Note: This meeting falls on a Monday night, not the regular Tuesday.  This is an INETA-sponsored event.

This session is a deep dive into the ASP.NET AJAX UpdatePanel.  The UpdatePanel provides for a mechanism to add client side Ajax capabilities through a server side control.  We'll look at:

• Quick Intro to the UpdatePanel.
• How to debug with it.  The UpdatePanel provides client side Ajax functionality. We'll look at how to debug with it and see that the UpdatePanel allows for the server side debugging functionality that mostdevelopers are used to.
• Its client side programmability features.  The UpdatePanel provides a client side interface into its features. We'll look at the events provided and how they allow developers to add to their applications to improve the user experience.
• Error Handling.  By default, errors are generated as JavaScript alerts, we'll look at the options for handling errors so that user's aren't forced into the annoying JavaScript alert popup.
• The data format that the UpdatePanel uses.  When does AJAX not use XML or JSON for data transfer? When it the UpdatePanel is used.  We'll look at the Update Panel's data transfer format.
• History with the UpdatePanel. One of the most frustrating things from a user's standpoint is that hitting back on Ajax application takes them out of the application.  We'll look at what a developer must do so that a user hitting back does not exit from the application, but merely goes back to the previous state of the application.

Note: David offered a few different topics that he could speak on.  Two of them sounded particularly interesting, and instead of deciding between them, I've asked him to present on BOTH of them at the same meeting!

Extending your Application with the Managed Extensibility Framework
Microsoft Managed Extensibility (MEF) framework allows developers to add “hooks” into their application to make it extensible at runtime.  These hooks allow you or a third party to extend your application dynamically in the future.  In this session, we will review the MEF tool set and build an extensible application and then extend that application using MEF.

Using Microsoft Distributed Cache to speed your application
Retrieving data from a disc or a database can be a time-consuming operation.  Data that is accessed frequently can be stored in an in-memory cache, which can speed up its retrieval considerably.  Microsoft Distributed Cache (aka “Velocity”) provides a framework for storing and managing cached data.  In this session, we will discuss how to use this framework in your application and demonstrate some code that implements this framework.

David Giard has been developing solutions using Microsoft technologies since 1993.  In the past, he has spoken at Day of .Net, Microsoft DevCares and many user groups around the Midwest.  He is a recovering certification addict and holds an MCTS, MCSD, MCSE, MCDBA, a BS, an MBA, and numerous other letters of the alphabet.  You can read his latest thoughts at www.DavidGiard.com.  He lives in Michigan with his two teenage sons. 

For the past six years, ASP.NET Web Developers have been limited to the use of ASP.NET Web Forms for web development. Unfortunately, this does not naturally lend itself to testing and extensibility. A powerful alternative to Web Forms is needed that is flexible and easy to use, yet still permits developers to utilize their existing Microsoft .NET skill set. Learn how to use the new ASP.NET MVC Framework on your next project to create a web application that can be easily tested and extended at any time in the future.

Ryan Lanciaux is a Professional Software Developer in Northwest Ohio. Although he programs in several languages, his current area of focus is in C# and VB.NET. Ryan has developed many large scale web applications since the late 1990s. He regularly contributes to the programming community through his website.

Microsoft Developer Evangelist Jeff Blankenburg provides a captivating oversight of some of the amazing things that Microsoft is busy working on behind the scenes. You may have played around with some of these technolgies already in their beta form, but in the end, you'll be guaranteed to see something that you've never seen before! Join us for a peek into these exciting future products and technologies, including Photosynth, Deep Zoom, and Live Mesh.

Jeff Blankenburg is a Developer Evangelist for the Microsoft Corporation. Over the past 10 years, Jeff has successfully implemented his technology expertise in numerous industries including retail, education, and healthcare. Jeff has exceptional proficiency in user-interface design, Web Standards, and web application development. He is a contributor to the O'Reilly title Windows Developer Power Tools on the subject of code validation services. Jeff is also an organizer of the CodeMash conference. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.

There's been a lot of talk lately about new languages for the .NET platform.
One of these languages, IronPython, a port of the Python programming
language, started out as an experiment to see how dynamic languages would
perform on the CLR. The experiment proved enough of a success that it
eventually gave birth to the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR), the basis not
only of IronPython, but also IronRuby and VBx. In this talk, we'll talk
about the basics of IronPython and some of its features before coding-up
some examples.

To help celebrate the launch of VS.NET, a few lucky winners will get a copy of Visual Studio .NET 2008.  If we have more than 20 people we will also be raffling off Windows Vista Ultimate! Be sure to bring a friend along.

Darrell Hawley is a C# developer working with both web and windows applications. Currently, he is working in the automotive sector with a team of engineers and software developers solving complex engineering problems using the .NET Framework. During a four year stay at a Farmington Hills, MI advertising company, he streamlined business processes and acted as the company SQL Server administrator. He has also worked with WCF, WSE, Web Services, VB6, VBA, VBScript and ASP. He recently has been researching Python and IronPython and is actively involved in the Ann Arbor .NET Developers Group.

As Brian transitions into his new role at Microsoft, he looks back at 15 years of being a developer, consultant, and business leader. He will talk about the skills and wisdom that you need to be happy and successful.

Brian H. Prince is an Architect Evangelist with Microsoft focused on building and educating the architect community in his district. Prior to joining Microsoft in March 2008, he was a Senior Director, Technology Strategy for a major mid-west partner.

Further, he is a co-founder of the non-profit organization CodeMash (www.codemash.org). He speaks at various regional and national technology events including TechEd.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Physics from Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. He is also an avid gamer.

The regular meeting night for March falls on March 18, which is the same day as the Launch Event in Detroit for Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008.  Consequently, our scheduled speaker (Joe Wirtley) will be attending the launch event in Detroit on that day.

Since several attempts to line up a replacement speaker on a different night have not been fruitful, Greg and Jason have decided to cancel the March meeting.  We'll see you in April!

Microsoft is launching three exciting products this year (Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008).  To celebrate, there are launch events scheduled across the nation as part of the "Heroes Happen {here}" campaign.

One such event is taking place on March 18 in Detroit.  It's free to attend, but you must register before the event becomes fully booked:

http://www.microsoft.com/heroeshappenhere/events/Detroit/default.mspx

Take a test drive

Meet the experts

Bring the products home