The Channel 9 Learning Center

If you want to learn the latest Microsoft technologies such as V2010 and .NET 4.0, Windows Azure, and SharePoint 2010, then check it out the training course available at Channel 9 Learning Center:

http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/

LIDNUG LinkedIn .NET Users Group

Linked .NET Users Group (LIDNUG) is an official INETA .NET User Group with online presentations through Live Meeting.

These are some upcoming events in the next few weeks:

• Brian Harry talks about VSTS 2010, April 30, 12:30 PM PST - http://events.linkedin.com/LIDNUG-Brian-Harry-Visual-Studio-Team/pub/54208
• Stephen Toub talks about the .NET Parallel Extensions, May 7, 12:00 PM PST - http://events.linkedin.com/LINDUG-Stephen-Toub-NET-Parallel/pub/60569
• Scott Guthrie talks shop with developers, May 11, 11:30 AM PST - http://events.linkedin.com/LIDNUG-ScottGu-talks-shop-developers/pub/60571

You can also have their complete schedule from the following calendar links:

• HTML: http://isaacabraham.calendar.live.com/calendar/Linked+In+.NET+User+Group+Events/index.html
• RSS: http://isaacabraham.calendar.live.com/calendar/Linked+In+.NET+User+Group+Events/calendar.xml
• ICS: webcal:/ /isaacabraham.calendar.live.com/calendar/Linked+In+.NET+User+Group+Events/calendar.ics

I am looking forward to attend their presentations. Enjoy!!

Edmonton Code Camp 2008 - Comming on November 29th

The Edmonton Code Camp 2008 is a one-day developer conference driven by the local developer community. This year, it will be on Saturday, November 29th at:

Grant MacEwan College
Building #5, Downtown Campus (map)
Edmonton, AB

I attended this event last year and I was impressed with the organization and quality of presentations. This event is completely free and topics are based on community interest. See more details here. Do not miss it, it is highly recommended!

TechDays Canada 2008

Unfortunately I will not be attending PDC this year, but Microsoft is organizing TechDays Canada 2008. Of course it is not the same thing, but it is still an interesting event for Canadian developers. It is a 2 day event with tracks for developers and IT folks, see the sessions info here.

They will have in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Too bad they do not have in my hometown Edmonton, but I can just drive south to Calgary.

The early bird registration, until October 29th, is $249.99 for the two days event. It is pretty cheap and you will still get free Visual Studio 2008 Professional, MS Expression Web 2, TechEd 2008 DVD Set, and 30% off Certification voucher.

If you are a .NET developer living in Canada, do not miss this.

I hope to see you there in Calgary on December 10 & 11.

Heroes Happen {Here} in Edmonton

Last week I went to the Heroes Happen {Here} event in the Scotiabank Theatre. This event was for the launch of Windows Server 2008, Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and Microsoft Visual Studio 2008. It was presented by John Bristowe, a Developer Advisor with Microsoft Canada. The presentations were really good and we also received evaluation copies of the products above. I am glad to see this kind of events around here and looking forward for new ones.

The presentations can be found at http://www.microsoft.ca/launchresources.

And there is also the Canadian Developers' Blog.

.NET 3.5 Exams

Since Visual Studio 2008 is already available for MSDN subscribers, I am wondering when the current certifications will change due to this new release.

Currently, the MCPD certification is based on the exams related to VS2005 / .NET 2.0.
According to this blog, there are new exams for .NET 3.5. These exams are:

• 71-502 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 - Windows Presentation Foundation
• 71-503 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 - Windows Communication Foundation
• 71-504 TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 – Windows Workflow Foundation
  

Each exam gives you an MCTS certification in that specific area, but there is no mention if these exams will be incorporated into the MCPD certification. Hopefully, MS announces the new changes for MCPD. For now, I will wait a little bit until this happens since I do not want to waste time studying for obsolete exams.

Roadmap to MCPD Certification

I started working on my MCAD certification a couple of years ago, but didn't finish it. I have completed 70-316 and 70-315 so far. I think this is a good time to take the last exam, and move on to the upgrade to the new MCPD certification. Probably by the time I am done, Microsoft will create a new certification based on MS Visual Studio 2008.
This is my roadmap to get certified:

70-316 (MCP)

70-315

70-320 (MCAD)

70-551 (MCPD: Windows Web Developer)

70-526

70-529

70-549 (MCPD: Enterprise Applications Developer)

Free Training on .NET 3.0 on WCF, WPF, WF

I just found this online training on Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF):

Collection 5134: Developing Rich Experiences with Microsoft® .NET Framework 3.0 and Visual Studio® 2005

It is free and you can access it for 3 years.

Enjoy it!

Refactoring to Patterns

If you are interested in an online course about Refactoring to Patterns, Industrial Logic is offering an online training Refactoring to Patterns Interactive, which costs $150 and provides exercises in C# and Java.

I am looking forward to take this course.