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• November 22, 2008

  November 22, 1963.  45 years.  Sic Transit Gloria Mundi Posted Oct 22 2008, 06:56 AM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Opinion, Observations

• Silverlight and Data

  Tim and I and many others have been discussing, off and on, the frequent requests for videos/tutorials/demos, etc. that show how to move data into and out of databases and display them in Silverlight. On the one hand, my response is that the very question reveals that we've not done a good enough job explaining the boundaries of Silverlight as a UI tier-framework; that once you're talking about creating (rather than consuming) a web service and once you're writing LINQ you are outside of Silverlight. On the other hand, I see two compelling counter arguments. #1 is that by showing the complete set of tiers and how they interact (SQL and whatever technology we choose to get the data in and out (e.g., Linq or Astoria) and WCF to create a web service, and Silverlight consuming the web service, probably creating business objects, and a DataGrid in Silverlight to display the data, along with two way binding, we better establish where the actual boundaries of Silverlight lay and how Silverlight interacts with these other technologies. #2 is that for most of our readers Tim and I may be "Silverlight Developer Community Program Mangers" but really we're just Microsoft techies. And as I wrote in a private correspondence "when I go into my Subaru dealer, I understand that one guy may be a transmission specialist but that doesn’t mean he can’t answer a simple question about how frequently I should change my oil. If I feel it is clear that the explanation I’m asking for will take sitting down and getting into details and really call upon his specialty that is one thing, but if it is just a general Subaru question, then his answering “oh, I don’t do oil” would probably infuriate me and it certainly wouldn’t help me understand where the transmission system ends and the engine system begins and how they both form part of the powertrain." So, after thinking about this quite a bit, I think we have to show the entire power train: from inside the SQL db through displaying it in a DataGrid, but with a clear emphasis on the Silverlight front-end and how and where you can learn more about the other enabling technologies for the other tiers. More to come, but I invite your feedback. -j Posted Oct 19 2008, 10:02 AM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: XAML, Tools, How Do I Videos, Data Binding, Digging Deeper, Community, Opinion, Observations

• Silverlight Controls – Look Nicer, Taste Great

  In my earlier column i referred to the nice new look of the Silverlight 2 controls. I couldn't resist throwing together a very fast application (using Blend to lay  it out, and Visual Studio to bind the data) showing off a few of the controls. Not an ideal layout, but just enough to show the bit of extra polish that has been added to the controls at release. Happy Battle of Hastings Anniversary.   -j Posted Oct 14 2008, 11:47 AM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: XAML, Tools, Observations, RTM

• Silverlight 2 Release Guide

  As promised, Silverlight 2 is now not merely released, it is really and most sincerely released… If You Are A New Silverlight Programmer If you are taking this occasion to become a Silverlight programmer, welcome! Everything you need is here on the Get Started Page. I suggest you follow this order: download and install the areas marked (1), (2)  in the upper left corner, then skip down to Start Learning and read (1) Next mix (4) and (5) together and leaven with (2) and (3) as appropriate.  By the time you finish, we'll have a lot more for you and if you have questions, you'll get quick answers on the forum If you are already a Silverlight Programmer 1. All your Beta code just broke . With luck, you were using the RC0 release and you have non-Beta code standing by ready to drop in. Now's the time to do it. If not, now's the time to get the new tools and update. 2. What you need to start coding in Silverlight 2 – While there is quite a bit you can download, all you need is Visual Studio SP1 or Visual Web Designer Express SP1 Silverlight Tools For Visual Studio Microsoft Blend 2 Service Pack 1 Mac Runtime [optional] The combination of Blend 2 + Blend 2 SP1 is the updated Blend 2.5, and the Silverlight Tools + either VS SP1 or VWD SP1 is the complete Silverlight Development environment + the SDK + the documentation + the developer runtime + the debugger + the ASP.NET Server controls + the Project templates!  3. This is the last time Silverlight will not be backwards incompatible – from now on when we update, your code should continue to work. (at least, that's the plan) 4. What's new, what changed? You'll find a lot of information on this in Scott Gu's Announcement which is very much worth reading. I'll be expanding on this in detail in coming posts, with an emphasis on reviewing the rich controls, and exploring some aspects of the base library such as Linq support, local data caching, network support and enhanced media support. You'll note that even the familiar controls look more polished; a lot of work went into their final default look – though as many of you know, every Silverlight control is ultimately lookless, subject to templating (skinning). Silverlight 2 brings the Silverlight Control Pack – with dozens of additional controls, and a promise of new controls being added continually over the next few months leading to a total of over 100. The first control pack will include the TreeView, DockPanel,... Posted Oct 14 2008, 06:28 AM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Recommended Resources, Tools, Community, Observations, Breaking Change, RTM

• Podcast on Templating

  I'm pleased to announce that the first of my monthly Sparkling Client podcasts has been posted. This month, we take a Tour of Silverlight Templates. Resources Additional resources to supplement this topic include Tutorial on Templates Styles Video , Templates I Video , Templates II Video Posted Sep 23 2008, 11:16 AM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Recommended Resources, Podcast, Observations

• What topics are important to you? Survey Results

  The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter. - Blaise Pascal Again, thank you for taking the time to respond to the survey , it was extremely helpful to me in planning the videos, tutorials and blog posts I'll be creating in coming months. The survey is still open, but this constitutes my report. Unless there are any surprises, I'll read what comes in and incorporate it into my plans. Communication The most significant aspect of the survey is that you took the time to let me know what you need, and I'm happy to say that what you need fits in well with what we're geared up to provide. Overall, most of you are quite happy with the material here and find this a useful resource, but I'm convinced we can and must do a lot better. What won't help is to keep saying that, so with this final report on the survey , it is my intention to stop blogging about  plans and start churning out new resources.   A Rare Medium Well Done I asked about your preference for tutorials, walk through, video, etc.  You were of a single mind. Examining your first and second choices, we see that: 85 % value in-depth tutorials 67 % value videos 44 % value short walk-throughs 10 % value web casts. As a result, expect to see more tutorials and videos, but also expect to see an attempt at making webcasts a more useful medium. They clearly are not successful as live versions of "how do I videos," and frankly I don't find them a good substitute for live conference presentations, but I've not given up. Live is live, and I'm convinced I can find a way, despite whatever barriers there are, to leverage that immediacy. Please Sir, I Want Some More… As for the level (novice to advanced), there was a very strong consensus (over 80%) that all the material should be at the intermediate to advanced level – but of course the folks who were most likely to respond were the most involved and most experienced users of the site.  What comes through equally clearly, however is that you see the tutorials as the place for the most advanced material.  Real Code for Real Programmers While there was no single topic that stood out as the most desirable, there was an overwhelming consensus that it was time to move beyond the introductory material and into the more advanced real-world, business oriented application-building areas. Making sense of this kind of survey is 10% statistical analysis, 90% how... Posted Sep 19 2008, 11:41 AM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Recommended Resources, Community, Opinion, Planning, Observations, Survey

• Survey – Results compiled tonight

  Thank you for an unprecedented response to this week's survey on what topics are most important to you . I will keep the survey open, but I will attempt to compile and report on the results by tomorrow morning. Your feedback is incredibly valuable. Statistics as of this morning include over 250 responses. Full report in the morning, but here are some very preliminary impressions: The results have held steady from the very beginning – Webcasts have overwhelmingly been the "last choice" for over 2/3 of users and in-depth tutorials have been the first choice; with short videos and short tutorials splitting the middle position.  In any case, there is almost total unanimity that all presentations should be at the Intermediate (300) level except for tutorials,  which nearly 2/3 of you think should be more advanced.   I'll break the above out in more detail in the morning, and I'll certainly give more detail on the topics, but the top level there is that there are only a few topics that nearly everyone thinks is unimportant! Preliminary Indicators In any case, there is  tremendous agreement about the important topics. Big winners include custom controls, anything touching on data, advanced features, web services, deployment, dynamic loading… well, like I said, I'll have a full report tomorrow. Perhaps the most surprising finding to me (so far) is that fully 1/3 of the respondents find interacting with ASP.NET unimportant. I'll be probing that more. The Free Form Comments The true treasure is in the free-form comments that fell under "what didn't we ask and what would you have told us" – Here I have 91 thoughtful views to read through and summarize. Terrific stuff. First Cut-off: 17:00 (GMT –5) Sept 18 If you can get your response in by tonight, that will certainly have the greatest impact, but as I say, I will keep the survey open and I'll consult the results over coming weeks. Quick Responses To A Couple Comments VB? VB! One comment was "VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB Do examples in Visual Basic!!!! VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB -- VB – VB"  -- You'll be happy to know that (virtually) all the videos will be done in VB with code available in both VB and C# and that the tutorials are (slowly) being redone so that we can offer both a C# and a VB version of each. "You should be telling us not us telling you" Very quick note to the person who advised... Posted Sep 18 2008, 09:58 AM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Community, Opinion, Planning, Observations, Survey

• Ok, so tell me….

  At the suggestion of a reader, I've created a survey to find out what topics are most important to you. It won't be 100% scientific, and of course I can't guarantee instant responsiveness, but I really am interested in what you'd like to see more of, learn about, hear about and have us focus on. So if you have a moment, please do take the (very short) survey . Thanks! -jesse Posted Sep 16 2008, 01:00 PM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Community, Opinion, Observations, Survey

• Most Frequently Asked Question: When Will Silverlight Ship?

  My way of acknowledging that you need to know , and we want to tell you as soon as we can .  As an aside, about four months ago I started to buy photos to make my presentations “pop” (see Presentation Zen ).  As a side benefit, I’ve rediscovered just a hint of my old interest in photography – wow have things changed. In any case, unlike all the others I’ve been using; this one is mine. :-) Posted Sep 12 2008, 02:48 PM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Community, Observations

• I’m Back!

  In the words of the immortal Roseanne Roseannadana “It’s always something….” Just when i was finally back from vacations and other distractions and ready to handle my very intense deadlines… I was struck down by… well you really don’t want to know except that it was food-borne, it landed me in a lovely hospital outside Redmond (where i came for what seemed at the time to be an important 3 day meeting of which I attended 10 minutes) and someone owes me two entire days that I don’t remember at all. As these things do, the experience gave me time to reflect on what is important in life. You know, kids, Silverlight, family, blogging, videos, wifi, private rooms in hospitals, good health care, the Daily Show…. And it gave me time to plan and prioritize to meet the needs of folks who have responded to the tutorials, blog entries, videos and more. I’ve written more than enough already about “here’s what’s coming…” so I won’t again. Instead I’ll spend the next couple months kicking those plans into gear. By the end of October I’ll try to get a sense of how things are going, and adjust the balance and in January it will be time to assess. That said, look for the first step: regular blogging, to start right now : I was listening to Scott Hanselman sing the praises of those who have something useful in their blogs daily; that is a high standard, but worth shooting for. Up next: the difference between understanding a concept and implementing it. Creating Templatable Custom Controls using the States and Parts Model, Part 1. Posted Sep 07 2008, 03:59 PM by Jesse Liberty - Silverlight Geek Filed under: Opinion, Planning, Observations