Developer.Blog();

When Microsoft announced Visual Studio LightSwitch, I was pretty excited. Despite many gurus and non-gurus saying this was the end of the world, I saw LightSwitch as a great opportunity. Let me explain for a moment.

Fifteen to twenty years ago, FoxPro was a great end-user tool. It was great for developers, but end users could create quick and dirty applications with it. These applications solved real business problems in a short amount of time for little money. But at some point the business person realized they were in over their head and called on professional programmers to add functionality. Yes, the original program was a mess. Yes, it was often easier to start over, but the business user had gotten great use out of their creation, sometimes lasting years before they had to call in the pros. Many times these applications were ones that the business couldn’t afford to hire a pro in the first place. In the end, the use of these home-grown apps didn’t negatively affect the professional developer. In fact, I say it gave us more opportunity.

But FoxPro wasn’t the only tool used. Microsoft also had Access. FoxPro eventually morphed into Visual FoxPro and became a pure developer tool and today is no longer being updated by Microsoft. Access, on the other hand, continues to be sold. Thousands of Access applications exist in the same way thousands of FoxPro apps existed. The business user needed to solve a problem, in a hurry, with little cost. However, Access is morphing. Microsoft is pushing it to become a front-end tool for SharePoint development.

Where is the business user to go? They still need quick and dirty apps at a low cost to solve business problems. To fill this need, Microsoft created Visual Studio LightSwitch. It’s a version of Visual Studio customized for the business user. When you create applications, you use a simple designer to specify your data and screens. The VS templates handle the heavy lifting. The apps are created in Silverlight 4 and can be run locally or over the web. You can connect to different data sources and even export to Office. In reality, there is little difference between what the user can do with LightSwitch and what they’ve been doing for years with FoxPro or Access.

Since the announcment, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of the first Beta bits. And today was the day. And my first actual impression is not good. Originally I got compile errors on the Microsoft supplied Vision Clinic walk-through. An assembly or namespace from the generated code was missing. The reference was in the project, but I couldn’t manually modify the generated code. Fail #1.

I decided to try a different machine. I again downloaded the bits, ran the install, and started my way through Vision Clinic again. This time the compile succeeded and I was able get the first part of the application running. Success #1.

The next step instructed me to download the “PrescriptionContso” database from the “Connect” site. So, up to the Internet I went and searched the Connect site. No luck. How about code.msdn.com? Nope. CodePlex? Nope. Bing search? Nothing. Fail #2. At this point, I quit. I won’t go any further until the docs are fixed. Why not just provide a link to the download so people can find it?

I have some other observations. First, creating entities is a bit cumbersome. I have to click in the Add property field. I can’t just tab into it. Second, when you specify a datatype for the property, three of the choices are Int16, Int32, and Int64. The average business user won’t understand the difference between these and could actually choose the wrong one. I also got the properties in the wrong order. I put LastName before FirstName when creating the Entity. I couldn’t find a way to move them. Because the generator puts the properties in the order specified in the Entity, this is a problem. Finally, the walk-through has you create a couple of  things callled a “Choice List”. It’s really a pick list mechanism. The first time a Choice List is specified, you are instructed to use values 1-3. The second time it’s 0-2. No explanation as to why this is different. Again, an average business user won’t understand this. The walk-through should provide some type of explanation about what the values mean.

I understand this is Beta 1 and changes will be made, but right now, I’m stopped because the docs are not ready to go. I still have great hope for LightSwitch and see it as a valuable business tool. I just hope Microsoft at least gets the documentation fixed soon.

Code Camps have been going on for some time now here in Utah, but there are so many other events that the community can sponsor. So, the Utah Code Camp organizers have created utahgeekevents.com. We had hoped to have a complete web site set up and running before our next event, but the launch of Visual Studio 2010 has pushed us to go public sooner than planned. So, right now, when you go to utahgeekevents.com, you get redirected to utahcodecamp.com.

Our first event is the Visual Studio 2010 Community Launch, Thursday May 20 from 1-4 at the Microsoft offices in the International Center. You need to register to attend. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Go to www.utahgeekevents.com
2. Sign in or join as a member
3. Register to attend VS2010 Community Launch

We’re working on updating the rest of the web site and working on other events. Some ideas we have are SQL Saturday, Day of .NET, and Utah Fall Code Camp. We’re open to suggestions if there’s a community event you want to see. Just let us know.

I got word last night from Microsoft that they are holding two launch events in Salt Lake City.
Both are on May 5. The morning is for Office/SharePoint 2010 and runs from 8:00-12:00. The second, for Visual Studio 2010, runs 1:00-5:00. Both events are at the Microsoft offices in the International Center, just west of the airport. Seating is VERY limited, so you’ll need to register today.

This past weekend was a Code Camp weekend. We had our Utah Code Camp on Saturday, then when it was over, I jumped in the car and drove 4 1/2 hours to Boise for day two of the Boise Code Camp. Both were great and I look forward to the next camp at both locations. Slides and sample code for my presentations at both camps are available here.

Thanks to everyone that attended Utah Code Camp yesterday. As one of the organizers, I was encouraged to hear great feedback and we got some suggestions for our next Code Camp this fall. Please fill out the eval. You should see a link in your inbox soon.

We tried something different this time, the “Quasi Open Spaces/Coding Dojo”. While there wasn’t much dojo going on, the open spaces part was really fun and people seemed to like it. We’ll take it into account for future Code Camps.

I also want to thank those that attended my session. This was the first time I had presented the topic and got some positive feedback. Please go to www.speakerrate.com/craigber and rate the session. Also, again, fill out the Code Camp eval once you get the link.

I look forward to our next Code Camp this fall. Watch this space for the date.

I just learned that the No Fluff Just Stuff seminars is making a stop in Salt Lake City July 9-10. This is a Java/Agile conference. No details are available yet other then the date, but you can sign up to get info when it’s released.

Another excerpt from my book Continuous Integration in .NET is available. You can read Continuous Code Analysis with FxCop free. Don’t forget the other excepts that I talk about here.

The summer after I graduated high school, two friends and I set out on a two week, cross country trip. We left Salt Lake City and headed north into Canada, then took the Trans-Canada highway east. We came back into the US at Niagra Falls, made a stop in Boston, then across the US and back home.

One place I remember visiting is Regina, Saskatchawan. It sits out on the plains, north of Montana/North Dakota state line. I remember how beautiful it was there. I also remember visiting a museum.

Several years ago, I met Fox guru Doug Hennig at a FoxPro conference and learned he was from Regina. He was surprised to hear that not only did I know where Regina is, but that I had been there.

Now I get a chance to visit again. I will be speaking at the Prairie DevCon, June 2 & 3 in Regina. My topics are “Continuous Integration in .NET” and “Continuous Integration in .NET…the Next Steps”. I’ve seen the list of speakers and topics. It looks like a great conference. Oh, and my friend Doug will be speaking too.

Every February, Denver hosts a great mini conference, the Rocky Mountain Tech Trifecta. It’s like a Code Camp with sessions on Windows, SQL, and .NET. This year it’s on Saturday, Feb. 27. I’ve been confirmed as a speaker again this year. My topic is “Domain Driven Design in .NET’. I’m looking forward to being in Denver again this year. If you’re anywhere in the Colorado area, I hope you can make it too.

Wow! Has it really been three months since my last post? Well, I have a good reason for it. I’ve been hard at work, along with Marcin, on our book, Continuous Integration in .NET. We’ve had some speed bumps along the way, but I think we’re now working well together.

For those of you who don’t know, Marcin is from Poland and I am from the US. We got to meet in person in November when I was in Germany for the German FoxPro DevCon.

So, what have we been busy doing? Writing and editing of course. The first eight chapters have been written, but not edited to the point we can MEAP them. However, earlier tonight Manning posted the first MEAP for Chapters 3 and 4. That means you now have access to 1/3 of the book!

Wondering what’s new? Chapter 3 introduces MSBuild as an automation build platform for .NET Continuous Integration. The chapter begins with the basics, then takes you through the usage of community contributed functionality. By the end, you’ll be developing your own custom build tasks.

Chapter 4 guides you through the process of choosing the right CI server for your needs. It covers CruiseControl.NET, TeamCity, and TFS 2010. After you finish reading Chapter 4, you should be able to navigate your way through the options of the CI world.

Keep an eye out for Chapter 5, which will look at diverse feedback mechanisms provided by CI servers.