The Patterns and Practices team over at Microsoft had a new version release of their Enterprise Library framework in 27th October with some new features.
On the second PDC 2008 day I got to register for the Azure services platform, and I've been accepted for testing the platform enviroment. For those who don't know what Azure is, or if you think Azure is a new operative system, you should read this:
The Azure™ Services Platform (Azure) is an internet-scale cloud services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers, which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together. Azure’s flexible and interoperable platform can be used to build new applications to run from the cloud or enhance existing applications with cloud-based capabilities. Its open architecture gives developers the choice to build web applications, applications running on connected devices, PCs, servers, or hybrid solutions offering the best of online and on-premises.
Azure reduces the need for up-front technology purchases, and it enables developers to quickly and easily create applications running in the cloud by using their existing skills with the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment and the Microsoft .NET Framework. In addition to managed code languages supported by .NET, Azure will support more programming languages and development environments in the near future. Azure simplifies maintaining and operating applications by providing on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage web and connected applications. Infrastructure management is automated with a platform that is designed for high availability and dynamic scaling to match usage needs with the option of a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Azure provides an open, standards-based and interoperable environment with support for multiple internet protocols, including HTTP, REST, SOAP, and XML.
Microsoft also offers cloud applications ready for consumption by customers such as Windows Live™, Microsoft Dynamics™, and other Microsoft Online Services for business such as Microsoft Exchange Online and SharePoint® Online. The Azure Services Platform lets developers provide their own unique customer offerings by offering the foundational components of compute, storage, and building block services to author and compose applications in the cloud.
From: Azure homepage.
The second day of PDC was all about Windows 7. Microsoft Windows Vice President Steven Sinofsky showed the new OS's main features on stage and after it, the OS was shown on PCs throughout the Los Angeles convention center.
I'll give a nice overview about MEF, the Managed Extensibility Framework going on on codeplex. The Managed Extensibility Framework is a .NET library that enables greater reuse of applications and components. Using MEF, .NET applications can make the shift from being statically compiled to dynamically composed. If you are building extensible applications, extensible frameworks and application extensions, then MEF is for you.
One think I've never heard about was Spec#. And why? Well... It's one more Microsoft Research project from the Redmond guys of the programming Languages and methods group, so it isn't very popular over the web yet.
I've been hearing a lot about "Oslo" on PDC, and I knew there was something coming out. Microsoft released Oslo after it was announced ne year ago and since then a lot of interested people were focused on this, and it sure is an awesome technology.
On the ASP.NET roadmap session we were shown technologies that today make the .NET experience more rich, but aren’t part of the current version ASP.NET.
Windows Azure was announced in today's keynote.
The pre-session I chose to attend on Sunday was "creating Rich Internet Applications with Silverlight", presented by Jeff Prosise, the man behind Wintellect.com
I finally arrived at Los Angeles after 18 hours of flight, totalling 22 hours of travel.