November Newsletter

27 November, 2009 at 07:54 | In Newsletter | Leave a Comment
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Welcome

With Christmas just around the corner we’re celebrating the year with two geek dinners. The first in Edinburgh on the 4th December and the second in Glasgow on the 12th December. There are only a few places left as most went when we announced them on Twitter.

If you are on twitter you can follow us @scottishdevs.

If you were signed up to our Advanced TDD event which we had to cancel at the last minute then you may be interested to know that it has been rescheduled and will be on 8th December.

We announced our annual conference, Developer Day Scotland (part of the DDD community conferences), this month too. It will be on the 8th May 2010. The call for speakers is now open, so if you have any sessions (60 minutes) that you’d like to give then please register on the site and submit your session. In the new year we’ll be opening the sessions up to voting so you can have your say on what sessions you want to see. For those on twitter you can follow @dddscot to get the latest news about the conference.

If you run a user group, or just know of an event that would be of interest to software developers we’re always keen to hear about it. Let us know by sending an email to support@scottishdevelopers.com

Regards,
Colin Mackay, Chairman, Scottish Developers

Our Upcoming Events

4-December-2009 @ 19:30 in Edinburgh
Edinburgh Geek Dinner – Amber Restaurant
Registration Required

8-December-2009 @ 18:30 in Glasgow
Advanced TDD – An Introduction to Testing Patterns and Behaviour Driven Development
Registration Required – Cost FREE

12-December-2009 @ 21:30 in Glasgow (Meeting in the pub from 19:00, meal at 21:30)
Glasgow Geek Dinner – La Tasca
Registration Required – Cost: Price of meal

Geek Dinners in Edinburgh and Glasgow

26 November, 2009 at 12:37 | In Event, Geek Dinner | Leave a Comment
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As we’ve not had a geek dinner since May we thought it would be time to have not just one, but two.

The first dinner will be in Edinburgh on Friday 4th December at 19:30 in the Amber Restaurant at the top of Castle Hill.

The second dinner will be in Glasgow on Saturday 12th December at 21:30 in La Tasca on Renfield Street. We will be meeting in a pub close by at 19:00 to get the evening going, but if you prefer you can just come for the dinner.

Registration is required as we need to know numbers. More details about each are on the registration page.

[Register for the Edinburgh Geek Dinner] – [Register for the Glasgow Geek Dinner]

Next Scottish Testing Group Event

20 November, 2009 at 14:36 | In Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

This just in from the Scottish Testing Group:

The BCS Scottish Testing Group is holding an event from 1:00-5:00 pm on 24th November 2009 in Glasgow. This event is free to attend but you need to book in advance as there are only a limited number of spaces available.

Further details on this event are available at:  http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.9731

An abstract and speaker bios can be downloaded at:  http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/stg-presentation-abstracts-and-speaker-bios.pdf

If you interested in attending this event please contact Shaun Gauld – Email: shaun.b.gauld@jpmchase.com or phone 0141 228 5078 or 07917 581 024.

Further information on the BCS Scottish Testing Group is available at: http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.9729

Developer Day Scotland 2010

20 November, 2009 at 07:55 | In Developer Day Scotland, Event | Leave a Comment
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Developer Day Scotland 2010 will be on Saturday 8th May 2010 at Glasgow Caledonian University. The call for speakers has now opened, so if you would like to submit a session then please go to the website and submit your proposal. Alternatively, you can see what’s already been proposed, or you may wish to learn about a specific topic, in which case you can request a session.

SQL Server UG meeting in Edinburgh

19 November, 2009 at 23:32 | In Event, Third party event | 1 Comment
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This just in from the SQL Server User Group:

Hopefully everyone who is coming to SQLBits will have recovered by next Thursday. I’ve decided to run a SQL Nugget competition so you can share any  nuggets you have picked up or know. The best one will get a prize. I’ve also decided to put together some observations gained for the news groups and show they are not just useful for posting when you have a problem.
Here is the full itinerary:

  • SQL Nuggets Competition
  • A look into the Newsgroups – Martin Bell

In this session I’ll look at using the newsgroup as source of information, inspiration and perspiration. How you can learn for the postings in newsgroup and forums, if you want to ask a question, the how, why and what to post and I’ll look at some of the posts and how to set about answering the questions.

Agenda

18:30 – 19:00 – Introduction, Networking and Food
19:00 – 19:50 – SQL Nuggets competition
19:50 – 20:00 – Break
20:00 – 20:50 – A look into the newsgroup – Martin Bell
20:50 – 21:00 – Close

Location

Microsoft Office at Waverley Gate
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/about/map-edinburgh.mspx
Registration will be necessary as I have to submit registrations to Microsoft on Thursday morning.

 

You can register here: http://www.sqlserverfaq.com/events/208/SQL-Server-Nuggets-and-a-look-into-the-Newsgroups.aspx

Glasgow, 3rd December: ASP.NET MVC 2

11 November, 2009 at 20:26 | In Event, Third party event | Leave a Comment
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[Register]

ASP.NET MVC 1 changed the landscape of developing websites on the .NET platform and ASP.NET MVC 2 is bringing even more to the table. Currently preview 2 features productivity increasing additions like an integrated validation framework, richer model meta data and better object view templating support. In this talk we will look at these and the other additions to ASP.NET MVC 2.

Speaker
Currently working for Edinburgh based Storm Id, Chris has over 7 years of development experience.  A great believer is continual–improvement, Chris is constantly looking for new technologies, tools and methodologies that will help in creating robust and maintainable software applications and has become an active member of the Scottish Alt.Net Community to share his findings and ideas with like-minded developers.

Location
Equator,
Ground Floor,
Moda, 144 Elliot Street
Glasgow, G3 8EX

[Register]

Vital Ruby and Vital Rails

23 October, 2009 at 11:51 | In Third Party Announcement | Leave a Comment

We’ve just had an email from the folks at the Ruby User Group about an upcoming course. If you are interested there is a 25% discount for Scottish Developers. Just enter the code SCOTTISHDEVELOPERS to get your discount when applying for the course.

These courses are designed to provide the students with the essentials to becoming productive in Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Whether you are system administrator looking to learn a new tool, a web developer wanting to know what this platform is all about, or you are a tester looking to learn about the tools you keep hearing about, these courses have something for you.

Vital Ruby – 2 Days

Vital Ruby is a two day course that will bring you up to speed on the language, the environment and the tools that surround the Ruby language. This course also provides a glimpse into the culture and community that is such an important ingredient to success. Test-driven development is a natural part of what we do and will be reflected in this two day course.

Vital Rails – 3 Days

Vital Rails is a three day course that will leave you production-ready for building web applications. We drive through the major components of Rails, while building an actual application that you will be able to take home and guide you as you develop the next killer app. Learn how to build, test and deploy a web application and all the pieces that go along with it. Learn how to use plugins, how to use ActiveRecord as a stand alone ORM and see how to test your application in units or as a whole.

The course will run from Monday, 9th November, 2009 at 9:00 to Friday, 13th November, 2009 at 17:00 at the Edinburgh Training Centre, 16 St. Mary’s Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1SU. You can register here.

October Newsletter

19 October, 2009 at 21:05 | In Newsletter | Leave a Comment
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Welcome

First, I’d like to extend an apology to all those that were signed up to our Advanced TDD event which we had to cancel at the last minute. We are looking to re-schedule this event and we’ll publish the details as soon as we have the new date confirmed.

If you are thinking of starting a software or web business Microsoft’s BizSpark or WebsiteSpark programmes may be for you. These programmes offer various software licenses over a 3 year period for eligible start-ups. Information on signing up is available on our site.

If you are simply looking to gain web development skills then Glasgow Caledonian University are now able to offer their Web Systems Development (.NET) postgraduate course, which will run as a part-time evening course starting in February 2010.

If you run a user group, or just know of an event that would be of interest to software developers we’re always keen to hear about it. Let us know by sending an email to support@scottishdevelopers.com

Regards,
Colin Mackay, Chairman, Scottish Developers

Interview with Martin Hinshelwood

Scottish Developers: Martin, you are a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) and you recently were re-awarded. Can you tell us something about yourself?

Martin Hinshelwood: I have been a developer since I graduated from university in 2000 and I spent one horrible year using ASP3 before .NET was released in 2001. I primarily program in VB.NET, but as most examples are in C# I need to be able to translate. In 2005 I started working with Visual Studio 2005 Team System, then a fledgling but stable, once you got it installed, product and I have worked with every version since then.

I started a blog in June 2006 and I have blogged on many Microsoft related topics including VSTS, SharePoint, Windows 7, WPF, VB, .NET, WCF as well as non development topics such as Dyslexia.

Being a dyslexic developer I don’t know if having a larger right-hemisphere in my brain and "unusual wiring" has helped me be a better developer, but it has made the ride exiting. The only problem with being a dyslexic is the stigmata attached with it and peoples lack of understanding, the rest… the result of being dyslexic… is actually a benefit in a programmer such as 3-D visualization ability; creative problem solving skills; and intuitive people skills.

SD: When did you first get awarded as an MVP and why?

MH: In October 2008 I was Awarded a Microsoft MVP in Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) which allowed me much more interaction into the product teams. There is a unique element of trust between those on the VSTS Champs list and Microsoft that allows a much closer level of integration and exposure between the VSTS MVP’s and Microsoft.

This has lead to my involvement with VSTS2010 prior to and in between public betas. and some work with the version after that.

Where many MVPs speak at events and do presentations, or work as TFS consultants, I have, so far, stuck to my comfort zone and developed a number of open source application and tools for TFS. Over the past few years I have become a moderator on the Microsoft Answers for Vista forum as well as the new Microsoft Answers for Windows 7. I have participated in the MSDN forums for VB, WPF, WCF and VSTS.

The 2 main projects that helped me attain my MVP were TFS Event Handler and TFS Sticky Buddy.

The TFS Event Handler makes it easier to notify users of changes to Work Items in Team Foundation Server. You will no longer need to add individual alerts to users. It is developed in .NET 3.5 SP1 for Team Foundation Server 2008 and is deployed as a system service.

The Alerts that you no longer need users to individually setup are that: a work item is assigned to you; a work item that is assigned to you is reassigned to someone else; and a work item that you created is assigned to someone else.

There is also a framework for creating and deploying your own event handlers that can do pretty much whatever you want. One of the shipped examples updates “Heat ITSM” whenever a work item that contains a Heat Id is changed.

TFS Sticky Buddy makes it easier for all members of the development team to visualise the current state of their project by utilising a graphical view of Work Items. It is developed in VB.NET for .NET 3.5 SP1 and Team System 2008.

Since then I have written other TFS integration pieces such as TFS ELMAH Log which integrates ELMAH with TFS. SQL Server and BIDS Version Check In Policy which adds a policy to Team Explorer that allows an administrator to require a specific version of SQL Server and the Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) be installed on a users computer prior to checking in. And TFS to Heat which will provide a configurable link between Heat ITSM and Team Foundation Server. This will allow calls to be logged by helpdesk in the standard way, while using TFS to manage the development and support work required to fix the problem.

SD: That’s quite a lot of work, isn’t it? Do you have time for any other types of development?

MH: Outwith TFS have have a some other Open Source things going on.

WPF Behaviours allows the easy addition of drag and drop functionality in the same list, to a different list of the same type and to allow linking between different data types in lists.

Command Line Parser is a nice little command line parser based on Ray Hayes Code Project article Automatic Command Line Parsing in C#. I have adapted it to VB.NET and upgraded it to .NET 3.5. An updated command line parser that has a built in commanding architecture. The usage varies depending on what you are trying to achieve, but you can have commands, nested commands and delegate commands.

.NET Service Manager is a series of classes to enable the management of "Services", wither these services are local (instance) or remote. You can have any number of "ServiceManagers" that encompass a set of features (Services) that can be extracted at runtime.

I have currently been working in a framework similar to the CompositeWPF project that used Ninject for dependency injection and uses the MVVM pattern exclusively, and a project to proxy the connections to team foundation server so that it can be used in a composite manor.

SD: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us about your community work.

Our Upcoming Events

28-October-2009 @ 19:00 in Dundee
SQL Injection Attacks and tips on how to prevent them
Registration Required – Cost FREE

10-November-2009 @ 18:30 in Glasgow
Web Application Testing with Selenium
Registration Required – Cost FREE

SMALL PRINT: The opinions of interviewees do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Scottish Developers or its sponsors.

Thinking of starting a software or web company?

28 September, 2009 at 10:38 | In offer | 1 Comment
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BizSpark

Microsoft® has an exciting new program specifically designed to provide early stage Startups with software, support, and visibility to help ignite your success. The program, called BizSpark™, provides access to:image

  • Software. Join BizSpark and you’re just clicks away from having access to current, full-featured development tools, including Visual Studio Team System, plus production licensing to develop and bring your solution to market.
  • Support. BizSpark provides you with professional technical support from Microsoft and connects you to a global community of business experts who can help guide you through the hurdles of growing your business.
  • Visibility. Through BizSpark, you’ll have the opportunity to achieve global visibility to an audience of potential investors, clients and partners.

Eligibility requirements are minimal: If you’re a privately held company (or are planning to form a company) building a software-based product or service (even using open source code), in business for fewer than three years, and with less than USD$1M in annual revenue, you’re in!

WebsiteSpark

Microsoft® WebsiteSpark™ ignites success in the Web business by helping Web Pros to drive new business opportunities through connections with partners and customers around the world. WebsiteSpark also provides Web Pros with Microsoft software and solutions, as well as support and training opportunities. By participating in WebsiteSpark, Network Partners, including Hosting Partners, gain exposure as a Microsoft partner and join an ecosystem that includes not only Web development and design companies but also their customers.

image WebsiteSpark can help you to drive new business opportunities and expand your customer base. You benefit from co-marketing activities to drive demand toward your portfolio of Web solutions. Then you can extend your reach by exposing your services to the broad set of Microsoft customers and partners. You also can benefit from professional support and training from Microsoft engineers, Hosting Partners, Network Partners, and peers from around the world. You receive free online training, trainer mentoring, and webinars.

As a participant in WebsiteSpark, you get discounts on software and solutions to bring to market your sites and applications based on the Microsoft Windows® Web platform. You receive fast, easy, and immediate access to current Microsoft development tools, Web platform technologies, and production licenses of server products. This can help you to improve your development and design productivity.

WebsiteSpark provides software licenses that you can use for three years at no cost.  Once enrolled, you can download and immediately use the following software from Microsoft:

  • 3 licenses of Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
  • 1 license of Expression Studio 3 (which includes Expression Blend, Sketchflow, and Web)
  • 2 licenses of Expression Web 3
  • 4 processor licenses of Windows Web Server 2008 R2
  • 4 processor licenses of SQL Server 2008 Web Edition
  • DotNetPanel control panel (enabling easy remote/hosted management of your servers)

The Windows Server and SQL Server licenses can be used for both development and production deployment.  You can either self-host the servers on your own, or use the licenses with a hoster.  WebsiteSpark makes it easy to find hosters who are also enrolled in the program, and who can use your licenses to provide you with either dedicated or virtual dedicated servers to host your sites on.

In addition to software, WebsiteSpark provides partner opportunities to grow and build your business (including customer referrals through our partner programs).  It also includes product support (including 2 professional support incidents) and free online training for the products.

Who can join WebsiteSpark?

WebSiteSpark is available to independent web developers and small web development companies.  The only two requirements to join the program are:

  1. Your company builds web sites and web application on behalf of others.
  2. Your company currently has less than 10 employees

Signing up

image To join either program, you need a nomination from a BizSpark or WebsiteSpark Network Partner like Pixel Programming - they’re happy to sponsor anyone that qualifies. Send an e-mail to phil@pixelprogramming.com and to get signed up.

Scottish Open Source Awards 2009

25 September, 2009 at 13:32 | In Third Party Announcement | Leave a Comment
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Nominations are now open for the 2009 Scottish Open Source Awards. If there is a person, project or organisation you want to nominate for an award make your way to: http://www.opensourceawards.co.uk/index.php/component/jforms/1/112

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