On Thursday May 13th, I travelled to the North York Community Centre to give a presentation at the Toronto Visual Basic User Group on Windows Azure. I’d like to thank the group for having me out, with a Special Thank you to the User Group leader Rob Windsor who was celebrating his Birthday that very night.
With a crowd of approximately 10 people this may have well been one of the smallest groups that I had giving my Windows Azure presentation to, but definitely by far the most interested in the cloud. The majority of the audience had questions, and may offered up more than one question, which is typically rare for a User Group.
There was one Question that I wasn’t able to answer at the event which I hope to clarify here.
The Question was brought on by the statement that a Windows Azure Queue Message was capable of storing up to 8KB. I’m glad to see questions like this arise as it lets you know that the audience is listening, here’s the question, “What is the maximum size that can be stored within a column of the Table Storage Service.”
After a little bit of research here is the official word from the MSDN Windows Azure Documentation Library.
An entity may have up to 255 properties, including the 3 system properties described in the following section. Therefore, the user may include up to 252 custom properties, in addition to the 3 system properties. The combined size of all data in an entity's properties may not exceed 1 MB.
I have posted the slides on SlideShare, the slides themselves aren’t terribly informative the true value of the slides is in the Speakers notes which unfortunately don’t get posted. If you’d like to get a copy of the slide deck, please drop me a line.
The code that I presented is an open source project which is available on CodePlex. The Azure Email Queuer is meant to be a Starter Project for an Internet Email Marketing Tool. The current hosted source is a little bit out of date, but I will be working towards Updating it shortly. You can download the Visual Basic version of the Azure Email Queuer from my website.
The work life balance is something that all developers have to sort out in their own lives, and it’s not easy. There are coders that are content Developing between the hours of 9-5 when they are paid to do so. Of course there is the polar opposite, in which Developers spend time out side of their paid job learning new techniques, technologies, and possibly even new programming languages. I am not saying there is anything wrong with either group, however it all depends on where you want your career to lead you. If you want to step into a world where you work hard, but all of that hard work will pay off, this blog post is for you. If this doesn’t sound like you, leave now.
As it may be quite obvious, I enjoy developing outside of the office, not only to further my skills, but also to make a little bit of extra money. This has it’s trials and tribulations in which your brain is always on, and sometimes you start speaking in code and/or writing code in your sleep. Some times you have to make sacrifices like not playing Halo with your friends [Sorry Kyle & Anna], or missing out on attending certain social gatherings. However, there is a solid reason in which anyone would make these sacrifices and it all boils down to personal growth.
If you’re currently a developer that is doing the 9-5 life, or are currently in school and would like to Refactor your lifestyle into something that will grow your experience, and expertise here are some pieces of advice I have for you.
Goals
Just by reading the title above, you’re probably asking yourself “what is this guy going to tell me that I didn’t hear from my high school guidance councilor?” The short answer is, not much, but one thing that I can offer above and beyond your guidance councilor is that I’ve been living the life, and I am focused on the same career in which you are in or working towards.
Educational Goals
When you first jump into the “Real World” from College you hit the ground running and are probably making less money then you first expected to make and have less free time than you anticipated you would have to attend some part-time studies. Setting simple educational goals that are easy to achieve are key to keeping on top of new Technology and Trends.
Personally, I have posted a Programmer Competency Matrix on my office wall, this gives me a constant reminder that if I don’t have a specific learning objective, there is something else I can always work toward.
Here are some resources I use in order to keep up with Development trends and new Technology:
Podcasts/Vidcasts
A Podcast is normally a short 15-30 minutes of audio clip, sometimes sped up to up to 2x the speed. The short time frame gives you the ability to listen to them practically anywhere, on a run, your commute to work, or even while you’re working on some code.
A Vidcast is practically the same as a Podcast, except for the fact it is in video format. Vidcasts are a little bit harder to keep up with because of the Visual element. However with the Release of Visual Studio 2010 we might be able to play videos within the IDE which will give us the ability to code and watch at the same time.
Here are some Podcast & Vidcast sites I enjoy:
Blogs
If you found your way here, you are obviously familiar with the concept of Blogs. Blogs are a great source of information and I would have to say one of the biggest learning tools out there, all because of the magical invention of the Search Engine. You are able to find a so many of different opinions all focusing on the same topic and come up with a well informed opinion of the topic.
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Industry Professionals
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Local Professionals
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Books/Magazines
A lot of publishers are doing their best to keep you buying books on a regular basis, take advantage of this whenever you can. E-books are great as they are often very affordable, and extremely portable. I keep a large number of books in my SkyDrive, this allows me to access them from any computer or internet capable portable devices [like an eReader]. Here are some prime places to Purchase affordable E-Books:
I also subscribe to MSDN Magazine and CoDe Magazine both of which are typically packed with incredible articles from Industry Professionals.
Forums
Forums aren’t really somewhere that you’d cruise to learn random facts about development, but they do have their place in the learning process. If you need an answer that isn’t required immediately, head on over to StackOverflow, or ASP.NET Forums to post your question.
Forums are a two way street, someone was nice enough to help you out for free-as-in-beer, pass the good cheer along and help out a follow programmer in need. The first vacation time I had ever had the chance to take, I spent the entire week on ASP.NET Forums helping out fellow developers. It made me feel great as I had the opportunity to both, help people out and learning new things that I would have had to learn eventually anyways. I’m currently a “Contributor” with 4,209 points.
Events
Find a Local User Group
If you’re a .NET Developer check out the INETA, you should be able to find a User Group near you on their site. If you are in the Greater Toronto Area [GTA] here is a list of User Groups near you:
Attend a local Code Camp
Code Camps are typically put on by User Groups but are normally a full day of learning for free. You will find content on Current, and upcoming Technology Trends from Local Speakers that you have the ability to talk to at the after party. If you do end up attending a code camp you may want to read the lessons learned by this first time code camp attendee. If you live in the GTA, definitely check out the Toronto Code Camp which is typically held on May 1st.
Keep an eye out for Development Conferences and Events
Conferences and Events are excellent resources for Networking and High Level learning. Typically Conferences and Events have a Price Tag associated with them but from time to time you can luck out and find some extraordinary content at a reasonable cost and possibly even free. I typically live off of a few resources to keep up to date on some of the conferences that are going on in my area.
Microsoft Canada has a great Events System in which you can filter the events by Online/Offline, Developer/IT Pro, and even Geographical Region.
Newsletters are also a great source of Great Events sign up for a Newsletter from Microsoft, a Third Party Control Provider, a Book Company, or a Local Consulting Company. If you aren’t a fan of getting a flood of email some providers will allow you to subscribe to an RSS feed of their event/conference announcements instead of having to get the newsletter delivered to your inbox.
If you are on a tight budget here are some great free conferences to note: Make Web Not War, ObjectSharp: At the Movies, WebCamps and Hack and Defend.
Mentors
If you are able to land a job with a mentor program consider yourself lucky. There is no easier way to gear up your development skills then having someone watch over you when you’re still green. A mentor can also give you valuable life experience advice, and narrow your development vision so you don’t get overwhelmed by trying to learn it all [insert Pokémon joke here].
If you don’t have a mentor program where you work, it would be a valuable investment for the company, so don’t be afraid to ask for one to be implemented.
If you can’t find a mentor at work, there are a few people that you can contact that may be able to help. Microsoft has a group called the Developer & Platform Evangelist [DPE] Team, it’s their job to ensure that you as a Developer have the tools you need to get the job done. If they aren’t able to help you, they will definitely know someone that will be able to give you the advise you are looking for. You can also talk to your local User Group Leader, as they are also normally quite knowledgeable or connected to others that are willing to share their knowledge with you.
Community
Community plays an important role in your Professional Development. What you know can always be expanded, who you know is something that isn’t as easily obtained unless you put yourself out there. You may have noticed that the majority of my points above tie into this theme, they all have to do with the Development Community. Each point made above builds upon the next; Starting with reading articles written by influencers within the Community, listening/watching to their shows, next you attend an event in which they are speaking, then ultimately you get the opportunity to get mentored by that individual, even if the experience is as simple as a quick chat at a technology event after party.
Expanding your network is important, so before you go to a Conference or Event, make sure to set goals as to who you wish to meet (if any), or how many people you wish to meet. Be sure to make a good connection with these people, enough that you’ll be able to recall where you met them if you are to run into them again at future events. Also be sure to be consistent, and reliable, if you make a promise be sure to follow through.
If you have the time to invest, you could become a volunteer for your local user group. Giving a helping hand at User Group meetings gives you the opportunity to continuously meet developers in your area, as well connect you with the speakers that come to present. It also gives you the opportunity to show off your talents, if you so choose to volunteer as a presenter.
Compiling a list of Best Practices
Similar to our coding habits, our lives can always be improved by putting a little bit of effort into understanding how others are implementing their solutions. In the points above I have outlined some of what I have done over the past two years. In posting these snippets of my experiences, I hope to inspire at least one Developer to refactor a part of their lifestyle.
If you have run across this post and were inspired or would like to add to the list of Best Practices, I welcome you to leave a comment below.
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Thursday, 22 April 2010 18:20 by
SyntaxC4Today I ventured down to the Scotia Theatre in downtown Toronto to witness another phenomenal “screening” of ObjectSharp’s “At the Movies” event which today featured many of the enhancements to Visual Studio 2010, and .NET 4. If I were a movie critic [which thankfully I am not], I wouldn’t have a clue what was going on. Luckily, I’m a Developer and give this presentation a rating of 5 ASP.NET AJAX Stars out of 5. This was not my first “At the Movies” event and by far won’t be my last, they just keep getting better!
Heading up the day of the SOLD OUT Show was a fantastic performance by Bruce Johnson with a High Level overview of the advancements in the .NET Realm. He covered the Managed Extensibility Framework (MEF) [with a cool extension to Visual Studio itself], Parallel Programming [with key points at enhancements in threading] with a Stellar example of “Work Stealing”, Code Contracting in .NET 4.0; and the integration of Azure and SQL Azure into Visual Studio.
After the break Paul Laberge of Microsoft Canada stunned the crowd with the awesome features of Expression Blend including the spectacular Prototyping tool Sketch Flow. The release of Silverlight 4 is one of the most influential since Silverlight 2 when the .NET Language was integrated into the Plug-in. Silverlight 4 now allows for Rich media usage like Web Cam & Microphone access, Native Multicasting, online and offline content protection; Rich User Experiences with support for Right-Click Context menus, Copy and Paste, and Google Chrome Integration. Furthermore, Silverlight 4 has entered into the World of Advanced Business Applications with new Printing Support, advanced Data binding support, a large library of Forms Controls, and Internationalization (Language Targeting).
Paul also did a demo to show how to utilize both Visual Studio 2010 & Expression Blend to separate the Developer and Designer Roles. “XAML is a Language that both your Developers and Designers can speak”, Paul explained, XAML creates a common ground so everyone is on the same page. Separating the Concerns in your project can allow a team to avoid software that ends up as depicted below.
Just before Lunch Angie Lim hit the stage to let Developers know that there are many ways in which Microsoft is trying to help. There are various “Spark” programs that give the tools businesses or developers need in order to be successful. Guelph Coffee and Code has a great post that explains each Spark Program, or you can ask for more in depth information from Angie.
After the Lobby cleared from the Lunch break, The crowd were wooed by the presentation styling of Barry Gervin and David Lloyd. Barry took the audience into a magical adventure, with an overview of the new Code Reporting, and Visualization features of Visual Studio 2010. These features offer Developers an easy visual representation of how the application functions, which could increase the speed of a learning curve when getting acquainted or re-acquainted with a legacy project.
David took to the stage to in full force covering the Bigger and Better Team Foundation Server. His demonstration featured an “advanced” calculator, focusing on unit testing, build automation, and Gated Check-ins. David reached out for his QA Specialist Debra Forsyth to run through a QA Cycle on his Calculator.
Debra ran through her test cycles by demoing the new Test & Lab Manager. Test Manager gives much more power to the QA teams, allowing them to Record test cases to gain a library of Automated tests. Debra made developers sweat when showing that there are no more “could not reproduce” excuses. Test Centre allows Quality Assurance testing to take screen shots, and even videos of each step of the testing process. With the advanced Testing Framework, and Lab management features of Visual Studio 2010 don’t be surprised to find many developers like this when you arrive at work in the morning:
To put the over 400 developers that attended the At the Movies session at ease, ObjectSharp broke out the Snacks and Energy Drinks. During the break the ObjectSharp staff went around engaging the crowd in personal chats. Barry Gervin came around to the group that I was in, here’s a picture of the chat also involving Sasha Krsmanovic from Telerik.
Next up Rob Windsor displays his passion for Sharepoint 2010 in front of the twitching crowd. Rob covers how Sharepoint has evolved, explaining the Architecture change in the massive Sharing and Collaboration Web Application. Rob then stepped into how the Development process has been nicely integrated into the Visual Studio 2010 IDE. Sharepoint 2010 has expanded even further allowing for consumption of List data in Console or WPF applications using WCF Data Services. I must apologize to Rob as I missed a good portion of his presentation, due to loosing track of time during the break.
Motoring through to the end of the day, Colin Bowern takes to the stage with an Electrifying presentation filled with Shocking imagery, Lightening fast code generation using Snippets. Colin outlined the new clean code that is generated in ASP.NET 4.0, contrasting the old method of Table based coding behavior and new List based html that “The rest of the development world has bee doing for sometime.” His example of the power of ASP.NET Routing, which began as a feature of MVC, can quickly and easily provide Search Friendly URLS to any existing Website without an abundance of code. He also showed the adoption of the jQuery library in Visual Studio 2010, and a quick example of the advance HTML Templates that can be used without any server code. Colin finished up by demonstrating some of the ASP.NET MVC framework and how the use of the framework gives a developer much more control over the html output.
As everyone [The smart ones that stuck around] awaited the prizes at the end of the day, that were provided by Microsoft Canada, Telerik, and Object Sharp. This gives you an idea of the size of the crowd that this free event pulls in. Make sure to keep your eyes open for next years event announcement!
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Wednesday, 6 January 2010 16:45 by
SyntaxC4A new year is upon us, and things are starting to get back into full swing. Guelph Coffee and Code will be meeting tomorrow for the first time this year but I couldn’t wait to give an update on the things that are happening in our group.
Telerik creators of productivity tools for the .NET Platform,
including my new favorite code analysis and refactoring tool JustCode, will be sponsoring Guelph Coffee and Code. Telerik will be providing us with some swag to give away at some meetings, and they would like to help get our own website [GuelphCoffeeAndCode.org] up and running using their product Sitefinity .NET CMS.
If you haven’t been out to Guelph Coffee and Code it’s never too late to start coming out, be sure to check out the Coffee and Code Website for details of each event. Pizza is provided to group members by Microsoft Canada.
If you would like to help out Guelph Coffee and Code and become a sponsor contact me or find me on twitter @SyntaxC4.
I’d like to thank Microsoft Canada, Telerik, Synn Studios and all of the members of Guelph Coffee and Code for making this community event possible. I’d also like to give credit to Joey deVilla for inventing the Coffee and Code event.
Friday, 11 December 2009 07:36 by
SyntaxC4
It’s an amazing how one simple concept can grow an amazing community. It all started with one simple question What’s Brewing Here? Joey deVilla, Developer Evangelist, Microsoft Canada, took to the streets to work one day a week in a coffee shop in order to connect with local Developers. I wasn’t able to attend the first Coffee and Code, but I thought the idea was brilliant. I decided that it was something that was simple enough to do that I would start my own Coffee and Code group, thus Guelph Coffee and Code was born, the Tuesday following the first [Toronto] Coffee and Code.
Tonight we wrapped up the 41st meeting of Guelph Coffee and Code, and it’s come a long way from me sitting by myself at a local Coffee shop. We have recently moved into a new venue ‘Synnema’ a screening room for a local media production company Synn Studios. This new location will give us the ability to do presentations, and collaborate as an entire team as opposed to micro teams.
I have started to plan for the Anniversary of Guelph Coffee and Code, which would officially land on February 24th, but will be held on March 4th. My Plan is to bring Educators, Publishers and Software Vendors into Coffee and Code to give our community a chance to learn about what is out there for them to Advance their skills, or increase productivity with third party tools.
If you would like to attend, or sponsor the event [Door Prize, or Funding] please contact me through either the Contact Form or by snapping my Microsoft Tag.
