I am very excited to note that the F# PowerPack has been released for VS2010. So what are you waiting for? Go grab it!
Also, I had performed some tests comparing F# with C# data access and was surprised by the results. Once I get the PowerPack installed for VS2010, I want to re-run it and see if it runs any differently in .NET 4.0, then I’ll post what I found.
Karl Shifflett and Jaime Rodriguez will be traveling to Los Angeles, London, New York, Chicago, and Phoenix to teach WPF MVVM for line-of-business apps. If you are interested, you can read more on their training event information and registration page.
I enjoyed reading Jaime Rodriguez’s thoughts on the Silverlight news from MIX 09. Very good info; however, I still think that most WPF apps will begin moving to Silverlight unless those additional features are needed. In most layered architectures, workflows, et. al. are created and used in the service layer, not the presentation layer. Silverlight as Moonlight is also the only option for Mono compiled apps, and I don’t believe the Mono Project plans on adding WPF in full. So for complete cross-platform re-use, you’ll need to stick to Silverlight.
Curious about the next version of Enterprise Library? Why not vote on what you want to see? Grigori Melnik has posted the link to a poll where you can help Microsoft prioritize the features you want in Enterprise Library 5. Vote today!
I was reading Faculty of the Mind in Google Reader this morning and saw a link to the Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship. JB and I have been following some of the craftsmanship discussions, also nicely summarized on Faculty of the Mind. I read over the manifesto, agreed with it, and as I went to the bottom to sign it, I saw JB’s name. Looks like we’re both on board. How about you?
This makes me really happy. Thank you, Microsoft, for listening and reaching out to your community.
Another Oxite, indeed. My Google Reader reported a flood of activity in the AppArch CodePlex wiki, the majority of which was updated patterns pages with “BETA – Published for Community Feedback. This page is a wiki. Please provide your feedback in the comments below,” at the top. The Application Architecture Guide, v2 is now back in beta status after the flood of community feedback following its December 2008 “final” release.
I’m glad to see Microsoft respond to the community. I find great hope in Microsoft’s future in their willingness to listen and respond. If only they would do so sooner rather than later, they would have a much better reputation with the community. Nevertheless, I’m pleased with their desire to dialogue with the community to improve their guidance.
Now, if you are an architect or developer with experience in the areas for which Microsoft is offering guidance, speak up. Help provide the response for which Microsoft is asking. This is a great opportunity for us to bridge the relationship we have with the team at Microsoft providing the tools we use daily.
I followed Microsoft P&P’s Application Architecture Guide‘s progress closely, right up until the point it was released. I still haven’t read it all the way through, and at this point, I might not. J.D. Meier posted several of the pattern diagrams today, and I was quite surprised by what I saw. I posted a comment on the Web Application with Domain Entity Application Pattern post, but I think a few others say it much better:
To their credit, I noticed the App Arch guys added a how-to for DDD, and after a brief scan, I don’t think it looks half bad.
What are some of your thoughts? Have any of you read the guidance? Should it be called guidance? Are those of us who are dissatisfied wrong, and if so, what are we missing?
For those interested in Composite Application Guidance for WPF and Silverlight, a.k.a. Prism, the Patterns and Practices crew has released their ninth drop, and this one is a doozie. Most of the reference implementation has been implemented for Silverlight, along with a re-skin for the Silverlight implementation and Quick Start for pull-based view resolution. You can find the drop here.
Luca Bolognese recently posted a new library that makes Excel’s financial functions available through .NET managed code without going through Excel! This is excellent news for anyone working on a financial or LOB app. Luca created the library to mimic the Excel functions, including errors or bugs, in F#. The release comes in two versions: a smaller .dll that will run on an installed F# installation and a larger, stand alone .dll for those who do not wish to deploy F#.
Check it out at the MSDN Code Gallery.