Doug Seven

Get Ready for GeekFest 2009 @ TechEd

2009-04-03T22:10:05Z

Let’s face it, going to a technical conference is good for your career…

…but it’s not a whole lot of fun.

You need an outlet. You need to have fun.

Cheap beer and lousy pizza.

We are bringing back GeekFest! Join us at Lucky Strike for a night of pizza, beer, and bowling. There is limited invitations available, so what are you waiting for? If you are attending the TechEd 2009 conference and you are a developer, you are invited. To register pick up your "duck" ticket (and wristband) in the TechEd Technical Learning Center (TLC) at the Developer Tools & Languages (DTL) information desk.

You must have wristband to get in.

Monday, May 11, 2009 from 8pm – 11pm
Lucky Strike Lanes at LA Live
800 W. Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90015

You must have a wristband to attend the party. Pick one up Monday
at the Developer Tools and Languages TLC Info Counter.

Follow Visual Studio Team System on Twitter

2009-02-26T18:57:54Z

Want to keep up on news from the Visual Studio Team System team? Want to get updates from live events and presentations? Want general pointers to valuable content? You can do so in real time by following MicrosoftVSTS on Twitter. Follow our account today at www.twitter.com/microsoftvsts.

Of course you can follow me too, but I’m not as exciting.

Technorati Tags: microsoft,vsts,twitter

Oracle Support Announced for Visual Studio Team System 2010 Development

2009-02-24T20:48:40Z

Today it was announced Oracle support will be available for Visual Studio Team System 2010 Development through a Database Schema Provider (DSP). Quest, a provider of Database Management Solutions, is developing the Oracle DSP for Visual Studio Team System. For those working in heterogeneous database environments this is BIG news!

The Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR introduced a new product architecture that provides a model representation of a database schema and extensibility points to expand support for other database platforms. Third parties can develop DSPs which implement models to expand the support for specific database platforms and versions. Quest's Oracle DSP will add support to Team System Development for Oracle and will provide the following Oracle based database project features :

Offline Schema Development
Import Schema
Schema Compare
Data Generation and Unit Testing
Refactoring
and more...

Teams that have benefited by using Team System Database Edition to manage their Microsoft SQL Server database development will also be able to manage their Oracle database's with the same tool and process integration.

You can read more about Quest's upcoming DSP product here.

Technorati Tags: VSTS,VSTSDB,Oracle,Microsoft,Quest

Check Out Visual Studio Tips and Tricks

2009-01-22T19:25:02Z

Scott Cate has started a Video Blog showing Visual Studio Tips and Tricks. Starting with Tip of the Day posts originally done by Sara Ford over 2007 and 2008, the Video blog is a great way to see Visual Studio in action.

Scott already has the first 20 tricks posted.

The site is also mobile enabled for Windows Mobile, and if you browse the site from your phone, you'll see a nice mobile layout, as well as a mobile version of the video trick.

Check out the Scott's blog and subscribe to the RSS feed if you like what you see.

Blog: http://ScottCate.com/VSTricks

RSS: http://feeds.ScottCate.com/VSTricks

User Group Session: A Lap Around Visual Studio Team System 2010

2008-10-07T23:12:50Z

On Monday, 13-Oct I will be presenting a session at my local (and favorite) user group, the .NET Developers Association. For this session I will be providing a demo-filled tour of the next release of VSTS - Visual Studio Team System 2010. This is your chance to come and see some of what we will be showcasing at the upcoming PDC 2008 later this month.

Tell your friends, tell your boss (heck, maybe you'll get paid to come). One lucky attendee will walk away with a fully licensed copy of Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite.

A Lap Around Visual Studio Team System 2010

In this session you will witness a demo-intensive tour of the upcoming release of Visual Studio Team System. This session will walk-through an example development iteration and highlight some of the advancements, that way you see the new capabilities in context. Expect to see new capabilities being delivered across Team System, including the new Architecture Explorer, architecture layer diagrams, gated check-in, build workflow, branch visualization, historical debugging, test case management and execution, improved work item tracking, and improved support for agile planning. This will be a fast paced, exciting session, filled with demos.

Time and Location

Monday, 13-October, 7:00 PM (networking begins at 6:30 PM)

Microsoft Campus, Building 41, Steptoe Room
http://maps.live.com/?v=2&where1=Microsoft%20Building%2041%2C%20WA&encType=1

Technorati Tags: VSTS,Visual Studio Team System,VSTS 2010,User Group,Speaking,Microsoft

VSTS Development Edition + Database Edition

2008-09-29T16:13:35Z

This morning we made the official announcement of the next release of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework. This includes Visual Studio 2010, Visual Studio Team System 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.0.

This blog has moved. See http://www.dougseven.com/blog for more detail.

TechEd Wrap Up - Better Late Than Never

2008-07-04T03:22:09Z

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

Technorati Tags: TechEd08,Microsoft,VSTS

New Team System White Papers Focus on Key Benefits

2008-05-23T08:28:44Z

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 is Just Around the Corner (and I am working late)

2008-05-23T08:23:49Z

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.

GeekFest Party at TechEd 2008 Developer Conference

2008-05-16T20:26:03Z

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.

A Little on LINQ

2008-03-17T06:32:11Z

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.

Upcoming Events I am Speaking At

2008-03-12T07:08:15Z

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.

I'm Moving...to DougSeven.com

2008-03-12T06:19:00Z

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 (and Boise too)

2008-01-10T20:09:19Z

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?

Technorati Tags: Code Camp,Seattle Code Camp,Boise Code Camp

Why You Need an Architect

2008-01-09T22:56:45Z

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