MSDN Flash - Volume 16, Number 24: October 8, 2012

Top Stories

Master Simple F# Code to Solve Complex Problems with Try F#
Try the new Try F# Beta that makes F# 3.0 programming easy to learn, simple to use and share, all through the browser. Experience F# 3.0's unique information-rich programming features for Big Data analytics, and solve complex problems more efficiently. Try the new Try F# Beta today.

Free Ebook: Exploring CQRS and Event Sourcing
This guide from Microsoft patterns & practices is focused on building highly scalable, highly available, and maintainable applications with the Command & Query Responsibility Segregation and the Event Sourcing architectural patterns. It describes the experiences of a development team with no prior CQRS proficiency in building, deploying (to Windows Azure), and maintaining a sample real-world, complex, enterprise system to showcase various CQRS and ES concepts, challenges, and techniques.

Jump Start October 10 - 11: Developing Windows 8 Apps with HTML, CSS and JavaScript
This free Jump Start offers accelerated, engaging, demo-rich virtual learning. It also helps developers seeking the MCSD: Windows Store Apps certification prepare for Microsoft certification exams 70-480 and 70-481. Learn from two seasoned Microsoft Technical Evangelists with real-world experience developing applications using a wide array of platforms and languages.

Your Featured Content

patterns & practices Symposium 2013 Registration Open
January 15 - 17, 2013, Redmond, WA
Learn about practices, patterns, and technologies that will save you time and reduce risk when creating web, mobile, cloud and Windows solutions. The Symposium is also an opportunity to influence p&p and other product teams face-to-face to address the scenarios most important to you.

Building an App for Both Windows Phone and iOS
Find out how you can create an app from scratch that targets both Windows Phone and iPhone, while staying true to the design philosophy and UX features of each platform.

MSDN Virtual Lab: Windows 8 Lab 5: Process Lifetime Management - JavaScript
Process Lifetime Management is one of the most important concepts for a developer building modern UI style apps to understand. Unlike traditional Windows applications, modern UI style apps execute only when they are in the foreground. Get started -download Visual Studio Win8 Express.

MSDN Virtual Lab: Introduction to Cloud Services
Learn to create applications in Windows Azure using web roles and worker roles, use Storage services including blobs, queues, and tables, and publish an application to Windows Azure Cloud Services. Try Windows Azure free for 90 days.

Bytes by MSDN: Windows 8 User Experience
Do design principles hinder innovation? Bonny Lau explains the reasoning behind the Windows 8 user experience and urges developers to leverage design templates as a starting point (not an end point) for design, to push the envelope and build great looking apps. Learn how to make your app the best experience for your users at Generation App.

Bytes by MSDN with John Sheehan: Windows 8 Platform
Learn about the underlying platform for Windows 8. John covers his biggest challenges and proudest moments, and urges developers to stop watching videos and begin building apps. Learn how you can get help building our Windows 8 app at Generation App.

Exploring HTML5 Canvas: Part 7 - Optimizing Animations
In the latest installment of his blog series on HTML5 Canvas, Microsoft Technical Evangelist G. Andrew Duthie shows you some techniques touted for improving performance in canvas animations, and shows you which ones give you the best bang for your coding buck.

Windows 8 Hands-on Labs Online
Through October 25
Learn how to create and customize interesting and easy to use Windows 8 apps in C# or JavaScript. Check out the full list of scheduled classes and dates, and download the Windows 8 RTM and tools.

Free One-Day Windows Azure Developer Camp
Join the free, one-day Windows Azure Developer Camp and leave with code running in the cloud. The camp starts with the basics and builds to more advanced topics throughout the day. Developers of all languages are welcome, so register now and then download the free trial.

OData, the Entity Framework, and Windows Azure Access Control
When Sean Iannuzzi was asked to secure a web service for an existing database and web application, he saw the benefits of using OData, but he didn't think it was secure enough. See how he developed his own custom implementation with extra security.

MSDN Virtual Lab: Windows 8 Lab 6: Settings and Preferences - JavaScript
Add About and Preferences commands to the settings pane in Contoso Cookbook. Expose a user preference that can be toggled, and use roaming settings to store that preference so it will follow users wherever they go. Get started - download Visual Studio Win8 Express.

MSDN Virtual Lab: Introduction to Windows Azure Virtual Machines
Learn how to deploy a simple ASP.NET MVC4 web application to a web server hosted in Windows Azure, using SQL Server and configuring load balancing. Try Windows Azure free for 90 days.

Bytes by MSDN: Windows 8 User Interface
Chris Anderson, long-time UI architect at Microsoft (Windows Forms, WPF), discusses the innovative new standards and features introduced in Windows 8 that enable web developers to build Windows 8 apps more easily. Chris has been focused on the Windows Libraries for JavaScript and urges developers to leverage resources at the Windows devcenter to build apps.

Microsoft DevRadio: How to Brand Your App
Michael Palermo shares how to add a custom splash screen and other simple ways you can make your application's tile look awesome. Watch Developing for Windows 8 in Half the Time (Part 7) and start building your apps today. Sign up for 30 days of help at Generation App.

Windows 8: What I've Learned #5 - Type to Search
Quick tips on great features for developing Windows Store apps for Windows 8: Tip #5 shows you a single line of code to enable "type to search" so users can search the content of your app without first invoking the Search charm.

Windows Azure Hands-on Labs Online
Microsoft experts can provide lab guidance by chatting with you one-on-one or by virtually taking control of your lab. Learn how to create applications using Windows Azure. Try Windows Azure free for 90 days.