Microsoft Ignite for .NET Developers

This was the first time in a long time (I think maybe 10+ years) that I didn’t go to TechEd…err, I mean Ignite :-).  Was I sad to miss seeing old friends and hearing about TwoWay binding woes?  Sure.  Did I miss Orlando in the summer…nope (I get, it’s an easy shot, but yeah no).  I watched from afar though and found some really great stuff for .NET developers on different spectrums.  Ignite is Microsoft’s opportunity to share what is happening in the tech now versus only focus on futures.  I think for .NET developers we long for the ‘vNext’ of everything, but there is a lot of great things happening NOW!  And if you are a .NET developer who has been tip-toeing into the cloud development area, Ignite was a great place to start learning.

Here’s a list of things that I found for .NET Developers from Ignite. 

If you watch no-other ones, make sure to review these two higher-level sessions:

• .NET Overview and Roadmap by Scott Hanselman and Scott Hunter (BRK2194)  (some preview of .NET Core 3 with Windows client aspects)
• An end-to-end tour of the Microsoft developer platform (GS001) – a great end-to-end with lots of friends you will recognize!

Aside from these broader sessions, here’s a list that might be relevant to you, dear .NET developer:

• Five Azure Services every .NET developer should know by Andrew Hall and Paul Yuknewicz (BRK3042)
• Exploring cross-platform unit testing tools for .NET Core
• Microservices architecture with .NET Core, Docker containers, and Azure (BRK3175)
• Building resilient microservices with .NET Core and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) (BRK3190)
• Simple an powerful data access for .NET with Entity Framework Core (BRK3181)
• Moving a project from .NET to .NET Core (THR2107)
• Machine Learning with ML.NET (BRK3196)
• Migrate your existing ASP.NET app to ASP.NET Core (BRK3180)
• Build cloud-enabled mobile apps with Visual Studio and Xamarin (BRK2210)
• Build your first Xamarin.Forms application (THR1105)
• Xamarin.Essentials: Cross-platform APIs for your mobile apps (THR2211)
• What’s new for Windows UI developers: WinUI, XAML, and Fluent (BRK2108)

Lots of great stuff and maybe I’m missing a few.  Be sure to check out all the stuff from Channel 9 as well where a broad set of topics were covered in-between sessions with experts that were there.  Great smaller nuggets of knowledge that you should check out…here they are: Channel 9 Live at Ignite.

Another huge thing announced at Ignite was Microsoft Learn!

Microsoft Learn is a new online way of learning a bunch of new technology.  Through guided learning paths you complete modules and earn points and achievements.  It’s been fun a bit to compete with some co-workers on who can achieve the most badges!  One of the great things also is that you don’t need much to get started.  For the Azure content you do all the tasks IN THE LESSON through the cloud shell environment and with a free sandbox (no sign-up, no credit card)!  Check it out and see how many achievements you can get this week.

Sorry I missed some of the ‘hallway’ sessions (which are the best), but I’ll be looking for you all at the next one!  What were your favorite sessions?

Hope this helps!