December–STOP CODING with Garry Stewart

Hey all. Is the first tool in your toolbox Visual Studio (or vi for the hardcore)? Is your first action when starting a new project to put together a data dictionary or entity relationship model? You might be a code addict.

This Wednesday (the 8th) join Garry Stewart as he teaches us a better way. Garry has recently been building a semantic wiki as a data capture and reporting mechanism. He’s going to contrast this with our “natural” first desire of building a relational model and then building “normal” applications to keep a database up to date.

What: Think first then code with Garry Stewart
When: Wednesday 8th December, 6pm -> ?
Where: 43 below bar & bistro, Underground on the corner of Barrack and Hay Streets
Cost: Free

Hope to see you there.

NOTE: Just to let you know the function room was booked so we are going to be in the restaurant area this time.

November / December

Hey folks. First off, thank you very much to Rivaaj for running a session on Pex and Moles last month. It was very informative (and we had a good discussion about automated UI testing afterwards as well).

Unfortunately we are not having a session tonight and rather than mess with the schedule I'm going to hold off again this month as I have no leads on a presenter/discussion leader.

That said, I do have a person lined up for December 8th so we are all set for next month.

Remember that I do have a couple of licences of things to give to anyone that wants to stand up and present or even just lead a discussion of any kind so if you're interested please drop me line at michael.minutillo@gmail.com

See you all next month.

Don't forget session tonight

Hey folks. Don't forget there's a session on tonight on Pex & Moles. Details are here.

Last chance for free Windows Phone 7 Training

Tomorrow is the first day of the 2-day free deep dive workshop on Windows Phone 7 run by Nick Randolph, there are still a few places left. Follow the link to get more info and register.

October Session - Pex and Moles with Rivaaj Jumna

Join us on Wednesday 20th October** as Rivaaj Jumna leads us on a discussion about Pex and Moles, two MS-Research projects that aid in Unit Testing.

There's a pile of unit testing tools, some more worthy than others, out there. Pex and Moles are a pair that have been brewing for a while and may just be ready to be looked at more closely. We will be looking at the pair with the plan to:

• Highlight features that set them apart
• Look at a few code samples
• Sound off initial thoughts on where they could fit into the test/design process.

What: Pex & Moles with Rivaaj Jumna

Where: 43 Below, Cnr Barrack & Hay Street. Underground and across the intersection from MacDonalds

When: Wednesday 20th October, 6pm until you need to go

Cost: Free. Although if you don't come you lose the right to complain about static classes for a month.

** We are on the 20th so that we don't clash with the Windows Phone 7 Deep Dive Workshop that is on during our usual week.

Free Windows Phone 7 Workshop

Nick Randolph is coming to town to deliver the Windows Phone 7 Deep Dive Workshop. The workshop runs for two days (14th & 15th of October) and is free to attend but registration is mandatory. From Nicks MVP profile:

Nick currently runs Built To Roam which focuses on building rich mobile applications. Previously Nick was co-founder and Development Manager for nsquared solutions where he lead a team of developers to build inspirational software using next wave technology. Prior to nsquared, Nick was the lead developer at Intilecta Corporation where he was integrally involved in designing and building their application framework. After graduating from a combined Engineering (Information Technology)/Commerce degree, Nick went on to be nominated as a Microsoft MVP in recognition of his work with the Perth .NET user group and his focus on mobile devices. He is still an active contributor in the device application development space via his blog at http://community.softteq.com/blogs/nick/ and via the Professional Visual Studio website, http://www.professionalvisualstudio.com/. Nick has been invited to present at a variety of events including Tech Ed Australia & NZ, MEDC and Code camp. He has also authored articles for MSDN Magazine (ANZ edition), four books with the latest being Professional Visual Studio 2010 and Professional Development for Windows Phone, and helped judge the 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010 world finals for the Imagine Cup.

For more information about the workshop including details on how to register, check out Nicks blog post:

Windows Phone 7 Deep Dive Workshop visiting Perth

P.S. Quick reminder - Tonight is the Perth YOW! Night with Dave Thomas

Perth Agile Night, Thursday September 30

Thanks to the Perth .NET Community of Practice we are having a YOW! Night on Thursday 30th September with Dave Thomas. YOW! Nights are an extension of the YOW! Conference. There are two presentations planned:

1. Envisioning backlogs
2. Functional Programming and NoSQL data

The event is free but you need to register to attend.

More details are available on the registration page.