Ground Rules

jwalling — 2006-02-14T04:29:40Z

Please enter one topic idea per thread. This way, others can give feedback on what they think about that specific topic.

VSTS 2005/2008 TFS Development WorkFlow

AlGonzalez — 2008-01-04T17:09:50Z

Since it seems like more people are using Team System with Team Foundation Server, it would be nice to see the workflow that people are using for development. Additionally any gotchas on installation and management of the system and any scripts, tools or applications that integrate with TFS and make life better would be of interest.

Web Client Software Factory

pswaters — 2006-11-22T13:37:23Z

Hello, Last nights talk on software factories did a great job in emphasizing their roll in Microsoft's plans on this discipline, but little on the technical implementation and skills needed to use them.The latest software factory is the Web Client Software Factory. I have been trying to get my head around it and I think it would make a great topic.What are your thoughts?

Paul

qv: 'http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=websf'>http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=websf

.NET 3.0(?) new features

AlGonzalez — 2006-02-16T17:17:40Z

Short presentations with discussion on .NET 3.0(?) new features such as Extension Methods, Annonymous Types, Lambda Expressions, Object Initializers, LINQ and Type Inference.

Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX)

cjohnson — 2006-02-24T21:44:32Z

I'd like to see a good technical presentation on AJAX (how to do it in ASP.NET apps), as well as a cogent discussion on when and where it SHOULD be used. Google (GMail, Google Maps, Earth, etc. ) has made AJAX a household word, and it would be good to understand how it's impact on the architecture of web apps has blurred the distinction between client server and web. Lastly, depending on who were to give the talk, it would be great to have a discussion on where web and windows interfaces are going in the future, given Longhorn's nearterm arrival, etc.

MS Build

cjohnson — 2006-02-24T21:46:56Z

With the arrival of Visual Studio 2005 and the 2.0 Framework, ,we also had another product slip in the door: MS Build. I'd like to see a presentation on MS Build, what it's all about, how it's used in VS.NET 2005, and how it compares to Open Source products like nAnt.

Unit Testing 101

cjohnson — 2006-02-24T21:55:36Z

Given all the talk about Unit Testing and Test-Driven Development over the last 4-5 years, you'd think it is a technique tht has made it's way into every developer's toolbox. In my conversations with developers, I find that very few are embracing Unit Testing as a daily process/technique. I'd like to see an indepth, practical presentation on the ins and outs of implementing Test Drive Development. In my mind, this type of presentation would include:

LOTS of code samples
Solution/project organization tips & tricks
Techniques for testing database stuff (mock objects, etc.)
Techniques for UI testing

Aside: The best book I've found so far on this topic is: "Test-Driven Development in Microsoft .NET"

Source Code Management with Subversion

cjohnson — 2006-02-24T22:23:23Z

There are several really good source code management (SCM) products on the market today, including Vault, Perforce, and the newly released MS Foundation Server and VSS 8 (although how good this last one is remains to be seen). I've been using an Subversion, an Open Source SCM product, for over a year now with a lot of success. Widely described as the successor to CVS, Subversion is a high quality, easy to set up and use SCM with a LOT of fans in the open and closed source communities. I'd like to see a short presentation on how to get Subversion set up and configured, client options for the .NET developer (TortoiseSVN, AnkhSVN, etc.) and a brief walkthrough of the basics of using SVN day to day.

MS Express Editions

cjohnson — 2006-02-24T22:27:45Z

I'd like to see several brief presentations on the MS Express editions of severall MS products. These would include:

Visual Web Developer 2005 Express
Visual Basic 2005 Express
Visual C# 2005 Express
Visual C++ 2005 Express
Visual J# 2005 Express
SQL Server 2005 Express

Accelerate Your Development with Virtual Machines

cjohnson — 2006-02-24T21:27:14Z

I'd like to see a short session (not an entire meeting) devoted to at least the two primary competitors in Virtual Machine technology these days, VmWare (VmWare Workstation, VmWare Server, etc.) and Microsoft (Virtual PC, Virtual Server). Using these technologies these days for me is as natural and frequent as email and web browsing, and few have ANY excuse not to use them given the recent announcements by VmWare related to their free VmWare Player and VmWare Server product offerings.

Tablet PC/Ink Development

AlGonzalez — 2006-02-21T13:57:59Z

I see more and more Tablet PCs at the meetings.

Code Documentation Tools

AlGonzalez — 2006-02-16T17:50:12Z

Presentation and discussion on code documentation tools such as:

Short presentations on various component libraries.

AlGonzalez — 2006-02-16T17:15:15Z

Short presentations on various commercial and open source component libraries.
NLog, 'http://nvelocity.sf.net'>NVelocity, 'http://filehelpers.sf.net'>FileHelpers and 'http://nini.sf.net'>Nini

Alternate .NET languages

AlGonzalez — 2006-02-16T17:08:06Z

Demo and compare various alternate .NET languages such as:
Boo
IronPython
KPL(Asteroids anyone?)
Nemerle

Future Topics