Joshua Flanagan

I think people can put to bed their “VB is Dead” theories.  I didn't see a single line of C# code at DevDays 2004.  Every session was presented in VB.NET.

I was a big fan of VB 3-6.  I loved how easily I could be productive.  I taught myself the .NET framework writing VB.NET code with the SDK's.  But when my company decreed that all .NET code must be C#, I reluctantly made the transition (case-sensitivity is such a pain! I don't want to use my shift key while writing code!).  Of course, within a month of using C#, I became a complete convert, and would never want to write VB.NET again.  I don't miss it.  In fact, it really turns me off from projects when I discover they are written in VB.NET.

But I have to admit, after seeing VB.NET in action again at DevDays, I started to miss it.  Pull down menus for overrides and events!  Auto-capitilization!  On-the-fly compilation warnings/errors!  I don't even want to consider the jealousy I'll feel when/if VB.NET has “edit and continue” while C# does not.

What's really cool about the way Microsoft is handling this:  they aren't treating VB.NET programmers like VB programmers.  Ok, they're obviously recognizing the fact that “the masses” feel more comfortable with VB syntax.  But they are not going to let the masses continue to code in their old VB ways.  This was most evident by the focus on design patterns in the Smart Client track sessions.  Design patterns were traditionally the domain of OO fanatics and enterprise focused technologies - something you would hear about when talking to a J2EE programmer, not a VB programmer.  I understand that .NET fits into that world perfectly, I just didn't expect it to be so prominent in sessions aimed at the masses.  I think the first session spent more time talking about the design patterns than the technology that Microsoft was showing off.  Kudos to MS for pushing us all to be better developers, not just by giving us great tools, but by promoting valuable “platform agnostic” best practices.

Although, I'm not really doing any Smart Client development yet, I chose to follow that track.  Mostly because I think I've heard all of the Microsoft security sessions at least 3 times each over the last year -- OK! I'll never build SQL queries through string concatenation again!  Actually, I shouldn't complain, it's surprising how many of my colleagues are still unaware of SQL injection vulnerabilities.  In that sense, it is good that Microsoft continues to build awareness on these issues, I would just rather learn something new.

I am genuinely interested in trying my hand at Smart Client development.  I just wonder how long it will take to be accepted in the (our) corporate environment.  It seems just a few years ago we had to convince everyone that our Windows apps should be converted to web apps.  Now I'd like to convince them that some of our web apps really should be “smart client” apps.  Actually, what I'd REALLY like to convert to a smart client is all of the Visual Basic Document apps we have.  Man, Microsoft really snowed us on that one.  Luckily, they seemed to kill it after only one version of VB.  Unluckily, it seems my company did a lot of new development that year, and decided to use the “latest and greatest”. Sigh.

I thought the keynote for DevDays 2004 - Austin was a bit underwhelming.  Jay Skelly ran through quick demos of InfoPath, BizTalk 2004, and SQL Reporting Services.  I've seen the InfoPath demos before, and I don't think this one really demonstrated its power from a developer's point of view.  It was more like “hey look, you can draw a form and fill in data”, which might lead someone to think “I guess its Microsoft Access for Web Services”.  Maybe that's the intended effect, but I think it really undersells its potential.

The BizTalk demo was semi-interesting, as it demonstrated orchestrating a distributed transaction system through a slick GUI... but I was left thinking there must have been a lot of preparation beforehand to get the demo to the state it was in, and therefore, could not get a good feeling for what it might really be like to work with the product.

And I'm still not sold on SQL Reporting Services.  It looks like a replacement for Crystal Reports.  Crystal Reports is the product that they have been bundling with Visual Studio for a few years, but has yet to gain the utilization you might expect from a bundled product.  I was never sold on Crystal Reports, and I don't personally know anyone that was.  So, why should I be interested in SQL Reporting Services?

Steven Fulcher the showed a glimpse of “Whitehorse”.  Now you've got my attention!  It looks like Whitehorse will finally put VS.NET in the hands of system architects, in a way that Visio was never able to.  I'm not an expert in this field, its possible that other products, like Rational's XDE, may already provide this functionality, but I have never seen them presented so “approachable”.  A co-worker was disappointed in the fact that Microsoft is creating their own graphical representation of systems and integration points, instead of using common UML symbols.  Funny, I think that's exactly why I liked it.

J Sawyer ended the keynote with an overview of XP SP2.  It was all material that has been online for a while now, but I understand not everyone follows MSDN as rabidly, and it is important to get the word out on the major changes.  And it reminded me that I really should grab the beta soon and start testing my apps.

I arrived at DevDays Austin about 5 minutes before the scheduled start of the keynote, so I was rushing around the convention center looking for the auditorium.  I instinctively headed in the direction of the exhibition hall that hosted every other Microsoft event I've attended.  As I got closer, there was a noticeable difference in the attire of the people around me.  For one, there was a much higher than average number of cowboy hats (as a relocated New Englander, I've finally gotten used to the idea that a small number of cowboy hats is to be expected).  I finally found a woman wearing a black DevDays 2004 shirt, she immediately recognized my confusion, and directed me to the top floor on the complete opposite end of the convention center.  Huh, why are we being “hidden away” in such a remote location?  That's when I noticed the large banner announcing the “Texas & Southwestern Cattle Rancher's Assocation” convention.  Aha.

I hope this post doesn't get aggregated anywhere.  I know how tiring it is to read a stream of “Hey, I'm gonna try out this blogging stuff” posts.  If it does get picked up, consider this my apology.  Move along now.

I'm looking forward to my first DevDays event tomorrow.  I plan to post my thoughts after I return (I'm not planning to lug a laptop, and stylus entry to my Axim would be painfully slow).  Mostly, to see if I find personal value in blogging about an event.  But also, I figure I can help contribute to Austin's chances at the DevDaysBloggers contest.