As Jay Smith mentioned, Robert Tennyson will be covering aspects of Agile Design from the Agile Principles, Patterns and Practices in C# book, by Robert C. Martin, and Micah Martin.  This presentation will focus on what it means to have an agile design.  He will also write the Copy program from the book and work through the process of turning it into a solid agile design. 

If you are new to agile design, this would be a good meeting to attend.

Rob has been developing enterprise applications for around 8 years now.  His current development environment is Visual Studio 2008 with ReSharper 4.0 and his current language of choice is C#.  He writes both ASP.NET and Windows applications.  Rob’s current topic of interest is what it means to write Agile and maintainable code.  You can follow Rob on his LetsTalkCode blog.

You can find out more info about this at the Northwest Arkanas .NET User Group, here is a direct link to the calendar event here.

This months meeting location is NWACC Corporate Learning at 4004 N. College Ave, Ste L. Fayetteville, AR.

If you were not aware Microsoft has quite a few vhd's (virtual hard drive) available for people to download so you can try out new technologies without affecting your home or business environment. In order to run these vhd's you will need Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 or Virtual Server 2005.

The Internet Explorer team have provided updated "IE Compatibility" test virtual machines, which now include an IE6, IE7 and IE8 Beta 1 virtual machine for testing your applications.  Download available here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=21eabb90-958f-4b64-b5f1-73d0a413c8ef&DisplayLang=en

Microsoft also has a Run IT on a Virtual Hard Disk program. Using the power of virtualization, you can now quickly evaluate Microsoft and partner solutions through a series of pre-configured Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs). You can download the VHDs and evaluate them for free in your own environment without the need for dedicated servers or complex installations. Start now by selecting a lab from the VHD catalog below.

Microsoft Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform, and cross-device plug-in for delivering the next generation of .NET based media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web.

Get Started Building Silverlight 2 Applications:

• Install Visual Studio 2008 then Install Silverlight Tools Beta 2 for Visual Studio 2008
  This add-on to Visual Studio 2008 allows you to use .NET to create Silverlight 2 Beta 2 Web sites. The Silverlight 2 Beta 2 Runtime and the Silverlight 2 Beta 2 SDK are installed as part of this install.
   
• Install Expression Blend 2.5 June 2008 Preview
  This is a preview version of Expression Blend for designing Silverlight 2 experiences.
   
• Install Deep Zoom Composer
  This tool allows you to prepare you images for use with the Deep Zoom feature in Silverlight 2.
   
  • Watch the Getting Started Video - This video will show you how to install the Silverlight tools then how to create your first Silverlight application.
     
  • Read Scott Guthrie's 8-part blog series -Scott's blog posts will walk you through the fundamentals of Silverlight 2 and will help you build a sample application along the way. Each step includes source code.
    • Part 1 - Creating a Hello Word with Silverlight 2 and VS 2008
    • Part 2 - Using Layout Management
    • Part 3 - Using Networking to Retrieve Data and Populate a DataGrid
    • Part 4 - Using Style Elements to Better Encapsulate Look and Feel
    • Part 5 - Using the ListBox and DataBinding to Display List Data
    • Part 6 - Using User Controls to Implement Master/Details Scenarios
    • Part 7 - Using Templates to Customize Look and Feel
    • Part 8 - Creating a Digg Desktop Version of our Application using WPF
       
  • Read Scott Guthrie's Blog Post: "First Look at Using Expression Blend with Silverlight 2" to understand the key features of Expression as you build a sample application, or watch Jesse Liberty's 3-part video series on the same subject.
    • Part 1 - Introducing Blend to Silverlight Developers
    • Part 2 - Intensive Silverlight Programming and Expression Blend
    • Part 3 - Programming Silverlight With Blend: Data Binding and More
       
  • Watch the following introductory videos for Silverlight 2 which allows you to create rich interactive applications for the Web using Visual C# and Visual Basic.
    • Using Grids and Stack Panels
    • Binding Data
    • User Controls
    • Consuming data with web services
       
  • Read Scott Guthrie's blog post: "What's New in Silverlight Beta 2" that highlights what’s new in the UI and Control space, as well as the Media, Networking, and Data improvements that are part of Beta 2.
     
  • More Training Videos
    Watch dozens of videos for designers and developers, from the novice to the professional.
     
  • Read the Tutorials
    Learn more about Silverlight 2 with the regular tutorial series from Jesse Liberty.
     
  • Visit the QuickStarts to create your first application
    QuickStarts are task-based samples that provide an excellent way to learn the features of Silverlight. Each sample walks you through a feature and demonstrates how you can use that feature in your Silverlight-based applications.
     
  • Download a sample from the Gallery
    Upload and share your Silverlight sample in the Gallery.
     
  • Have a question? Visit the forums
    Developers and designers throughout the world post questions and answers to the Silverlight forums.
     
  • What's Different in Beta 2
    Read about the differences and breaking changes between Silverlight 2 Beta 1 and Beta 2.
     
  • Microsoft Silverlight 2 SDK Beta 2
    If you are not installing the Microsoft Silverlight Tools Beta 2 for Visual Studio 2008 which includes this SDK, you can download this SDK to create Silverlight Web experiences that target Silverlight 2 Beta 2. The SDK contains documentation, samples and other tools for building Silverlight applications.
     
  • Read the documentation
    The documentation on MSDN will help you understand Silverlight.
      

I am continuing my Virtual Lab Series. I have recently went throuhg a good virtual lab on integrating Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) with Windows WorkFlow Foundation (WF).

Event Overview 

• The purpose of this lab is to illustrate how Workflow Foundation (WF) workflows can interoperate with Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) services using Visual Studio 2008. As we progress through this lab, we will also have an opportunity to examine new language features in Visual Basic and productivity features in Visual Studio 2008.
   
• With the release of Visual Studio 2008 comes new functionality that enables Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF) and WCF to interoperate seamlessly together.
   
• This lab has been built in Visual Basic and will also serve as an introduction into some of the language’s new features.
   

 You can view and find more information about this lab by clicking here.

I am continuing my Webcast Series. I have recently watch a few good webcasts on Windows WorkFlow Foundation (WF). The first webcast gives an overview of WF and how it can interact with your environment. The second webcast gives an overview of the Workflow Foundation tools in Visual Studio 2008.

Webcast Links:

• Overview - Join this webcast where you are introduced to Windows Workflow Foundation by examining, modifying, and extending the workflow components of the DinnerNow sample solution. Learn to create custom activities, manage workflow persistence and tracking, and take some time to understand how Windows Workflow Foundation was applied in this application.
• Workflow Foundation Tools in Visual Studio 2008 - Take a brief look at why WF is cool and how Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 makes writing WF applications even cooler.
   

I have another link for my Virtual Lab Series that is a lab for working with Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). This a lab gives you an overview of WCF and how to create and get started using WCF.

You can view the lab and more information by clicking here.