Selected sessions for PDC 2008

Microsoft Visual C# IDE: Tips and Tricks

Spend time with Coding4Fun authors as they walk through some DIY Development projects: TwitterVote, Wiimote, InnerTube, and BabySmash.

In the near future, applications will be developed using a combination of custom application code and online building block services, including data-centric services. In this session we discuss advancements in the Microsoft development platform and online service interfaces to enable seamless interaction with data services both on-premises (e.g., ADO.NET Data Services Framework over on-premises SQL Server) and in the cloud (e.g., SQL Server Data Services). Learn how you can leverage existing know-how related to LINQ (Language Integrated Query), data access APIs, data-binding, and more when building applications using online data.

See Microsoft Research present new technologies for developing, debugging, and deploying web applications. Hear how BAM can turn a simple specification into a web-based cloud application with the click of a button. Learn how AjaxScope and Doloto automatically instrument and rewrite your web applications' JavaScript code for end-to-end monitoring and optimization.

Come learn how the next version of Visual Studio and the Microsoft .NET Framework can help you write better performing and more scalable applications. We take a tour of new .NET APIs, including the Task Parallel Library (TPL) and Parallel LINQ (PLINQ). We also introduce new features in the debugger that help you quickly identify concurrency issues and visualize the internal state of your application.

Learn how to catch critical bugs earlier in the development cycle by identifying issues such as buffer overruns and SQL injection attacks before they actually cause a security exploit. The Code Analysis features in Visual Studio help you tune application security, robustness, performance, and more. Learn about Code Analysis (for native and managed) and how to apply it effectively within your team's development lifecycle. Also hear about new features in Visual Studio 2010, including the new Rule Sets feature that makes it easy to manage, configure, and maintain rules.

Performance must be considered in each step of the development lifecycle. See how to integrate performance in design, development, testing, tuning, and production. Work with tools and technologies like: static analysis, managed memory profiling, data population, load testing, and performance reports. Learn best practices to avoid the performance pitfalls of poor CPU utilization, memory allocation bugs, and improper data sizing.

In this talk Microsoft Technical fellow and C# Chief Architect Anders Hejlsberg outlines the future of C#. He describes the many forces that influence and shape the future of programming languages and explain how they fit into C#.

If you're using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), or Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), then XAML is your new best friend! Learn how an entire application-from presentation to data to services to workflow--can be authored using simple, declarative XAML notations introduced in the next version of the .NET Framework. Learn about XAML additions like: support for generics, object references, non-default constructors, and more.

The next version of Visual Studio moves beyond add-ins and packages to unleash powerful new ways to customize and extend the environment. Learn about the Visual Studio extension model-built on a common Microsoft .NET extensibility framework--that makes it easy to customize Visual Studio in new ways. See how to create extensions for the new code editor and project system, and hear how to build your own graphical designers and specialized development environments.

Learn about the next major release of Virtual Earth. See the improvements to our parsing and geo-coding engines, clustering, localization, and routing. Hear how the new Virtual Earth Web Services provide server-side support for building location-based applications on desktops and mobile devices.