MSDN Flash - Volume 10, Number 24, December 4, 2006

  • Article

From the Editor

Windows Vista is here, and so is the new . The new MSDN Developer Center includes a wealth of information and resources, starting with why you should develop on Windows Vista and diving deeper into reference materials, documentation, downloads and online communities. The Windows Vista Developer Center is the ideal resource for developers who want to develop on the ideal platform. And don't forget, if you're an MSDN subscriber you can download the Vista and 2007 Office system bits today via .

Speaking of Developer Centers, take a swing by the and be sure to check out the newly released , designed to manage database change and improve software quality through database testing.

Spotlight on: Visual Studio Team System for Database Professionals

Visual Studio Team 2005 Edition for Database Professionals delivers a market-shifting database development product designed to manage database change, improve software quality through database testing, and bring the benefits of Visual Studio Team System and life cycle development to the database professional.

Get ready to fire up your solutions with hot new skills and coding techniques. These free sessions will tackle every tier of your applications, with lots of time to ask questions and share crib notes with your peers.

This quarter, we'll be covering topics including "Take Control of the Database Development Lifecycle with Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals."

Spotlight on: ASP.NET AJAX (formerly code-named "Atlas")

Download and install the Beta release of ASP.NET AJAX v1.0, a free framework for quickly creating a new generation of more efficient, more interactive and highly-personalized Web experiences that work across all the most popular browsers.

Learn how Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 can help you create rich and dynamic Web applications with fewer lines of code. Throughout this series of webcasts, we show you how to accelerate application development with new controls, use features to build rich and personalized Web sites, extend and customize ASP.NET for your enterprise, and more.

...including special offers on "Introducing Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions," and "Course 5230 - Developing Enhanced Web Experience with Microsoft ASP.NET for AJAX."

News for Students

Don't just think it, blog it. These days blogs are everywhere, written by anyone from an at-home enthusiast to head product developers. Reading blogs is a great way to begin, sharpen, or extend your knowledge of Microsoft products and technologies. Tune in to for a discussion of many beginner-level topics, or for more advanced topics. As you discover blogs that interest you, subscribe to them using the in .

Writing a blog allows others to learn from your experiences and helps you to develop strong communications skills. You can post about projects you've worked on at home or at school using , a desktop application that makes it easier to compose compelling blog entries using or your current blog service.

Leaning toward Web development? Get started with by participating in the , or extend your skills with .

Missing out on free software? Ask if your department is a member of the .

Web Resources

• Custom workflow activities are one of the most important aspects of the Windows Workflow Foundation and there are many features to consider when building them.

• The patterns & practices (p&p) team at Microsoft recently began publishing software factories, collections of guidance assets-tools, reusable code, documentation, reference implementations to help automate the process of building software according to accepted patterns and predefined standards.

See the top sessions, interviews and highlights from Tech·Ed: Developers on the Virtual Side.

iBATIS couples objects with stored procedures or SQL statements using an XML descriptor. Simplicity is the biggest advantage of the iBATIS Data Mapper over object relational mapping tools.

Aleksandar Seovic and Mark Pollack talk about Spring.NET, an application framework that brings AOP and a dependency injection container to .NET.

Use the VBA skills you already have to add new functionality to your VBA solutions.

Extend Access 2007 by creating and incorporating managed add-ins into your applications.

Customizing and Branding Web Content Management-Enabled SharePoint Sites
Check out this new series about using SharePoint Server 2007 to create sites that support Web content management (WCM):

Microsoft real-time collaboration solutions can help financial services firms become more agile and responsive, more cost-effective, and more secure.

Security for Developers

David Litchfield (of NGSSoftware and ) has published a paper that compares the vulnerability track record of Microsoft SQL and Oracle databases over the past 6 years.

Help refine and enhance product features by trying and sending feedback on the Community Technology Preview of SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Get an overview of all the Office system programs, servers, services, and tools that help developers to build solutions.

The APIs you need to develop Mobile PC and Tablet PC applications for Windows Vista are now available. For more on the relationship between the programming model and tools for developing Windows Vista applications, see the page.

Case Studies, KB Articles, & How-tos

i-Deal's financial services software automates complex processes for raising money through equity debt and municipal new issues. SQL Server 2005 simplifies workflow, including easy detection of slow queries, lower cost to tune stored procedures, and sophisticated reporting back to clients.

To consolidate and standardize development tools and processes, HP used Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server to deliver APPRISE, an enterprise-wide solution that supports and enforces HP's own development methodologies, processes, and reporting needs.

By using Visual Studio 2005, Worldspan developed and implemented a gateway that was more flexible, performed significantly better, and saved the company US$1 million almost immediately.

SQL Server KB Articles

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C/C++ KB Articles

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Training

For a limited time, get free Visual Studio courses like Developing Enhanced Web Experience with Microsoft ASP.NET for AJAX and save on related e-learning.

For a limited time, get an exclusive 40% discount on our brand new SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services DVD or CD based training courseware.

Hot Off the Press! New Books from Microsoft Press

• • Get sample chapters and a 45% discount on Microsoft ASP.NET 2.0 Step by Step and related titles for a limited time.

This premium clinic from Microsoft E-Learning covers Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 platform features, how to build and extend SharePoint Sites, and deployment options.

SQL Server 2005 for Developers On-Demand Web Seminar Series

This series covers topics such as .NET CLR integration, T-SQL Enhancements, new client-side features, server management objects, the XML data type, and much more.

December 13 - 15, 10:00 A.M. Pacific time
The newest 2007 Microsoft Office system is designed specifically with ISV developers in mind - it can now be used to create an entirely new breed of programs called Office Business Applications.

January 29 - February 2, 2007, 1:00 P.M. Pacific

December 11 - 13, 1:00 P.M. Pacific
This series will demonstrate the new features of Windows Vista, its breakthrough user experience, and the programming capabilities with .NET 3.0. We'll also touch on the features and benefits of WPF, WCF and WWF.

January 22 - 26, 2007, 1:00 P.M. Pacific time

Each CD includes three hours of training with a retail value of US$115.

Each AppDev Training Suite includes five in-depth courses plus official Measure Up practice exams, covering everything you need to know and more to pass your certification exams.

This virtual lab will show you to how to create and open a Web site folder, develop a static Web page, insert images, text, and hyperlinks, and manage preferences to ensure your desired standards support.

This virtual lab shows you how to create page layouts with CSS, apply styles for text and images, save styles to external sheets, and attach an external style sheet to multiple Web pages.

Partner News

ReSharper UnitRun Now Free

Run, analyze, profile, navigate failed tests, and re-run unit tests right from within Visual Studio 2005.

New features include: ability to create a logged-in PersistenceManager, programmatic databindings, and synchronized GridBindingManagers with Grid Designers.

Speed up development in mission-critical projects with O/RM today. Integrate with LINQ without starting over from scratch.

Understand how and why SOA policies must be implemented dynamically by the runtime environment to enable an adaptive enterprise SOA.

International Events

Through May 2007, worldwide
See how Microsoft Windows Embedded products are revolutionizing the way that people work and live. Attend a free OEM Technical Seminar and find out how Microsoft Windows Embedded can help you quickly configure, build, and ship your next device.

January - March 2007, worldwide

January - April 2007, worldwide
Virtualization experts will teach you how to take advantage of Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2.

MSDN Events

Ignite Your Coding Skills

This winter's going to sizzle! Get ready to fire up your solutions with hot new skills and coding techniques. These free sessions will tackle every tier of your applications, with lots of time to ask questions and share crib notes with your peers.

This quarter, we'll be covering the following topics:

• Take Control of the Database Development Lifecycle with Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals

• Windows Workflow Foundation Exposed

• Create Cutting-Edge Web Designs with Expression Web

Check out the for a full list of cities and dates.