Data Management
The Microsoft platform is rich with data related technologies. The Data Management track at Visual Studio Live! focuses on some of the most important data related technologies. The information in these sessions will enable you to manage your data for Windows, RIA, Web and Cloud computing applications.
Mobile Development
The rapid adoption of portable computing devices, both phones and pads/slates/tablets) is having an amazing impact on how people think about interacting with computers and applications. The portability, multi-touch, high-resolution screens, voice recognition and other features that are the hallmarks of these devices define a new way of thinking about application interface design. This track will familiarize you with technologies you can use to build applications for Windows Phone 7 (WP7), Android and iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch) devices.
Silverlight / WPF
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Silverlight are rapidly becoming the dominant UI technologies for Windows clients and Windows Phone devices. This track has sessions to get you up to speed on these technologies and help you transition from previous UI technologies. If you are already familiar with the technologies, we have sessions that’ll build your skills and help you reach the next level of productivity.
Visual Studio 2010 / .NET
Everything rests on .NET, and .NET 4 has exciting capabilities that apply to any type of .NET application. Of course your gateway to all .NET development is Visual Studio 2010, which enhances many existing Visual Studio features and adds others. Perhaps most exciting are the new features around debugging, architecture and application lifecycle management (ALM). We’ll give you the information you need to understand and leverage the power of .NET 4 and Visual Studio 2010.
Developing Services
The Internet is shifting from a provider of HTML content to a provider of data and behavior through services. The .NET platform provides support for REST, SOAP and OData through WCF (Windows Communication Foundation), Windows Server AppFabric, and other key technologies.
Cloud Computing
Many people believe the future of application development is in the cloud. Cloud computing offers flexible scalability and may provide a less expensive way to host many applications. Microsoft has introduced Azure as its platform for cloud computing, and has many other technologies that also work well in a cloud computing environment. Even if you aren’t ready for Azure today, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with cloud computing!
Programming Practices
While individual technologies are important, project success is as much about the intangibles as the technology. This track focuses on the things we all know we need to do for success. These include building and maintaining healthy teams; supporting those teams by leveraging methodologies such as SCRUM and Kanban; and tools such as Visual Studio testing and Team Foundation Server (TFS).
LightSwitch
Through the 1990’s Microsoft built its success by providing tools that enabled rapid software development. Redmond has renewed its focus on such tooling with the new Visual Studio LightSwitch product, which supports the rapid creation of n-tier Silverlight line of business applications.
Web / HTML 5
The Web is undergoing a transitional shift as more parts of HTML 5 emerge in various browsers. At the same time, Microsoft’s embrace of jQuery as a tool for enabling rich behaviors and interactivity in the browser impacts how every ASP.NET developer thinks about building web applications, whether with Web Forms or MVC. Microsoft continues innovating in the web development space with Web tools and technologies such as ASP.NET MVC 3, WebMatrix, and Razor.