Dr. James McCaffrey is a busy guy. To begin with, he works for Volt Information Sciences Inc., where he manages technical training for software engineers working at Microsoft headquarters. He's also a contributing editor to MSDN Magazine, writing the monthly "Test Run" column. In addition, Dr. McCaffrey is a speaker at the upcoming VSLive event in Las Vegas. His discussion had the coolest title, which I wanted to dig into a little further. He also has decades of development experience, so I thought it would be a good time to ask him a few questions about development, Visual Studio 11 and more. We had an email chat, and here's what he had to say.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 02/25/20122 comments
Want a free Windows Phone? If you're a West Coast-based developer writing apps for that platform, you're in luck. Microsoft's Daniel Egan has a limited supply that he's giving away, according to his blog.
So, what do you do if you're a Midwesterner, Southerner or non-Leftie? Egan says it may take some more work to get your phone, but you may still be able to score one of the devices. If you just want the phone and aren't directly interested in building apps for it, you won't get one, Egan says.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 02/22/20126 comments
Telerik recently released its "Platform Guidance for Microsoft.NET", and it's worth a read. It's a short-form, condensed guide to the six types of applications that most .NET developers build, and advice on which .NET technologies are the best fits for each type of app.
What I like about it is that it's an easy read (always appreciated for those of us with lots to do), and there's very little "...and here's how Telerik's award-winning products can help you" markitecture in it. In fact, there are only a few references to the company in the document itself, so it doesn't read like a product brochure. The advice is spot-on, and although somewhat basic, still worth your time.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 02/21/20121 comments
At Visual Studio Magazine, we're big proponents of unit testing as a means of writing better, more efficient code. Yes, that can come under the heading of "Duh!", as in "Duh, Ward, that ain't exactly breaking news, is it?"
True though that may be, it's my suspicion (based solely on anecdotal evidence, it must be pointed out) that many, many developers don't do it as a regular practice. I'd suspect the reasons are fear of the unknown, or the inertia we all experience when it comes to changing our routines.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 02/07/20127 comments
"...there will be no MIX 2012." And with that, Tim O’Brien, Microsoft's general manager for developer & platform evangelism, let the air out of the balloon for many of the devs who look forward to MIX like no other conference.
O'Brien listed a number of reasons for killing off MIX after a very successful five-year run: that Web development shouldn't be seen as a separate undertaking from standard Windows development; that developers, reporters, analysts and tech bloggers were confused about which event to attend; and lastly, that Microsoft's army of software engineers have too many other duties to take time out and prepare for a conference.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 01/25/20120 comments
Well, if Windows 8 doesn't
take off
on tablets, it won't be for lack of effort on Microsoft's part. Redmond is doing everything it can to entice developers to write software for the new OS, set to hit beta
next February
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 12/08/20110 comments
It's clear that brand loyalty still rules among developers. Appcelerator and IDC published the results of a
survey
that shows a sharp upswing in interest for Windows Phone 7 app development, and ties that surge to the Microsoft/Nokia partnership.
The press release spells it out:
"Windows Phone 7 separated from the pack to become the clear number 3 mobile OS this quarter. The OS climbed 8 points to 38% of respondents saying they are “very interested” in the platform -- the highest ever for Microsoft."
"Highest ever for Microsoft" -- think the folks in Redmond are excited to see that? Those figures push Microsoft into the No. 3 mobile OS category in terms of developer interest, behind iPhone and Android. The loser here? BlackBerry, to no one's surprise, which continues to edge toward the cliff like the German tank in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". If you're a RIM developer, it might be time to start examining your options.
In the meantime, the Nokia deal appears to be everything Microsoft had hoped for, and more. The survey reports that the spike in Windows Phone 7 interest is directly due to the Nokia marriage, with 48 percent calling it the primary motivating factor. Those are startling numbers. When the deal was announced, it appeared to be a risk for both companies at the time; and, in fact, it was. Nokia essentially gave up on Symbian at that moment, while Microsoft teamed up with a phone maker that was going nowhere fast, with no compelling offerings in the smartphone market.
It now looks, at least initially, that a move some saw as desparate may bear abundant fruit. For Microsoft-focused developers, the takeaway is that building apps for Windows Phone 7 is now a safer bet. You know how it works: more apps for a smartphone generally leads to a more popular phone, which leads to more apps, which leads to...
Posted by Keith Ward on 11/14/20110 comments
My December print column, called Frameworks, is about Microsoft's
Small Basic
programming language, and how it makes it easy for kids as young as 10 to learn the basics of coding. I wanted to expand upon this a bit and point out that Microsoft has gone further, and put a lot of free resources online for teachers.
One site with a lot of promise is Teaching Kids Programming. It's 14 weeks' worth of software that teaches principles in bite-sized chunks. All the material is free, and there are videos which demonstrate using each of the chunks, which they call "recipes." There's some software to download, but the system requirements are minimal, and most homes and schools should have capable computers. The key is that the teachers (whomever they are -- parents, teachers, older brothers or sisters, etc.) don't need any programming background to teach the lessons; everything they'd need is provided. The site features step-by-step guides, including quiz and homework ideas.
One caveat is that the sites I've seen aren't updated very often, leading me to wonder if they're being orphaned, or if there's just nothing to update. The Small Basic blog, for example, was last updated more than three months ago, and a question on the Teaching Kids Programming site about the recipes not compiling was asked more than two months ago, with no response. Yo, Microsoft -- if folks aren't going to be helped when they have problems, they won't come back.
Still, the evolution of Small Basic and the teaching tools available are encouraging signs. We should be exposing children to software development at a young age, to spark their interest -- waiting until high school or college may be too late for many of them.
With Steve Jobs gone and Bill Gates out of the loop, it's time to start raising the next generation of developers who could change the world. Let's get going.
Posted by Keith Ward on 11/08/20113 comments
OK gang, this is a personal request. I've found in my time in the dev space, that you folks are some of the most engaged readers I've seen in my journalism career. So I'm reaching out to you today for help.
A good friend of mine is struggling to find a job in this economy. He's quite talented -- a good mind (math major way back when) and a quick study. He's also a very hard worker, and really personable. In fact, his situation is like so many others out there; downsizing continues, companies aren't hiring, and the current outlook is bleak. He's employed right now, but doesn't expect that to continue. And "employed" in this sense means he has a job, but it doesn't pay the bills.
Because of those things, he wants to learn development, and I'm fully convinced he'll be a great developer. The question now is how best to help him get there.
He has a wife and kids, and can't go to school full-time. He can study and learn on a part-time basis only. He has no programming background, although he does know a little HTML and is very comfortable with computers. He also doesn't have much money to spend on education and training. He's willing to do whatever it takes, however, to learn this field.
What would your recommendations for him be? Should he get certified and look for an entry-level job? Should he buy some books and just start coding, write a few programs, then offer himself to employers? Should he concentrate on a specific area like Web or mobile development? In other words, where do you start, if you're starting from scratch?
If you're an employer, what would your recommendations be to someone in my friend's place? What would make someone like him hire-able by your company? How much do you care about a certification vs. a degree? What should my friend have accomplished before he interviews with you? My friend knows he'd start at the bottom, and he's willing to.
Let's see if we can help my friend out. If we can, I bet that we'll help others out, too. Please send your requests to me directly, or post your thoughts and advice below.
My friend and I thank you.
Posted by Keith Ward on 10/24/20118 comments
I've posted a new video blog today, discussing how the world might be different if Steve Jobs hadn't existed. I find it fitting that I read about his death on my iPad. R.I.P., Mr. Jobs.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 10/06/20113 comments
Today marks the launch of a new feature on the Web site: a video version of OnWard and UpWard. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons:
1) The Web's multimedia capabilities give the ability to present content in different ways, including video. If we restrict ourselves to just the written word, we're missing some of what it can offer.
2) I have a passion for video and filmmaking. This lets me combine several areas of interest, and bring you something new.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 09/27/20110 comments
Anaheim, Calif. -- Here are some interesting tidbits that came out of this morning's Build keynote presentation that caught my attention.
- I was very impressed by Windows 8's limited resource usability. One demo had a three-year-old netbook loaded with both Windows 7 SP1 and Windows 8. According to Task Manager, Windows 7 used 404 MB RAM and 32 processes; Windows 8 used 281 MB RAM and 29 processes. Microsoft has learned that bigger isn't always better.
- The boot times for Windows 8 are staggering. The OS loaded in under 10 seconds on both a laptop and tablet. Wowzer.
- As with all demos, take these numbers with a grain of salt. They'll likely be highly optimized, to make people like me go "oooh" and "aaahhh". Which I did.
- I really liked Metro's ability to dock apps at the side of the UI. My iPhone and iPad can't do that type of multitasking. Would love it if they could.
- One company is holding a "Recruitment Party" tomorrow night at the show. Unemployment may be more than 9 percent nationally, but not for developers.
- Not much talk of Silverlight. At all. Hope there's more coming. It wasn't ignored completely, but not highlighted either. It looks like it'll be easy to port it to Windows 8 -- one demo showed a Silverlight app being converted to Windows 8 with the addition of something like 20 lines of code -- but from what I saw, they didn't announce much to move it forward as a technology. That may change over the week, though, so stay tuned.
- XAML will be easy to convert as well. According to the speaker during the demo, "It's mostly namespace changes" and different "using" statements. Really easy -- at least for the demoed apps. Again, see the previous point about optimized demos.
- Once again, I point out with no bitterness, journalists ARE NOT eligible for the free tablet giveaway. Oh, well, guess I'll have to struggle through with my iPad 2.
More
Posted by Keith Ward on 09/13/20111 comments