2007 CTP and the shared specs.
Yes, the newest CTP of the next release of Team System has been made available. From Jeff Beehler:
I'm happy to announce that the next Community Technology Preview of Rosario (officially known as Microsoft® Visual Studio® Team System code name “Rosario” November 2007 CTP) is now available. Customers can immediately begin downloading the VPC images from our download page.
Once you run the VPC you will find a set of mini-stories, or walk-throughs that will guide you through the features in this CTP release. I will be making screencasts of these walk-throughs shortly.
On Monday, November 26th I will be presenting at the .NET Developer's Association user group. My goal for the evenng is to spend 1-2 hours going over Visual Studio Team System 2008, showing off its new features, as well as some of the old stand-by's that were in the 2005 version. Most of my time will be spent in the IDE doing demo's of the functionality. There will be lots of time for Q&A, and some great prizes as well.
A Lap Around Visual Studio Team System 2008
Visual Studio Team System 2008 just RTM'ed (release-to-manufacturing) - now is a great time to learn what Team System can do for you. In this demo-intensive session you will be exposed to many of the new features in Visual Studio Team System 2008. I will cover everything from Team Foundation Server for Work Item Tracking, Version Control and automated builds, to integration with Microsoft Project and Excel, to Unit Testing, Code Coverage and Code Metrics, to database support, to Web testing with AJAX support and the new user-pace model in Load Testing. You will leave with an understanding of how Visual Studio Team System 2008 helps your organization with full Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), and enables you and your team to collaborate and communicate to ensure software quality and provide visibility into the development process.
Monday, November 26, 2007 @ 6:00 pm (presentation begins at 7:00 pm)
Microsoft Building 40, Steptoe Room #1450
I am bringing lots of giveaways, including Team System logo'ed back-packs, books, and yes, even software. I hope to see you there.
Here is the official word from Jeff Beehler, the Team System Chief of Staff, and the really official word from Soma.
Here is where you can download it from MSDN.
I have only been officially working on the Team System team for five-months, and I can say that I am thrilled about this release. I plan on releasing a lot of technical content about using Team System 2008. The sessions I have done in the past few months have been well received, and I would like to get the session content into an easy to share online format...perhaps a new ASP.NET+Silverlight application is in my future...using LINQ?
Now I just need to set up my new Team Foundation Server and get my work items entered and off I go :)
Enjoy!
The more I travel, the more I realize how small our world has gotten. Rarely do I find myself somewhere without the comforts of home readily available to me. I think back to the stories my grandfather use to tell me of his travels (he traveled the world working for Boeing) and I realize how different things are now.
When he traveled, he couldn't call home at any time from a cell phone that automatically connected to the local provider. He didn't have a Starbucks to go to where he could get his usual drink made, exactly like if he were at the Starbucks in his neighborhood. Most of the time, he would eat the local flavor because there wasn't a McDonalds, or a San Francisco Steak House in the region, and the hotel served mostly local-style food.
So here I am, far from home, and oh how the world has shrunk. Guess where I am:
I woke up at 8:30 am local time. After I showered and checked email I went to the Club Lounge of my hotel to exchange currency and have breakfast - a bowl of Rice Crispies with a banana, some chicken sausage, breakfast potatoes and a glass of orange juice. After breakfast I stepped out of my hotel to the shopping mall next door. As I entered the shopping mall I passed by a number of well known retailers - Louis Vuton, Escada, Banana Republic, Hugo Boss, and more. I was even approached by a men's cologne salesman asking me to try a sample of a new cologne (Tommy Hilfiger, I think). After that I went to a Starbucks and ordered a Triple Grande Nonfat Vanilla Latte. My wife called me on my cell phone from her cell phone while driving using the Bluetooth-enabled sound system so I could say, "Hi" to her and my daughter as they were driving around our home town. I went back to the hotel and used MSN Messenger to have a Video Phone call with them before my daughter went to bed.
This is certainly not how my grandfather traveled.
For the record, I am in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. TechEd Southeast Asia starts tomorrow, where I am presenting on the quality tools in Visual Studio Team System (Unit Testing & TDD, and Data Load testing in VSTS for DB Pro's). Tonight I will be presenting at a local user group along with Adam Cogan.
