Being a Web developer is hard! Very hard! The world around us changes at a pace that would make most people dizzy. And if you're in the Microsoft space, and using Visual Studio, for example, the release cadence of the IDE is way too slow to keep up. You have to go outside your comfort zone and locate other tools that can help you. Tools that will do what you want, but will still work together with your existing tools. You'll probably also have to leave your Microsoft path and look at non-Microsoft technologies and frameworks. Something that can be a bit scary, to be honest … but you might be surprised by what you find!

A few years ago, Chris Klug returned to Web development after a few years doing other things … cough … Silverlight … cough. What he returned to was a lot different than what he had left. The tools were different, the pace ridiculous and the pressure to keep up high. But he also found a new passion for front-end Web development -- something he wants to share with you during this workshop! So be prepared for a day of ASP.NET Core, Azure, node, npm, gulp, webpack, TypeScript and more!

This workshop is intended for developers who find themselves a bit overwhelmed by today's Web, and the tools and technologies that are emerging. Throughout the day, you'll see different tools and frameworks that will make your life as a front-end Web developer easier, faster and better. Hopefully you'll walk out with an urge to explore these new things or, potentially, you'll have a loathing for Web development. Either way, you'll probably have a new way of looking at Web development!

You will learn:

• Understand what tools Web developers use to optimize their lives
• Understand why using preprocessors makes life easier
• Walk away with an understanding of how a current development situation can be improved using modern techniques