With less than three weeks to go, I’m really starting to look forward to the DevDays 2011 event. There will be some really great names presenting this year and I want to make sure that I get the most out of the information these experts have to share.
My main focus will lie on the Windows Azure platform sessions, obviously. But I’ll want to follow some sessions on web development and WCF services as well. Just recently I’ve attained a Windows Phone 7 and I’m really anxious to start experimenting with combining Windows Phone development with Windows Azure services. So, if there’s a possibility to fit it in my agenda, I’ll definitely want to attend some sessions on Windows Phone development as well.
Of course, during the breaks, I’ll be present at the Community Lounge and “Ask The Experts”, representing the Dutch Windows Azure User Group.
So, I’ve inspected the agenda for DevDays and GeekNight and this is what came out!
4/28/2011
| 9:15 am – 10:45 am | DevDays Keynote | Scott Hanselman will take us on a journey through the evolution of web development tools, ending with the latest tools and technologies like MVC3, WebMatrix and Nuget.
He will be followed by Wade Wegner filling us in on recent developments on the Windows Azure platform and what we can expect in the near future. Ben Riga will finally tell us all about the latest developments on the Windows Phone development front. These are all subjects I’m interested in, so I definitely don’t want to miss this. |
| 11:05 am – 12:20 pm | MVC3 – 101 | Scott Hanselman gives an introduction to MVC3. I’ve done a project in MVC2, so I know the basics, but I never really had an introduction to ASP.NET MVC or investigated best practices for working with ASP.NET MVC.
Apart from that, I’m really interested in the new features of MVC3. |
| 1:30 pm – 2:45 pm | Windows Azure AppFabric: Building, Managing and Connecting High-Density, Multi-Tenant Cloud Applications | In this advanced session on Windows Azure AppFabric Clemens Vasters will give us an overview of the AppFabric services that are already commercially available and he will show us some of the new services Microsoft will bring us until the end of the year.
Advanced Windows Azure AppFabric stuff, so, count me in! I want to know all about it! |
| 3:05 pm – 3:20 pm | Intro to the Workflow Services and Windows Server AppFabric | Pluralsight’s Matt Milner will show us the advantages we get from using WF4 and how we can leverage Windows Server AppFabric to build comprehensive workflow solutions.
I’ve been working with WF a couple of times and I‘ve come to appreciate the benefits we get from implementing WF (the right way). That’s why I want to know more about it. |
| 4:30 pm – 5:45 pm | AppFabric Caching On-Premises and in the Cloud | Wade Wegner will show us how we can leverage the Windows Azure AppFabric Caching service to build high-performance and scalable web applications while lowering the TCO.
Never got around to read up on the details of this, so this is an excellent opportunity to hear all about it from Mr. Cloud Cover himself. |
| 7:30 pm – 8:15 pm | Windows Phone 7 Session | Ben Riga will do a session on developments around Windows Phone 7 development. The title and content will available after MIX, which makes me very curious. |
| 8:30 pm – 9:15 pm | Windows Phone in Rhyme and 3D | Have you ever seen a session done by Rob Miles? This promises to be a very entertaining session about writing Windows Phone 7 applications, completely in rhyme and 3D. |
| 9:25 pm – 10:10 pm | How to develop an XNA game for Windows Phone 7, XBox and PC Using the Same Codebase. | I think it will be cool to see how Clemens Schotte develops an XNA game for Windows Phone 7 and how that game is ported to the XBox and the PC. |
4/29/2011
| 9:15 am – 10:30 am | Identity & Access Control in the Cloud | I’ve been researching this topic for quite some time now, but even at the risk of hearing nothing new, I want to hear all about this from Mr. Identity himself.
Vittorio Bertocci explains how claims-based identity is a better resemblance of how we identify ourselves in the real world and how it gives us more flexibility in the ways we can authorize the users of our applications. He will show how easy it has become to externalize authentication (and thus making all the difficult security stuff transparent to developers) by leveraging the power of Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control service in combination with Windows Identity Foundation. Without commenting on his accent (which you’ll be used to in the first couple of minutes of his presentation) I want to say that Vittorio has a special way of presenting with which he’s able to explain very difficult matters in a way that even I can understand. |
| 10:50am – 12:05 pm | Windows Azure AppFabric ServiceBus: Messaging, Pub/Sub and Connectivity in and through the Cloud | Clemens Vasters really is an authority on Windows Azure AppFabric ServiceBus. If you want to know anything about this subject, you best hear it from him.
In this session Clemens will give an overview of all the commercially available features of Windows Azure AppFabric ServiceBus and he will provide a detailed view of the feature that will become available over the course of this year. |
| 1:15 pm – 2:30 pm | Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service: Deep-dive | A deep-dive into Windows Azure AppFabric Access Control Service delivered by Mr. Identity himself! Again, count me in! |
| 2:50 pm – 4:05 pm | WCF Web APIs, HTTP your way | Interconnectivity is a key aspect of today’s digital world. All kinds of devices, based on all kinds of different platforms, need to be able to connect with each other.
Glenn Block will show us how we can master our web APIs by leveraging WCF and by implementing open standards. I think this session will fit perfectly in my focal points, because in the Cloud we want to achieve maximum interoperability and connectivity. |
| 4:15 pm – 5:30 pm | Web Services Interoperability between WCF and Java | Edwin van Wijk and Bert Ertman will show us how interoperability between WCF services and Java applications and services can be accomplished.
I’m especially interested in this because Microsoft has announced at PDC 2010 that they will make Java a first class citizen on Windows Azure. I expect to see a lot more developments in this area over the coming year. |
Communities
The great thing about software development these days is the existence of some great communities. These communities are formed by independent volunteers, who actively invest time and effort to share their knowledge and experience with each other.
So, don’t forget to visit the Community Lounge and “Ask The Experts” area in the breaks and pay these communities a visit. The Dutch Windows Azure User Group (WAZUG NL) will be represented there to answer any questions you may have (as will be other communities of course).
