December | 2020 | Programming with Palermo

Jeffrey Palermo 3:00 am on December 28, 2020

Kendra Havens on Codespaces - Episode 121

This week, Kendra Havens is joining the podcast! Kendra is a Program Manager at Microsoft on the .NET and Visual Studio team. She is incredibly passionate about using technology to empower people and solve the world's problems whether it be technological, business, or people puzzles — and she always loves a good challenge! In her role at Microsoft, she focuses mainly on .NET Tooling and the testing experience in Visual Studio. You may recognize her from videos on Visual Studio, .NET Core, C#, and Testing tools; or, as a speaker at the recent .NET Conf 2020.

In this episode, Kendra and Jeffrey discuss Codespaces. If you haven't heard the buzz about Codespaces yet, they provide a fully managed dev environment that you can deploy. They're reproducible, re-deployable, manageable, and set up everything in your dev environment for you. Kendra equates them to a remote desktop… but better!

Kendra shares her insights and knowledge on Codespaces, what she and her team are currently working on with regards to it, shares some recent developments, and much more!

Topics of Discussion:

[:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes.

[1:02] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey's offer to speak at virtual user groups.

[1:16] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes.

[1:43] About today's guest, Kendra Havens!

[2:19] Jeffrey welcomes Kendra to the podcast.

[2:26] Kendra speaks about her career path that has led her to her current role with Microsoft and what Codespaces is.

[4:30] Is Codespaces 100% ready to go? How easy is it to set up?

[6:57] Does it matter if the software is targeting the full operating system on the Windows side or if the developer doesn't care and is just throwing it to Azure App Service? Is there a difference between the two when it comes to implementing Codespaces?

[8:08] Is the best experience right now with what's in development for .NET 5 container-destined applications?

[8:48] What to do if you want to run a .NET 5.0 app.

[9:03] Which application dependencies has Kendra seen as being the most common that are well-supported?

[10:10] Would it be fair to say that if something can be set up with a command line that it probably works well at this point?

[10:48] Having they been testing with SQL Server or is it implicitly supported with Codespaces?

[11:57] Kendra speaks about the overall vision for Codespaces, what they're working towards, and the kinds of conversations that they're having within Microsoft around it.

[15:29] Is Microsoft planning on hosting Codespaces or is there going to be a private capacity that is available if you want to equip your company with a certain amount of horsepower to connect to?

[17:26] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast's sponsor: Clear Measure.

[17:59] Kendra speaks about the potential of configuration in regards to servicing

[19:13] What Codespaces is working towards offering: being able to configure how much horsepower your codespace gets.

[19:49] Some of the big benefits that will come from this offering.

[20:26] What clients are they intending to support with Codespaces?

[21:59] Kendra speaks about something she is currently really excited about: GitHub Actions.

[22:39] Some of the recent developments with GitHub Actions.

[24:14] The latest in testing in Visual Studio.

[26:00] How does Kendra keep up with all of the new framework changes? What's the strategy for testing the new frameworks?

[29:51] Kendra shares some final words about what she and her team are working on and what she is excited about going forward.

[32:28] Jeffrey thanks Kendra for joining the podcast!

Mentioned in this Episode:

Azure DevOps

Clear Measure (Sponsor)

.NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon!

bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook!

Jeffrey Palermo's Youtube

Jeffrey Palermo's Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events!

The Azure DevOps Podcast's Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow

.NET Conf 2020

Kendra Havens' Linkedin

Kendra Havens' Twitter

Kendra Haven's GitHub

Codespaces

JSON

DevContainer.JSON

.NET 5 Code Quality Analyzers
Docker

Azure DevOps Podcast Ep. 95: "Chris Patterson on GitHub Actions"

Blazor

Playwright Test

Want to Learn More?

Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Download this episode (MP3, 33:44, 32.4 MB)

Watch this episode on YouTube

This episode on the AI DevOps Podcast site

Jeffrey Palermo 3:00 am on December 21, 2020

Maddy Leger on Xamarin in a .NET 5 World - Episode 120

In this episode, Jeffrey is joined by Maddy Leger, a Program Manager at Microsoft on the Xamarin team!

Maddy has been with the Xamarin team since 2018 working on Xamarin tooling. When she first joined Microsoft and worked with the Xamarin team as an intern, she realized the impact that she could have in creating amazing developer tools and frameworks, which inspired her to pursue a role as Program Manager. You can connect with her on Twitter and GitHub @maddyleger1!

In Jeffrey and Maddy's conversation, they discuss Xamarin in a .NET 5 world. Maddy shares her vision for where Xamarin is headed and what she hopes will be the new normal for C# developers five years from now; what the state-of-the-art is now for Xamarin; what a Xamarin developer setup looks like in the .NET 5 world for mobile, Mac, and Windows; and what developers with existing Xamarin apps should they be paying attention to (or change) with .NET 5 coming out.

Topics of Discussion:

[:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes.

[1:07] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey's offer to speak at virtual user groups.

[1:20] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes.

[1:43] About today's guest, Maddy Leger!

[2:17] Jeffrey welcomes Maddy Leger to the podcast.

[2:25] Maddy speaks about her career journey thus far and what led to her working on the Xamarin team at Microsoft.

[5:20] Overtime, the story for developing on non-Windows computers has been fragmented. Maddy speaks about this and what the story looks like right now.

[6:25] Maddy shares her vision for where Xamarin is headed and what she hopes will be the new normal for C# developers five years from now.

[7:09] What the state-of-the-art is now for Xamarin.

[9:30] If you just want things to work and just have an app to access some data, what level of share code is Xamarin currently?

[10:50] Maddy speaks about what a Xamarin developer setup looks like in the .NET 5 world for mobile.

[13:38] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast's sponsor: Clear Measure.

[14:25] Maddy speaks on the Mac story as a Xamarin developer and when you need to have a Mac on the .NET 5 side.

[18:06] For developers now, do they need a Mac of some type? Or does the iPhone suffice?

[19:07] Azure DevOps has hosted Mac Agents. If you're using that, do you need a local Mac?

[20:35] In the .NET 5 world, what is state-of-the-art when it comes to the teams' development, DevOps environment, building, testing, packaging, and deploying? What should they choose? And what pieces do they put together?

[22:30] What are the libraries and tools for automated testing and testing locally? What does that look like these days?

[24:15] What do deployments to a DevOps environment look like in the world of .NET 5 in Xamarin?

[27:04] For developers with existing Xamarin apps that they've been managing, what should they be paying attention to or change with .NET 5 coming out? What would they miss out on if they don't move to .NET 5?

[29:01] Jeffrey thanks Maddy for joining the podcast!

Mentioned in this Episode:

Azure DevOps

Clear Measure (Sponsor)

.NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon!

bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook!

Jeffrey Palermo's Youtube

Jeffrey Palermo's Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events!

The Azure DevOps Podcast's Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow

.NET Conf 2020

.NET Core

.NET 5.0

Maddy Leger's LinkedIn

Maddy Leger's Twitter @maddyleger1

Maddy Leger's GitHub @maddyleger1

.NET Community Standup

Want to Learn More?

Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Download this episode (MP3, 29:49, 28.6 MB)

Watch this episode on YouTube

This episode on the AI DevOps Podcast site

Jeffrey Palermo 3:00 am on December 14, 2020

Scott Hunter on .NET 5 - Episode 119

Scott is the Director of Program Management for .NET at Microsoft. When Scott first joined Microsoft back in 2007, he was working on the ASP.NET team.

As the Director of Program Management of .NET, Scott and his team build .NET Core, .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Entity Framework, managed languages (C#/F#/VB), as well as the Web and .NET Tooling for Visual Studio.

In this episode, Jeffrey and Scott discuss the announcements that were made at the recent .NET Conf 2020, everything .NET 5.0, and general advice for .NET developers. Scott also touches on the Experimental Mobile Blazor Bindings project, isolated CSS, browser-based applications, the pre-render server feature in .NET 5.0, and much more.

Topics of Discussion:

[:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes.

[1:02] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey's offer to speak at virtual user groups.

[1:11] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes.

[1:34] About today's guest, Scott Hunter!

[1:51] Jeffrey welcomes Scott back to the podcast.

[1:58] Jeffrey and Scott reflect on software and tech history, their job history, and the history of how they know each other.

[7:21] Scott shares his predictions on the technology and software that developers should be investing in that were showcased at .NET Conf 2020.

[15:08] The two tracks Microsoft seems to be going on and Scott's thoughts on what the overall vision seems to be.

[19:05] About the Experimental Mobile Blazor Bindings project.

[21:58] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast's sponsor: Clear Measure.

[22:31] From a labor pool perspective, there seems to be a mountain more of people who know how to lay out a screen and make something attractive using an HTML and CSS combination. Contracting with a designer who only needs to know HTML and CSS is becoming an increasingly affordable option. Is this part of Scott's thought process?

[25:15] Jeffrey and Scott touch on another cool announcement from .NET Conf 2020: isolated CSS.

[26:30] Scott tells a fun story about the merits of being on a .NET team and working at Microsoft.

[29:59] There's one paradigm in browser-based applications that doesn't exist in desktop or mobile applications: the back button. Scott shares his perspective on this and whether or not they'll be supported in a first-class way.

[32:17] Scott highlights another cool feature in .NET 5: the pre-render server.

[33:49] Scott speaks about an amazing customer of theirs that they highlighted at the .NET Conf 2020 keynote.

[38:09] Is .NET 5 the fastest real programming platform? What would Scott's recommendations be to a team looking to move from .NET 4.8 to 5.0?

[42:47] Jeffrey thanks Scott for joining the show!

Mentioned in this Episode:

Azure DevOps

Clear Measure (Sponsor)

.NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon!

bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook!

Jeffrey Palermo's Youtube

Jeffrey Palermo's Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events!

The Azure DevOps Podcast's Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow

Scott Hunter

Scott Hunter's Twitter @coolcsh

.NET 5

Azure DevOps Podcast: "Scott Hunter on DevOps Capabilities in Azure - Episode 24"

Azure DevOps Podcast: "Microsoft Ignite 2019 Recap with Various Guests - Episode 65

XAML
Experimental Mobile Blazor Bindings

Want to Learn More?

Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Download this episode (MP3, 43:35, 41.8 MB)

Watch this episode on YouTube

This episode on the AI DevOps Podcast site

Jeffrey Palermo 3:00 am on December 7, 2020

Michael Hawker on the Windows Community - Episode 118

In this episode, Michael A. Hawker, AKA 'XAML Llama,' joins the podcast to discuss the Windows Community Toolkit and more.

Michael is a Senior Software Engineer for the Partner, Analytics, and essential eXperiences (PAX) team at Microsoft. PAX focuses on driving the ISV ecosystem through technical engagement with partners and industry as well as providing essential first-party experiences. Michael is also the maintainer of the Windows Community Toolkit and prior to that, "App Ninja." Previously, he's worked on Windows Protocols, Message Analyzer, and Network Monitor. Additionally, he is also the creator of XAML Studio, a Microsoft Garage project.

Jeffrey and Michael discuss Michael's role as a Windows Community Toolkit Maintainer, the ins and outs of the Windows Community Toolkit, its .NET Standard libraries, the state of full application testing, and key learning moments that he and his teams have gone through. Michael also provides advice, recommendations, and resources regarding .NET and application development; .NET Standard libraries; Project Reunion; what is currently state-of-the-art when it comes to UI layout; and, of course, the Windows Community Toolkit!

Topics of Discussion:

[:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes.

[1:02] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey's offer to speak at virtual user groups.

[1:16] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes.

[1:42] About today's guest, Michael Hawker!

[2:20] Jeffrey welcomes Michael to the podcast.

[2:40] Michael shares about his background and how he ended up in his current role as a Senior Software Engineer and Windows Community Toolkit Maintainer.

[5:00] Jeffrey and Michael talk about the strategy and vision for .NET 5.

[7:11] Michael elaborates on what Project Reunion is.

[10:10] What is the Windows Community Toolkit?

[11:32] Michael shares about Windows Community Toolkit's reach and where it works, and its .NET Standard libraries.

[13:50] Is Michael seeing a lot of developers adopting their .NET Standard libraries on non-Windows applications?

[16:01] What is the current modern installer or deployment package format?

[19:16] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast's sponsor: Clear Measure.

[19:46] The state of full application testing and the libraries that the Windows Community Toolkit is currently using.

[26:29] Michael highlights some of the learning moments that he and his teams have gone through with having a high-productive DevOps environment and working on a Windows Application.

[32:04] As more and more people come back to Windows development and natively installed applications in general, what is the state-of-the-art when it comes to UI layout?

[34:15] Michael shares his recommendations and resources for .NET and application development.

[37:00] Jeffrey thanks Michael for joining the podcast!

Mentioned in this Episode:

Azure DevOps

Clear Measure (Sponsor)

.NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon!

bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook!

Jeffrey Palermo's Youtube

Jeffrey Palermo's Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events!

The Azure DevOps Podcast's Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow

.NET Conf 2020

Windows Community Toolkit