I’m happy to announce the upcoming Boot Camp series of free developer training events including: Web Camp, Windows Dev Boot Camp and Azure Boot Camp.

Web Camp

Microsoft’s Web Camps are events designed to teach you all about building websites using ASP.NET MVC, WebMatrix, OData and more. There are 1-day and 2-day events being offered with interactive sessions on:

• Introduce ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web Pages and WebMatrix; discuss possible uses of these
• Explore new features of ASP.NET MVC 3
• Take a dive deep into jQuery
• Facilitate an in-depth discussion on when to migrate ASP.NET WebPages applications to ASP.NET MVC
• Discuss configuration and deployment of web applications.

Clark Sell has more details on the Web Camps taking place in the Central US.

Windows Dev Boot Camp

The Windows Development Boot Camp is a one-day deep dive class on client development. The event covers developing for Windows 7, Internet Explorer 9, and Silverlight 4 out of browser. The class includes a trainer with deep real world experience presenting content, as well as a series of labs so you can write some code and practice what you just learned.

Interactive sessions will include topics from throughout the Windows development platform. We will look at application compatibility and transitioning your applications to Windows 7, integrating with the Windows taskbar, developing for IE9, utilizing the cool functionality in the Sensors and Location Platform so that your application better responds to its current environment, leveraging the multi-touch capabilities (especially in kiosk scenarios), and creating Silverlight 4 out of browser applications.

Azure Boot Camp

Windows Azure Boot Camp is a two day deep dive class to get you up to speed on developing for Windows Azure. The class includes a trainer with deep real world experience with Azure, as well as a series of labs so you can practice what you just learned. The agenda will cover:

• Introduction to Cloud Computing and Windows Azure
• Web Roles and Worker Roles
• Queues, Tables and Blobs
• Convincing the Business to use Windows Azure
• Diagnostic and Management API’s
• SQL Azure
• App Fabric
• Cloud Scenarios

For details and locations for each of these events, visit the respective website for each boot camp.

There have been several teams at Microsoft who have done great things to get “other” technologies to run better on top of the Microsoft Platform. Unfortunately, not many people, especially those outside of the Microsoft community, are aware of the changes taking place to get these technologies to interoperate with Microsoft Platform.

That’s where part of my job, as a Developer Evangelist, is to participate in these technology communities to share the progress of the work we’re making to give developers more opportunities to expand their skill sets and take advantage of a platform that may have not had an opportunity (or reason) in the past. All the while hopefully educating, sharing direction, guidance and a showing off a cool thing or two.

In this particular instance, I had the opportunity to join the Suburban Chicago PHP meetup and discuss some of the work various teams at Microsoft have been contributing to make PHP run better on Windows. Some of the talking points included…

• Increasing PHP performance on Windows by doing simple things like re-compiling the PHP core engine with a modern compiler
• Offering bytecode caching in IIS7 through the Windows Cache Extension for PHP
• Creating an installer with the frameworks, the tools, the server configs and the applications to get up and running quickly
• Having a native SQL Server Driver for PHP
• Developing toolkits, SDKs and sample code to easily take advantage of components in the Microsoft Web Platform including Windows Azure
• Providing guidance on Running PHP applications on IIS
• Including the all-important URL Rewrite Module to give developers control over their URL paths that lead to an SEO happy site
• And providing tools to help you optimize your SEO practices in the SEO Toolkit

It’s great to see the amount of work that has been done in such a short amount of time to make the Microsoft Web Platform the best platform to run your PHP applications on.

As an added bonus (and a promise to the meetup group) here are the slides from my presentation on Make Web Not War…

In the afternoon, I will walk developers through the paces of how to light up their applications on Windows 7 by taking advantage of features such as the Ribbon platform, the Taskbar, Jump Lists, Libraries as well as underlying platform additions such as the new Sensor and Location Platform and Multitouch.

This isn’t all that’s going on at MadCamp but there will be two additional tracks with more great content for IT Pros and Developers alike.

We dug deep into our budget and pulled out some great giveaways including the opportunity to win one of the following:

• Dell Mini 10 Netbook with a copy of Windows 7
• Zune HD
• Games, Books, Peripherals, etc.

I hope you can join us!

follow: http://twitter.com/maddotnet

tweet: #madcamp09

Presentation: Dev201 – Taking Your Applications to the Next Level with Windows 7 (.ppt, .pptx)

Presentation: Dev202 – Beyond Human Interaction with Windows 7 Sensor and Location Platform (.ppt, .pptx)

Presentation: Dev203 – Build Next Generation User-Interface with Multitouch and Ribbon on Windows 7 (.ppt, .pptx)

Technical Resources

Windows Developer Center on MSDN

Windows SDK

Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers

Windows API CodePack for Microsoft .NET Framework

Windows Ribbon Framework: Developer Resources

Windows Application Compatibility Developer Center

Windows 7 Remediation Labs

“PhotoView” Reference Application (XP2Win7Project)

Racing Game XNA Starter Kit (XNA Game Studio required)

Training Resources

Microsoft Learning

Community Resources

Windows 7 for Developers Blog

Windows 7 on Channel9

PDC 2008: Windows 7 sessions

PDC 2008: Introducing Direct2D and DirectWrite

Test Equipment

Flexis JM USB Microcontroller: JMBADGE2008-B – the sensor board used for the Senor API demos with built-in light sensor and accelerometer.

If you’re looking to ramp up your skills in the land of XAML, I’d recommend adding these events to your calendar. Don’t worry if you can’t make the Live Meeting sessions as those will also be available on-demand.

Here’s a list of the great content you have to choose from…

XAML Continuum

XAML is the lingua franca of both Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation, Microsoft’s presentation technologies for the future. In this introductory session, learn how XAML empowers designers and developers to build rich Web and desktop applications. You’ll see how Blend can be used by designers to create assets and applications, and how Visual Studio 2008 to quickly implement an application’s functionality. What’s more, you’ll understand how Blend and Visual Studio work together to enable seamless workflow between designers and developers.

XAML for Designers

Throughout XAMLFest, you’ll participate by building a Silverlight application from the ground up. In this session, you’ll jump Microsoft Expression Blend to begin creating this demonstration app. You’ll learn the basics of project creation, see how to navigate within Blend, and how XAML defines an application’s user interface.

XAML for Developers

In this first session geared towards developers, use Visual Studio 2008 to create and explore a basic Silverlight application. You’ll gain a better understanding of Silverlight anatomy and architecture, and you’ll see how Resource markup extensions work. You will also gain a better understanding of the deployment model used by Silverlight, and the role of Silverlight’s cross-platform, plug-in-based CLR.

XAML Fundamentals

In this recorded session, you’ll gain a solid foundational understanding of how XAML is used to build applications. First, you’ll see how XAML’s layout containers can be used to create interfaces that scale and re-size cleanly and intelligently. Next, you’ll see how you can use a variety of built-in controls to quickly create a working user interface. Finally, you’ll understand the role of XAML in data binding, and you’ll see how you can bind controls and properties using markup or code.

Layouts and Controls in Blend

In this live session, you’ll continue to build the sample application that you started creating the previous day. Here, you’ll create your application’s layout and begin adding controls. You’ll explore basic element binding using Blend. At the end of the session you’ll have a working Silverlight application that exhibits some basic functionality.

Layouts and Controls in Visual Studio

This session will begin with an exploration of application layout in XAML, using Visual Studio. And although there is a lot of functionality built-in to the existing framework, API and controls, there are times when you need to add some custom functionality in order to get your application to behave just the right way. To that end, you’ll use Visual Studio to build a simple value converter that can be used by your sample application. Along the way, you’ll understand the role of value converters and you’ll see how you can use code-behind to create and manipulate XAML objects. 

Prototyping

With today’s emphasis on usability and appealing user interfaces, it’s more important than ever to prototype your applications. In this session, you’ll see how new tools in Blend 3 enable you to quickly create working prototypes that can provide a foundation for building the actual application. You’ll learn about SketchFlow, “Wiggly styles”, sample data, and you’ll see how you can create a prototype that allows you to easily gather user feedback. Finally, you’ll see how you can save hours and hours by using Blend 3’s spec generation tool.

New Prototyping Features in Blend 3

In this session focusing on practical guidance on prototyping, you’ll use Blend to add screens, compositions and navigation behaviors to the sample application. You’ll add sample data sources to screens, sketch prototype user experience, and generate a spec document. 

Building a Domain Model in Visual Studio

In this session, you’ll use the spec document that was generated in the earlier design session to build a domain model consistent with sample data. You’ll also add notification interfaces that enable consumers to subscribe to changes in the domain model. Finally, you’ll bind the user experience to the domain model.  Live Meeting on June 3, 2009 / 1:00 PM PDT (4 pm EDT)

Patterns and Practices

With the release of its Expression tools for designers, Microsoft has prompted a re-evaluation of user interface design and workflow distribution. Now that Expression is approaching its third major release, a number of patterns and practices have emerged. In this session, you’ll see an approach to workflow that plays to the strengths of both designers and developers. Also, you’ll understand the importance of the “integrator” role in making sure this workflow runs smoothly.

Styles, Resources, Templates and Animations

XAML makes it easier for designers to take on more responsibility when it comes to implementing user interface design. In the past, most everything beyond static screenshots and mockups required a developer to write behind-the-scenes code. In this session, you’ll see how Expression empowers designers to add styling, create templates, and define animations. You’ll see how the Visual State Manager is used to provide animation between element states. You’ll also see Blend 3’s new support for importing Adobe® Photoshop® content. Live Meeting on June 4, 2009 / 9:00 AM PDT (noon EDT)

Implementing the M-V-VM Pattern

The Model/View/ViewModel (M-V-VM) pattern is a modern variation of the classic Model/View/Controller (MVC) approach to UI design. In this session, you’ll use Visual Studio to implement M-V-VM for the sample application. You’ll bind the user experience to the view model, and explore templates and animations in both XAML and managed code. Live Meeting on June 4, 2009 / 1:00 PM PDT (4 PM EDT)

Upsizing

Up until this point, most of the work you’ve done in XAMLFest has been using Silverlight, with sample data. In this session, you’ll see how an application can leverage endpoints and Service-Oriented Architectures. You’ll also see how Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) fits into the picture – how XAML and .NET enable reusability between Silverilght and WPF applications, and how to leverage features that are unique to WPF. You’ll also get a sneak peek at some of the exciting innovations coming in .NET 4.0.

Using Blend to Create WPF Apps and Controls

You can build great Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) apps with Blend, too, and in this session you’ll see exactly that. You’ll build a rich desktop client to complement the sample application you’ve been working on, and in doing so you’ll learn how to migrate screens, resources, styles and assets from Silverlight to WPF. This session will explore the similarities and differences between Silverlight and WPF applications.  Live Meeting on June 5, 2009 / 9:00 AM PDT (noon EDT)

Code Reusability between Silverlight and WPF

In this final session of XAMLFest, you’ll gain a solid understanding of WPF application architecture and development. You’ll implement a service endpoint that provides a domain model that can be used by both Silverlight and WPF. In addition, you’ll get some hands-on experiencing developing controls and applications with Silverlight/WPF re-use in mind. Live Meeting on June 5, 2009 / 1:00 PM PDT (4 PM EDT)

The good news for those MSDN and TechNet subscribers is that Windows 7 will actually RTM in the 2nd half of July. It’s reasonably safe to assume that you as an MSDN or TechNet subscriber will have access to the golden Win7 bits come late July.

With the release date of Windows 7 fast approaching, it is part of my job to provide you with material and resources to help with your Windows 7 training efforts. The evangelism team has been visiting various developer communities across the country to share with you the new features developers and IT pros need to be aware of and how they can “light up” their applications on top of the new Windows 7 feature set. You can find where we’re coming next at http://MSDNEvents.com. Also, Bruce Kyle, ISV Technical Evangelist, provided a fantastic list of resources to prepare yourself for Windows 7. I’d highly recommend checking it out.

In addition, here is a list of some of my favorite resource outlets for the latest on Windows 7 for Developers:

• Windows 7 Developer Center of MSDN
• Read the Windows 7 Developer’s Guide
• Visit the Windows 7 for Developers Blog on the Windows Team Blogs site
• Check out the many Windows 7 videos and interviews on Channel 9
• Watch the video of Steven Sinofsky’s PDC 2008 Keynote
• Prepare your applications with the Windows 7 Application Quality Cookbook
• Participate in the ongoing conversations on the Windows Client forums on MSDN
• Check out the resources from our recent MSDN Unleashed events where we covered IE8 and Windows 7

If you have any additional resources that would be of valuable to your fellow developers, please share them in the comments.