EDC 2006 Impressions
By Omar AbdelhaqI realize I’m a couple of days late, but my internet connection was down over the weekend. With that done let me start by saying I just love attending conferences. Especially when theres no registration fee. It’s such a break from the office and development routine. The whole idea behind EDC is to present new technologies to IT professionals in Jordan and the Middle East, and raise awareness of the latest products, programming techniques and SDKs available from Microsoft.
It happend that Microsoft was celebrating the launch of Visual Studio .Net 2005 and SQL Server 2005, at the same time EDC was held (from 20th to 22nd of Feb). Thats why all the sessions focused on the new technologies introduced by those products.
Following are some topics that I find interesting and rich in content:
- Windows Communication Foundation (previously known as Indigo).
- Windows Workflow Foundation (check www.windowsworkflow.net)
- And BizTalk 2006, which is a really easy to use application when it comes to implementation.
Coding is getting less everyday; and I can hear some of you complaining. Some people actually discussed this with the speakers, claiming that this will make the developers lazy. And the response was, which I agree with, that it won’t make developers lazy, it will actually increase developers productivity and help them focus on core business logic.
Why would anyone think this would make us lazy? Will increasing productivity and decreasing development time lead to having resources with no work? I don’t think so!
Anyway, I want to add a short brief on the Windows Workflow Foundation SDK, BETA 2 is out, all you have to do is download it and you should have the WinFX installed, if you download the WinFX now you’ll find that the SDK is already included in it. What can you do with this SDK? Well, the concept of workflow systems has really changed, now it is using the Magical Drag and Drop! You define your states, activities, activities handlers, the flow between states, all from a toolbox, then you edit the code by switching to code view, and here you go, you have a Workflow System.
But of course, you must have Visual Studio .Net 2005, which you will install the SDK on :).
For info on how to get the EDC CD check:
Jordev
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Microsoft EDC 2006 in Amman
February 25th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
[...] On a brighter side, the Jordanian blogosphere is relieved to know that Jordanian embassy driver kidnapped two months ago by Iraqi militants, Mahmoud Saedat, has been freed, and everyone is praying for the safe return of Jill Carroll. With the issues regarding the national budget being laid out on the table, the Jordanian economy is being scruntized. Batir Wardam says, “After the black comedy of the Parliament’s vote on the public budget last week, I have to admit that I am ashamed, as a Jordanian citizen and voter, of the low professional quality of the Parliamentarian process and of course, the shallowness of the majority of its members.” Rami from Rami’s Mirror has some observations on the state of the Jordanian economy, and Khalaf writes about the government’s plans to spend 50 to 60 million dinars a year to help low income families deal with rising fuel prices. Madas criticizes local issues relating to brand sensitivity and self-esteem, saying, “Do we even imagine and those who make Zara’s clothing are even remotely more efficient or more competent than our own women? It made me wonder if we could ever learn to trust our own initiatives and maybe the magic word to solve our own problem is indeed… self esteem!” Apparently though, the Jordanian IT industry is doing well. The guys over at Techhash report about this year’s East Med Developers Conference. [...]