Links!

I'm going with a new format for the links.

Up until now I've been using an ordered list so that the links were numbered. That made formatting a royal pain in markdown, so I wound up hand writing HTML. The point of markdown is to not write HTML.

This time there will be no numbers, just headings and paragraphs.

Now that I've said that I can't see why I bothered with the ordered list in the first place.

Mono on Raspberry Pi!!

I love Microsoft's Channel 9.

If you don't know the site, it's essentially geeky TV. Lots of shows about Microsoft flavored tech.

They also have some non-video features such as the Coding For Fun blog.

If you've read this blog before, you know I love the Raspberry Pi.

I also really love C#. Mono is an open source implementation of C# and the .Net CLR.

Check out the Mono on Raspberry Pi? post on Channel 9.

The beauty here is you can write a .Net app on Windows in Visual Studio, then run it on the Pi.

I haven't tried it yet, so I can't say yet how well it will run.

donetConf

Speaking of Channel 9…

This week Microsoft held an online conference dedicated to the present and future of .Net.

Scott Hunter Speaking About ASP.NET Today and Tomorrow

Of particular interest to me was ASP.NET Today and Tomorrow.

I'm not a fan of some things Microsoft has done in recent years, but I am a fan of C# and ASP MVC.

COUGH!

Windows 8 COUGH! It's a floor cleaner AND a dessert topping! COUGH!
Windows Phone COUGH! OK, I really like the Lumia phones, but missing too many apps and users. COUGH!
Windows Surface COUGH!!! Grossly overpriced $$$ COUGH!!!!!!

COUGH! CHOKE! GAG! GASP!!!

Side Note:

The word “cough” sure looks weird and incorrectly spelled when you make it all caps.

Don't you love pull boxes and side notes? I sure do!

A Totally Different Note:

My comments above on Windows Phone and Surface reflect some sour grapes because I really like them and want them, but can't justify them.

The Surface because of price and Lumia for lack of users and apps I need.

In this video Scott Hunter talks about what's coming in ASP MVC 6 and then in what they are calling vNext.

Some of my favorites:

Lots of open source: both from Microsoft and used by Microsoft
Modular: Stop being one giant, bloated monolith
Cross platform: Run ASP on Mac or Linux. No, I'm not kidding.
Improved runtime performance
No need to compile web app; compiles on server (wait, isn't that how it used to work?)
Use whatever tool you like. Vim me, baby!
Less stupid configuration files. Also fewer stupid config files.
Easier to deploy to and configure for cloud
Easier to debug in the cloud

Favorite Quote: We know our configuration system is too complicated, in my opinion, when we have this feature called XML Transformations where we can take your Web.config file and merge it and change it before we copy it up to the cloud. – Scott Hunter

Scott goes on to explain that your configuration should be defined in the cloud not in a config file that has to be transmogrified.

Sounds Good To Me

As I said I'm skeptical of some of Microsoft's moves, but the Azure and ASP teams have really been doing outstanding work. I am truly looking forward to what's coming.

Case in point: project files that don't try to list all the darned files. Why, oh why not just look at the directories? Awesome change there.

Why Is This Important?

Wednesday night I went to a social meetup of the Atlanta Web Design Group.

I am not a designer, but as a web developer I wind up doing design whether I'm good at it or not. I want to learn more about design and meet designers.

As we were talking one of the fellows mentioned that he's working towards becoming a developer as well as designer. He is looking at Ruby on Rails.

I asked if he had considered the Microsoft stack and his response spoke directly to the points Scott made about tools.

His response? “I can't really use the Microsoft stack because I use a Mac.”

Boom.

THAT is why it is important for Microsoft to support Linux and Mac and Sublime Text.

YES This is FUN!!

In case you wonder, yes, I do consider these topics fun!

😃