WCF

Posting the source code for my #mix09 and #techdays (Belgium) talk

Laurent Bugnion — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:06:30 GMT

Note: I just updated the title for this article, sorry to all of you who were waiting for the TechDays Belgium source code and didn't realize it was here :)

I just posted the source code of the demo applications I used in my MIX09 talk "Working across the client continuum".

The source code is structured as follows:

DotNetContinuum: This solution contains the following projects:
- DotNetContinuum: a WCF service configured with 2 endpoints (SOAP and JSON), as well as 3 client applications:
- DotNetContinuum.Mvc: An ASP.NET MVC application showing a "pure" ASP.NET MVC application enhanced with AJAX content. See the following files
  - HomeController.cs (in Controllers): Contains the "ServerDateTime" action.
  - ServerDateTime.aspx (in Views/Home): Contains the view code for ServerDateTime.
  - Index.aspx (in Views/Home): Start page for the MVC application, contains the links to ServerDateTime, as well as the AJAX code.
  - Silverlight.html: Start page for the Silverlight application.
- DotNetContinuum.SL: A Silverlight application connecting to the WCF service in an asynchronous way. See the following files:
  - Page.xaml: Front end with a very simple UI.
  - Page.xaml.cs: Code behind with the code to connect to the WCF service.
- DotNetContinuum.Wpf: A WPF application connecting to the WCF service in an asynchronous way. See the following files:
  - Window.xaml: Front end with a very simple UI.
  - Window.xaml.cs: Code behind with the code to connect to the WCF service.
Customers: This solution is a WCF service reading a list of customers from an XML file and delivering them as a list of Customer objects.
- CustomerAccess.cs: Contains the LINQ to XML code used to read and write the XML file.
- Customer.cs: The class used to pass information between the service and the client.
- CustomerService.svc.cs: The service implementation.
- Customers.xml: The "data base" of customers
- Note also that there is a unit test project in the solution, used to unit test the WCF service.
CustomersApplication: This solution contains client applications for the Customers WCF service.
- CustomersApplication.Mvc: An ASP.NET MVC and AJAX client.
  - HomeController.cs: Contains the "ShowCustomers" action.
  - ShowCustomers.aspx: Contains a mix of ASP.NET MVC and AJAX code to interact with the WCF service.
  - Silverlight.html: Start page for the Silverlight application.
- CustomersApplication.SL: The Silverlight application connecting to the WCF service and showing the list of customers.
- CustomersApplication.WPF: Same application, implemented in WPF.

The last applications (CustomersApplication.SL and CustomersApplication.WPF) are implemented using the MVVM pattern, and share a maximum of code.

As soon as I have a moment, I will post a walkthrough of my demos. In the mean time, you can catch the Powerpoint slides and the talk's video from the MIX09 session page.

Have fun!!

My #MIX09 session is available in video

Laurent Bugnion — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:09:41 GMT

MIX09 is over, people are slowly going back home. I will be flying home tomorrow, quite a long trip since I will reach Zurich only on Sunday morning.

I had the great pleasure to see that the video of my talk was posted online! This is great, because I didn't have a huge crowd (what do you expect when you "compete" against and Vertigo and their Playboy talk, and the amazing Corrina Black :))

But it's OK, because the people at my talk were really great. I felt wonderful during the talk, and even the small issue I had with Visual Studio didn't manage to disturb me much (even though I kind of freaked out when it happened, you can hardly notice it).

The video is available for download. You can also stream it (Silverlight required) by clicking on the image below. Have fun!

Reminder: My talk at #MIX09

Laurent Bugnion — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:58:01 GMT

Tomorrow Thursday 19th of March 2009

Location: Delfino 4105

Working across the .NET continuum

Come see how to build a continuum of client applications including HTML, AJAX, ASP.NET, Microsoft Silverlight, and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) that all consume the same Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service. Learn how to reuse as much code as possible, how to optimize the development process, and how to address key logistical issues like external servers and cross domain communication.

See you there!!

TechDays Belgium is over

Laurent Bugnion — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:09:54 GMT

I just held two talks in Antwerp, Belgium, for TechDays and it was really nice. First the Belgian team did a fantastic work welcoming the speakers, and as far as I could say, the attendees were also taken care of in an exemplary way. We had just a small incident (there was a power breakdown about 15 minutes before my show and the whole center went black), but noone panicked and it was taken care of with a lot of care. We started the sessions only 15 minutes late on the last day. Everyone stayed calm. I also want to especially mention the technical teams who were simply AMAZING. Such a great work. Before my first session, the technician called my mobile to tell me that he was available and I could go to the room if I wanted. Once there, they totally made me feel at home, were efficient, polite and interested, and even gave feedback after the talk. I would work again with such a team any time!!

My 2 talks went great, I got approximately 300 people at each. The talks were held in big movie theaters, and we actually used the movie projectors to beam. We had image in image so the speakers were filmed while they talked. The screen was impressive.

I want to thank all the people who made this possible. It was a fantastic experience, and I am looking forward to repeat that soon. For the people who attended my talks, I will post the source code and walkthroughs here after MIX is over, so stay tuned.

Cheers!!

Talking at MIX09: Las Vegas and the continuum

Laurent Bugnion — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 10:33:30 GMT

One of my dreams is going to come true: Since the very first time I attended MIX in 2006, I have wanted to talk there. MIX has a very special meaning for me. It is in the Venetian conference rooms that I heard about Windows Presentation Foundation and what would later become Silverlight. It is there that me and my two colleagues Andreas and James decided that we wanted WPF for the project we had just started at Siemens. A decision that was definitely the right one, from a technical point of view but also from a user experience point of view. It is at MIX 2007 that I started to talk to people from my current firm IdentityMine about the possibility to join them, which I did in December 2008.

In short, the MIX conference has a special place in my professional life, and I am very glad and honored to announce that one of the sessions I proposed has been accepted. Yes, I will be talking at MIX 2009! My session just appeared on the sessions list at
https://content.visitmix.com/2009/sessions/

And my short bio can be seen at
https://content.visitmix.com/2009/speakers/

The session's title is:

Working across the Client Continuum

Come see how to build a continuum of client applications including HTML, AJAX, ASP.NET, Microsoft Silverlight, and Windows Presentation Foundation (WFP) that all consume the same Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) service. Learn how to reuse as much code as possible, how to optimize the development process, and how to address key logistical issues like external servers and cross domain communication.

I really hope I will see many of you at my session. For those of you who cannot come, it will be recorded (like MIX08 and PDC08 were too). But let's face it, nothing replaces the real MIX, and nothing replaces Vegas, baby!

Updated my laptop to the June CTP of .NET 3.0

Laurent Bugnion — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 23:57:00 GMT

I took the time today to install the June CTP of .NET 3.0 (see the checklist hereunder). It went rather well, and I didn't have major problems, but it takes a long time... well, when you do it on the balcony with your kids playing in the pool, it's not that terrible, is it? ;-)

Update: My WPF demo now works with the June CTP.

Uninstall May CTP edition:

Pre-released WinFX Runtime Components Uninstall Tool
Download and run Uninstall tool
Removed Debug tools for Windows
Removed Atlas
Removed FxCop
Removed Web Application project add-in
Removed Windows SDK
Removed WIC

.NET 3.0:

Install WinFX Runtime components June CTP
Install WinSDK June CTP
Install MSDN 2005 (from CD)
Install Orcas development tools June CTP
Reinstall WIC

Atlas:

Install Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - Update to Support Web Application Projects
Install Visual Studio 2005 Web Application Projects
Download Atlas
Install AtlasSetup.msi
Install AtlasDocumentation.msi
Install AtlasSample.msi
Install AtlasToolkit