Microsoft made public a couple of days ago that they will be deprecating their ADO.Net Oracle Provider. This really should not be much of a shock as the number of people that connect to Oracle should be using the one that Oracle provides, Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET). I heard about this while speaking to our local JSSUG group day before yesterday, as one of the attendees chimed up and mentioned it to the rest. No one really had an answer, so as I was trying to scarf down a slice of pizza, with my hand over my mouth, I mentioned that since ODP.Net was released, I have always used it while connecting to Oracle. Now my database of choice is SqlServer, however sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. With that said, and without reading anything about it at that time(just saw this), I added that Microsoft probably felt it was time to let Oracle take that over to fry bigger and better fish. If Oracle did not have a superior provider, well then I might start digging deeper.

Turns out, if one has architected things to accommodate these types of changes, a conversion to Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) would not be a challenge. "Well Bayer what do you mean?", Glad you asked. Many times I share my passion for layered design pattern. Yeah I know that everyone has their opinions, however layering makes for a better approach in situations like this. Seperating out our data layer gives your application the opportunity to make changes like the ones others are wondering how many places MS Oracle provider touches. Without too much concern, MS's provider for Oracle is being depricated so there is still time to refactor what code needs to be changed.

I have never spoke at two different events back to back until now. For the past two days I have been traveling Florida promoting "Patterns and Practices" for architecting enterprise solutions. Day before yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at JSSUG, which is my pal Brian Knight's SqlServer group. I had a ton of material as I have prepared for presenting at Matrix's event next week, however I held back a bit as a teaser. Plus I got a couple of blank looks because I mainly spoke to DBAs and BI Developers. Regardless, the material I talk on is equally important to these roles, if nothing much more than to understand the big picture being rolled out. Yesterday I drove to Tallahassee, Fl., the city where I went to college, Florida State University to speak at their ArchSIG. ArchSIGs are usually where I get the most feedback because they are on the same wavelength, however it is also somewhat challenging, because there is no room for fluff, because these guys can call your bluff in seconds' time.

If you missed or even if you attended either one of these events, next week is really going to pull things together. More material and examples showing how to gather and write effective documents and the steps necessary for gathering and promoting successful architecture within enterprise solutions. To register click here.

Matrix Resources has chosen Jacksonville, Florida to host one of their seminars, and I have the honor of speaking at it June 25, 2009 at the Sheraton Jacksonville Hotel. I will be presenting a two hour session titled, "Requirements to Architecture". Everyone knows that sometimes successful application development projects can be a 'black art' and that millions of dollars are wasted every year because of project failure. This can happen for a variety of reasons, for example project management, lack of requirements, poor architecture and/or bad technology recommendations. Studying these examples, it is fair to say that communication is probably the biggest issue between client and a development team but they can also be categorized further by project management and IT engineering too. My focus will be more on the engineering side, however it does not mean that if the patterns and practices recommended are followed to the 'T' that there is a guarantee, because you still have other factors that come into play like project management or maybe a project being extended or need for maintenance has a lack of initial analysis and design artifacts. Finally, I will go into some patterns and practices which need to take place when considering what technologies and architecture to use.

So with a free event and wealth of information it is hard to pass up. Make sure to bring your questions and experiences so others can learn how to stop loosing and instead start making money while building successful and stable IT solutions. Register here!

First Wednesday of the month, you will catch me at our monthly JaxDUG meeting. Below are the details so drop by!

Leveraging Web Deployment Projects

In this session we will take a look at how Web Deployment Projects can be used to assist in the deployment of web sites and web applications; including ASP.NET Web Applications and ASP.NET MVC Web Applications. We will give an overview of what Web Deployment Projects are and the functionality that is available out of the box. A Web Deployment Project is a wrapper for the aspnet_compiler.exe tool in the form of an MSBuild project and adds value to using the tool itself. Because they are MSBuild files we are able to customize and extend the process. We will discuss how we can customize the process to perform common steps such as

1. Creating Virtual Directories
2. Updating values in the web.config file
3. Encrypting the web.config file
4. Minimizing JavaScript files
5. Versioning the Assemblies

 

6/3/2009
Bank Of America, Building 500
9000 Southside Blvd. Jacksonville, Fl. 32256
Room: Sea Oats, 6pm-8pm

Here in Jacksonville, Fl. we have been working hard the past couple of months, getting ready for this year's code camp. We have scheduled the event for August 29th, 2009. I am hoping to make this event the biggest code camp Jacksonville has ever had, because we have more of a purpose this year, which is to not only share our .Net passion, but also a local charity that we are supporting, Wolfson Childrens Hospital (http://www.wolfsonchildrens.org/). You absolutely would not believe the hope and support this hospital gives to parents by doing everything they can to save a child's life. 
 
This gives geeks like us the opportunity to not only share what we do and know best, but do it for a great cause! If you are interested in speaking, please go to http://www.jaxcodecamp.com and register with some sessions you are passionate about. I have already contacted some of my closest fellow MVP friends like Marshall Harrison, Brian Knight, John Holliday and Andrew Connell and they are anxious to get involved as well. If nothing else, with the crew I just mentioned I would not want to miss this event!

The much anticipated Visual Studio 2010 beta was released yesterday...There is good article about it on "Visual Studio Magazine" website here. These are some wild and crazy days:)

I became a Microsoft BizSpark Partner around the first of the year, because I felt it is a great opportunity to help promote other startup companies in getting software, licenses and tools that Microsoft offers for next to nothing. Recently, local involvement during the past couple of weeks has been worth a blog post. The background of BizSpark is this, 

• Improve startup company success by providing MS Tools
• Community Driven Support
• Visibility to high-potential Startups

   To be eligible for BizSpark you need to be

• engaged in development of software product or service which will serve as the foundation of your startup
• privately held
• been in business for less than 3 years
• Less than $1 million in revenue annually

So this is it in a nutshell...After being with BizSpark for 3 years MS asks for a fee of $100 dollars, but you still keep all the software and licenses.

Most of the companies that have shown interest are young and consist of a couple of employees. Most of them I have never heard of or met the owners. Some are local and some are somewhat close however recently I am starting to see and hear from some familiar faces wanting to join. Individual people like me that are starting companies to take advantage of BizSpark. People I have known to always 'work for the man' are starting to branch out and take control of there development career! Contact me if I can help you join too.

This Saturday I have the opportunity of speaking at SQL Saturday, here in Jax. This event is always fun for me because the attendees that attend soak up app dev topics like sponges. This Saturday, I have prepared a presentation called, "Patterns and Practices For Successful Architecture". If you are in the Jax., Fl area this Saturday stop by and say, "Hi". You can register here.

For the past 6 years I have always been a speaker at these events, however now I get the responsibility of planning the event it and it maybe be the biggest responsibility I have ever had. This year we want to make sure that our code camp had a purpose. We already have had a vision, "Promote the latest and greatest .Net technologies free to the community", but we have never had a purpose. For 2009 this will be different! This year JaxDUG will be promoting our local children's hospital, Wolfson. As one of the nation’s top recognized children's hospital, we are proud and lucky to have Wolfson here in Jacksonville, Fl., that’s why all donations to our code camp, after expenses from accommodations, will go to Wolfson. To the point we are even trying every angle to have a free but comfortable venue. Our goal is to promote the visibility of the hospital as well as the important role it plays within our community and possibly yours. To be a part of this event either as an attendee to just being a volunteer helps make this event successful, helping the children at Wolfson Children's Hospital. If you are interested in being a part of this event, please contact me:)

Last Saturday I had the honor of speaking at a local company called MDI Holdings, Inc... The difference was it did not happen at their office or convention center. Instead, they invited their IT crew to the owner's horse ranch. For one, I am just amazed when company owners take time to give back to employees by treating them to these events. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I worked for a company that did this, however that does not mean other companies are bad, it just says that extra special something when they give a little back. So why blog about it? Well I have never been asked to speak at an IT retreat. Speaking at conferences, code camps and user groups is slowly starting to become comfortable, however I doubt I will ever get over the butterflies. No this was definitely different... I mean, who wants to talk about code all day on a Saturday while at such a beautiful refuge. I had to change things up a little and talk more about something that could make there day to day activity better. I picked the topic, "Patterns and Practices for Successfully Architecting .Net Solutions". Not really sure how it would go over with a group that was not solely architects, so I added some additional material that could be applied also to BAs and PMs.
After sharing the secrets of my success, I think the group came away with a clearer picture of architecture, it's make up and how drives the success of a solution. Thanks again MDI!!!