TechBlog Shifted !

Sorry all..

this is my 2nd shift in last 2 years.
But I promise that this time, its for the last time.

Please update ur Favourites/Blogrolls/Feeds :

http://blog.bhavikvora.com
http://blog.bhavikvora.com/syndication.axd

Silverlight and more !!!

Hi all,

Its been long time since i wnated to start with Silverlight but b’cos of the internship, i cudn’t. Nyways my internship is nearing its end on 27th July, 07 (hopefully i’ll reach home on 29th). Now i can look forward to learn Silverlight.

For Silverlight, need to have a good understanding of .NET 3.0 architechture, specifically WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation). I am planning to do the same in this semester and hopefully learn a bit to get a headstart !;)

Toolset : Visual Studio C# 2008 ”Orcas” Express Edition Beta 1, Expression Blend and Design (i have them all.. ), and ofcourse Silverlight SDK

Resources : (imcomplete list.. will keep this updated..)

http://silverlight.net - Homepage
http://www.plentyofcode.com/2007/07/what-is-microsoft-silverlight.html - Good list which is updated
http://silverlight.live.com/ - Microsoft Silverlight Streaming – Admin Home
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb404713.aspx - Silverlight Architechture
http://www.netikatech.com/products/ - WinForms on Silverlight :O

Blogs :

http://blogs.msdn.com/mharsh/
http://silverlighting.blogspot.com/
http://silverlightrocks.com/cs/default.aspx

Demos or Vids :

Getting started with silverlight - Scott Guthrie demos how to build an app from scratch
“How Do I?” with Silverlight 1.0 
“How Do I?” with Silverlight 1.1
Using Blend with Silverlight 1.0
http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blogs/mikeg/silverlight1/SilverlightContent.aspx

Getting Started :

http://aspalliance.com/1334_Building_Web_Pages_Using_Microsoft_Silverlight
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/silverlight/default.aspx

VS2008, SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 to be realeased on 27th Feb

As the title says it all.. Miscrosoft is gearing up for biggest releases since Vista. The Visual Studio Family gets an Upgrade – the Visual Studio “Orcas” 2008 is already out on Beta 1. To download the Beta1, check out the following link -http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/aa700831.aspx

and for express versions – http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/future/default.aspx

Well the major upgrades on this family of VS (as far as i know.. will add in more as i come to know)

• Based on .NET Framework 3.5 (get the Beta1 of the framework here – http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=e3715e6f-e123-428b-8a0f-028afb9e0322&displaylang=en. Its still possible to make applications targetting .NET 2.0 or 3.0
• The VS now has support for designing of XAML forms (winforms – WPF) targetting development for Windows Vista 
• no complete support of Silverlight(WPF/E) as of now (is it rite ?)
• improved support for HTML and ASPX pages.
• CSS functionality greatly derived from the Expression Web Suite. – so no need of getting a WYSIWUG editor specially for editing the look and feel of the webpages.
• VS web developer has full support for ATLAS (ASP.NET AJAX) web applications.
• Also included is complete intellisense for Javascript (wich had been missin from the 2005 studio family)
• Ability to store/get data from LINQ sources. LINQ is a new query language which is toatally integrated in .NET 3.5 and aims at making the data access process faster implementing it the first-class method way amd executing richer queries. Rich queries that you could previously only write in SQL or in XQuery, you can now write in the language you work with – C# or VB.NET which can work with any datasource – XML, Relational dB or object dB without a change in the way you query these types.

well differnce between .NET 3.0 and 3.5 – as told by ScottGu – “.NET 3.5 will have a number of new framework library features – including LINQ, new ASP.NET features and controls, built-in ASP.NET AJAX support, new WPF enhancements, and other assorted goodies.”

About Windows Server “Longhorn” 2008 – unofficially its has been completed(check here – ).. cheers to MSFT but still the Beta3 is available for download from this location – http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/audsel.mspx

And lastly SQL Server “Katmai” 2008 – i dont know much on the features but it has mostly to do with the Object Databases – Querying and Analysis. SQL Server 2008 R3 is Available for download Developer Edition (x86 and x64)- https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/content/content.aspx?ContentID=5395
(see right hand section, u need to register and then will be able to download)

 Finally heres a Vista gadget that you can use to keep a track of the no of days remaining for the biggest wave of product launch - http://www.wedsg.com/winclient/vistasidebargadget/download.htm