Drewby

There's been so many technologies for me to learn since joing Microsoft. IIS7 is one that I had not seen yet and it is truely impressive. The Metabase is DEAD! You can now configure IIS7 websites using the web.config file which means application deployment and configuration is a lot easier.

One of the things you can configure is the modules that are configured for each site. You can not only add your own modules, but you can remove modules provided by Microsoft. One of the demos I saw showed all of the modules removed including authentication and static file modules. Basically, configured a null web server. The advantage of this is total control over what bits are running on the server.

Another feature of file-based configuration is that site managers can configure their website without having to be administrator on the server machine.

There were a ton of features shown..too many to write about. I'll point you to the Communications track at PDC Bloggers for observations from others.

I've already seen much of the technology here at the PDC05, so I've been looking for presentations that would teach me something new. One of the sessions that popped out at me was TLN410, CLR: CLR: Writing a Dynamic Language Compiler in One Hour. I haven't written a compiler since classes in college, so this was a nice review of a writing a basic scanner/parser that targets the CLR.

The scenario is a made-up language called Good For Nothing (GFN). I would have called it GFN# or GFH.NET, but that's probably a good reason I'm not giving this presentaiton.

The compiler itself is written in C# and then uses Reflection.Emit to generate the IL code for and calls into the framework to compile a simple application written in GFN:

var x = “hello world“;
print x;

Note the local variable type inference. :) They also showed type coercian implemented in the compiler. Nothing complicated, but cool to see those dynamic language features in a compiler targeting the CLR.

My friend Dave Donaldson has come up with a pretty cool idea called CodeKeep. Its simply a place to store all of those code snippets that you want to keep around forever. You can also share the code snippets with others. From his blog entry:

My goal with CodeKeep from the beginning was to create a very simple way to store and search for code snippets, and to create a massive distributed community from which to pull code snippets from. My hope is that developers everywhere use CodeKeep to foster an increased sharing of code so that in the end, we are all more productive because of it.

Check it out!

Based on the CodeKeep logo, I wonder what Dave's favorite .NET language is. Hmm....

I find there is plenty of information out on the web for specific features of .NET products. However, it can be difficult to find a timely step-by-step reference to apply common and practical scenarios such as using forms authentication with Active Directory, or protecting database connection strings. A search of the web will sprout up several articles of varying quality, usually each with their own problems.

The Patterns and Practices team has gathered a bunch of security practices into a single location that include step-by-step instructions. The resources are available in this article: Security Practices: ASP.NET 2.0 Security Practices at a Glance. This is a great resource that I'm sure I'll point a lot of people in future conversations.

The Indigo Roadshow is coming to Columbus! This is going to be a great opportunity to hear and see more about the product directly from the product group. The .NET Developers Group of Central Ohio and the Central Ohio SQL Server SIG are hosting this special event. And this event is free!

You’ve heard the buzz about Indigo, Microsoft’s unified programming model for building distributed applications. Attend a FREE event and learn how Indigo technology will simplify your life.

With Indigo, you use the tools and language you’re familiar with, and a single programming model with all the functionality you need. And Indigo is built on standards, so the applications you write will work with applications on all participating platforms.

Join us as we build Indigo demos from scratch and see firsthand how it works. Stop struggling with the dirty work. Indigo makes it easy to develop secure, reliable, interoperable web services, so you can focus on what really matters.

Every attendee will walk away with:

• An inside look at Microsoft’s next-generation web services platform
• The ability to quickly build secure, reliable web services
• David Pallmann’s Programming Indigo Beta1 book
• A special DVD of the latest Indigo bits, content, labs, and demos
• The chance to win T-shirts and an Xbox

This is a great opportunity for our developer community. Don't miss out - register now!

I've been busy finishing up the end of FY05 at Microsoft - we had several conferences including a very successful Visual Studio 2005 Developers Conference in our region. I was also busy getting some swag together for the user groups that I support. That was fun!

Now, I'm planning for the next year and starting to execute on some of it. Here's some presentations that I have scheduled. If you are in the area for any of these presentations, please attend and say hello!

Introduction to ASP.NET 2.0
Great Lakes Area .NET Users Group
Detroit, MI
Wednesday, July 20 - 6:00pm
http://www.migang.org/

Visual Studio 2005 Team System
Greater Lansing User Group .NET
Lansing, MI
Thursday, July 21 - 6:00pm
http://www.glugnet.org/

Visual Studio 2005 Team System
Northwest Ohio .NET Users Group
Toledo, OH
Tuesday, July 26 - 6:00pm
http://www.nwnug.com/

Outlook Add-in Support in Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office
Developer Care
Detroit, MI
Friday, August 19 - 11:30am-5:00pm
http://www.nhmichigan.com/support/events/developercare.htm

Writing Managed Code for SQL Server 2005
Lexington .NET Users Group
Lexington, KY
Tuesday, September 13 - 6:00pm
http://www.lexdotnet.org

Outlook Add-in Support in Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office
Developer Care
Louisville, KY
Friday, September 23 - 11:30am-5:00pm

Louisville Code Camp
Louisville, KY
Friday, October 7 - Saturday, October 8
http://www.kydotnet.org/codecamp/

Bluegrass Code Camp
Lexington, KY
Friday, October 14 - Saturday, October 15
http://www.bluegrasscodecamp.com/

GLD is the place to be! Our user group leaders rock and we are going to have a fun year!

Not going to TechEd next week? Then check out the VS 2005 DevCon in Detroit on June 16! You'll get a great overview of the Visual Studio content that is being presented at TechEd!

http://www.chrysalisevents.com/vs2005devcon

The VS 2005 Developer Center is now showing information about Beta 2 inluding a link to the Go Live License! This is great news and should spur a lot of information from bloggers and MS over the next few weeks! Here we go!