Azure & DevOps Podcast

This week, Jeffrey is joined by Jimmy Engström, a Senior Developer, author, and speaker.   Since he was 7 years old and got his first computer, Jimmy has been on the cutting edge of technology, always developing, and trying new things. When he got wind of Blazor, he immediately realized the potential and adopted it when it was only in beta. Since then, he has been running Blazor in production since it was launched by Microsoft.   Jimmy’s passion for the .NET industry and community has taken him all around the world and has even earned him the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award for the last 8 years in a row. Additionally, Jimmy is the author of Web Development with Blazor and the co-host of Coding After Work; a podcast and stream.   In this episode, Jimmy shares what he thinks every developer should know when it comes to Blazor, his favorite Blazor components, insights regarding integrating Blazor into a DevOps environment, his career journey in Blazor, and about his book, Web Development with Blazor, A hands-on guide for .NET developers to build interactive UIs with C#.   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:15] About today’s episode with Jimmy Engström. [2:20] Jeffrey welcomes Jimmy to the show and congratulates him on his book on Blazor. [2:50] Jimmy shares his career background and his professional body of work. [6:55] When did Jimmy become interested and invested in Blazor? What led him to writing a book about it? [11:29] What should every developer know about Blazor? [18:44] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [19:16] Jimmy talks Blazor architecture and APIs. [21:59] Blazor components that Jimmy and his team especially love using. [25:15] Jimmy’s opinions on Radzen and Telerik. [26:25] Jimmy shares when he first adopted Blazor and the big changes he has noticed as he’s moved from .NET 5 to .NET 6. [29:36] Jimmy’s insights regarding integrating Blazor into a DevOps environment. [32:50] Where to find Jimmy online. [35:09] Jeffrey thanks Aaron Stannard for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! Jimmy Engström’s Microsoft Profile Jimmy Engström’s Twitter @EngstromJimmy EngstromJimmy.com Jimmy Engström’s LinkedIn Web Development with Blazor, A hands-on guide for .NET developers to build interactive UIs with C#, by Jimmy Engström (on PacktHub) Web Development with Blazor: A hands-on guide for .NET developers to build interactive UIs with C#, by Jimmy Engström (on Amazon) Jimmy Engström on Sessionize CodingAfterWork.com Blazor SignalR Blazm.net Infragistics Telerik Radzen   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

3 Jan 202236min

In this episode, Jeffrey is rejoined by Aaron Stannard for the second half of their two part interview! Be sure to turn into last week’s episode, “Aaron Stannard on the Actor Model with Akka.NET | Part 1” to learn all about Aaron’s career history and the creation of Akka.NET.   Aaron is the founder and CEO of Petabridge and Sdkbin, building open source tools for .NET developers to build concurrent and distributed applications. He’s also the founder of MarkedUp Analytics, a real-time in-app marketing and analytics service used by 1000+ developers, and has spent some time inside Microsoft as a Startup Developer Evangelist.   In this episode, Aaron discusses the general use cases of Akka.NET, the problem it addresses, where and how to use the actor model, and more. Don’t miss out on this deeply fascinating two-part series with Aaron Stannard!   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:13] About today’s episode with Aaron Stannard. [1:53] For application types, if someone is building a web application, a native application, or a mobile app, would they put Akka.NET in a backend process that consumes messages being received from somewhere? [3:53] Is high-scale more so Akka.NET’s bread-and-butter as opposed to low-scale, but constantly running? [10:10] Is the transport always a queue like Azure Service Bus or is it ever a web service call? [13:32] Is Akka.NET used instead of or with other frameworks? [15:32] Aaron shares several use cases of Akka.NET and explains the problems that it can address. [22:02] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [22:37] Why a developer might look at/use Akka.NET. Aaron also explains another area where actors are used. [26:56] The nuanced things you can do with Akka.NET that you can’t do with other built-in tools in platforms like Azure. [27:28] How close on the network do the servers need to be to participate? [27:53] Aaron explains how Akka.Cluster would work for a specific use case problem. [29:43] Where the actor model can help developers. [33:17] The overhead requirements for Akka.NET. [35:04] Where to learn more about Akka.NET and find Aaron Stannard online. [37:19] Jeffrey thanks Aaron Stannard for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! .NET Conf Akka.NET Akka.NET Bootcamp | Petabridge Petabridge Blog Aaron Stannard’s Website Aaron Stannard’s Twitter @Aaronontheweb RabbitMQ Azure Service Bus Akka.Cluster MAUI.NET “When and How to Use the Actor Model An Introduction to Akka NET Actors” (Microsoft Visual Studio Youtube Channel)   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

27 Dec 202138min

In this episode, Jeffrey is joined by a deeply fascinating guest, Aaron Stannard! Aaron is the founder and CEO of Petabridge and Sdkbin, building open source tools for .NET developers to build concurrent and distributed applications. He’s also the founder of MarkedUp Analytics, a real-time in-app marketing and analytics service used by 1000+ developers, and has spent some time inside Microsoft as a Startup Developer Evangelist.   In this conversation, Aaron shares the story of his career history up to this point in time, the creation of Akka.NET and Petabridge, and the problems that these projects aim to address.   Be sure to tune in next week for the second part of this interview with Aaron Stannard!   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:15] About today’s episode with Aaron Stannard. [1:54] Jeffrey welcomes Aaron to the podcast! [3:42] Aaron shares his career history and journey. [8:38] Aaron shares the story of Akka.NET. [13:38] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [14:11] Aaron continues the story of Akka.NET and explains what problems it addresses. [19:19] Aaron shares how many lines of code was the first rev of Akka just to get the basics working. [23:30] Be sure to tune in next week for the second and final part of the interview with Aaron Stannard!   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! .NET Conf Akka.NET Akka.NET Bootcamp | Petabridge Petabridge Blog Aaron Stannard’s Website Aaron Stannard’s Twitter @Aaronontheweb   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

20 Dec 202124min

This week, Jessica Engström joins the podcast to speak about user experience.   Jessica is an international speaker, teacher, podcaster, mentor, geek, and the CEO of her own company. One of her passions is the developer community where she organizes conferences, events, streams, and runs multiple user groups. She's also the co-host of the Coding After Work Podcast and Twitch channel! One thing that Jessica is absolutely sure of is that you can never learn enough! And this is why she is continuously learning new things, researching, and trains with some of the best people in the world.   In this episode, Jessica shares her insights on UX, her advice to developers looking to get into it, tips for making your UX more accessible, the greater problems she would like to see solved with better UX, and other key pieces of advice around UX standards and development.   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:13] About today’s episode with Jessica Engström. [2:01] Jeffrey welcomes Jessica Engström to the podcast! [2:18] Jessica shares her background and what led her to doing what she does today. [5:27] Jessica describes the multiple projects and roles she holds from hosting a podcast to being a mentor to being the CEO of her own company, and more. [8:05] Jessica describes what user experience is to her, some of the current missing pieces, and what areas of it need to be more broadly educated about. [11:51] Jessica’s UX methodology and her recommendations on how to get started with it. [15:22] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [15:55] Jessica shares an important UX design tip. [17:05] How Jessica recommends teaching new developers the UX rules of thumb. [18:34] Jessica defines accessibility when it comes to UX. [21:36] How to make UX more accessible and other options that Jessica thinks should be available on all websites/platforms. [27:30] Jessica recommends resources to check out if you’re interested in learning more about UX. [28:43] Are there embedded UX standards when you choose a CSS framework (such as Material UI or Bootstrap)? Would Jessica recommend them? [30:00] The similarities and differences between HTML UIs and Windows Native or mobile. [31:33] Jessica shares her thoughts on when to use vs. when not to use H1 on a web page. [33:14] Where to find Jessica online. [33:27] Jeffrey thanks Jessica Engström for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! Jessica Engström’s Microsoft MVP Profile Jessica Engström’s Twitter @EngstromJess CodingAfterWork.se UITraps.com WebAIM.org WebAIM.org/resources w3.org/WAI/roles/developers AZM.se/traps Medium | UX Collective Instagram #UX Material UI Bootstrap   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

13 Dec 202134min

This week, Jeffrey is joined by Arthur Vickers, an Engineering Manager on the Entity Framework team at Microsoft.   With Microsoft only just recently releasing .NET 6 and Entity Framework Core 6.0, it is no exaggeration to say that the last few weeks have been very busy for Arthur. With lots of feedback coming in from new users and over 100,000 downloads in just the first week on NuGet, Arthur has a ton to share about EF Core 6.0 with listeners today.   Arthur shares the origin story of how Entity Framework came to be, where it currently fits into the picture, what’s new with this newest installment, what he recommends new users check out first, his personal favorite new feature, and even what’s in store for EF Core 7.0.   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:13] About today’s episode with Arthur Vickers. [1:23] Jeffrey welcomes Arthur Vickers to the podcast! [1:51] Arthur shares his career background and how he became an Engineering Manager on the Entity Framework team at Microsoft. [4:21] The origin story of how Entity Framework came to be, where it currently fits into the picture, and the primary problem it addresses. [8:38] The difference between Entity Framework Core 6.0 and previous versions of EF. [12:21] Arthur highlights what’s new with EF Core 6.0 and what he recommends new users should specifically take a look at! [14:42] Will there be backward compatibility possible with EF Core 6.0? [17:26] Arthur clarifies what temporal tables are and how they work with EF Core 6.0. [20:03] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [20:34] Prepping for data warehousing with EF Core 6.0. [22:19] Why isn’t indexing being spoken about as much? And what do developers need to know with regards to it? [24:14] The current state of schema migrations and the latest in this space with .NET 6. [27:32] If there’s a small handful of tables in the database that are not mapped to EF, does that include EF’s migration approach from being used? [28:53] Jeffrey asks Arthur a hypothetical question using Blazor WebAssembly and EF together. [32:00] Arthur speaks about one of the really exciting things about SQL Lite in WebAssembly accessed by EF Core. [33:47] What’s next for Arthur and his team? [36:02] How to give your feedback on EF Core 6.0. [36:25] How to get in touch with Arthur online and keep up with everything he’s up to. [37:30] Jeffrey thanks Arthur Vickers for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! DEVintersection Conference — Dec. 7th‒9th in Las Vegas, Nevada (Use discount code: PALERMO) Arthur Vickers’ LinkedIn What’s New in Entity Framework Core 6.0 Announcing .NET 6 – The Fastest .NET Yet .NET Conf 2021 “What’s New in EF Core 6.0,” hosted by Jeremy Likness and Arthur Vickers GitHub.com/dotNET/EFCore Arthur Vickers’ Twitter @AjcVickers Arthur on GitHub Arthur’s Personal Blog Visual Studio 2022 Launch Dapper SQLite Blazor   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

6 Dec 202138min

This week, Jeffrey is joined by Egil Hansen; a Principal Developer at Delegate, as well as a Microsoft MVP and a .NET Foundation member. Egil has a strong focus on creating maintainable software and loves DDD, TDD, Blazor, and clean code principle. He also streams his coding live on Twitch every Monday and Wednesday.   Egil is also the creator and maintainer of bUnit; an open-source library for testing Blazor components, and AngleSharp.Diffing; a library for semantic comparison of HTML in C#. In this episode, he’s giving a rundown of bUnit, its capabilities, and the story behind its creation. He also shares his thoughts on Domain-Driven Design, the future of Blazor, and his background in the industry.   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:12] About today’s episode with Egil Hansen. [1:30] Jeffrey welcomes Egil to the podcast! [1:37] Egil shares his background and what initially led him to develop software. [4:02] Why Egil took notice of Blazor and what led him to creating the testing library, bUnit. [7:19] Egil describes what bUnit is and how it’s used with Blazor. [8:44] Egil shares his thought process with putting bUnit together (as well as specifically for testing UI code.) [14:35] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [15:13] Egil shares his approach to decomposition so that you run into difficulties with testing. [20:14] Egil speaks about layout components with bUnit. [23:57] Egil’s thought process on component interaction with bUnit. [25:49] Egil shares his predictions on where he sees the Blazor project going in the future. [27:54] Egil summarizes what Domain-Driven Design is and what he likes about it. [31:44] Jeffrey thanks Egil for joining the podcast and Egil shares how listeners can get in touch with him.   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! DEVintersection Conference — Dec. 7th‒9th in Las Vegas, Nevada (Use discount code: PALERMO) EgilHansen.com Egil Hansen’s LinkedIn Egil Hansen’s Twitter @EgilHansen Egil Hansen’s Twitch @EgilHansen Egil Hansen on GitHub bUnit on GitHub Blazor Domain-Driven Design: Tackling Complexity in the Heart of Software, by Eric Evans   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

29 Nov 202133min

This week, Michael Washington is once again joining the podcast to discuss all things Blazor! He previously joined the podcast on episode 88, where he discussed the state of Blazor back in May 2020.   Michael is an ASP.NET and C# programmer who has extensive knowledge in process improvement, billing systems, and student information systems. He also is the founder of two websites, AiHelpWebsite.com and BlazorHelpWebsite.com — both fantastic resources that help empower developers. Michael resides in Los Angeles, California, with his son Zachary and wife, Valerie.   Hot off the heels of .NET Conf, there is tons to discuss regarding Blazor and .NET 6! Michael shares the key announcement that developers should be looking out for, the announcements he was personally most excited for, and his advice for those looking to just get started with Blazor. He also speaks about some of his recently published books on the topics of Blazor Oqtane and Blazor WebAssembly, speaks about the current state of third-party UI controls and components, and where you can go to take an even deeper dive into everything he discusses today.   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:11] About today’s episode with Michael Washington. [1:37] Jeffrey welcomes Michael back to the podcast! [1:58] Michael introduces himself, shares his career background, and what led him to focus on Blazor. [4:45] Michael speaks about Azure Communication Services and how to make it work with Blazor. [7:51] The #1 announcement Michael was most excited for at .NET Conf: hot reload. [11:38] Michael highlights some of the other key announcements at the recent .NET Conf. [14:58] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [15:32] Michael speaks about the different types of Blazor applications (beyond serverside and WebAssembly) and gives an overview of the landscape of Blazor going into 2022. [20:00] Why Michael urges listeners to give Blazor a try if you have not already. [22:27] Michael shares his insights on WebAssembly and what he currently uses it for. [25:34] About Michael’s recent ebooks, Custom Blazor Oqtane Modules Succinctly and Blazor WebAssembly Succinctly. [28:27] The current state of the third-party UI controls and components. [31:34] Michael shares some parting advice on what developers should know about when it comes to .NET 6 and Blazor. [34:06] Jeffrey thanks Michael for joining The Azure DevOps Podcast once again!   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! DEVintersection Conference — Dec. 7th‒9th in Las Vegas, Nevada (Use discount code: PALERMO) AiHelpWebsite.com Blazor.net Oqtane github.com/Oqtane An Introduction to Building Applications with Blazor: How to get started creating applications using this existing easy to use Microsoft C# framework, by Michael Washington Blazor Succinctly, by Michael Washington “Advanced Blazor Templating,” by Michael Washington Blazor Succinctly, by Michael Washington (ebook) Custom Blazor Oqtane Modules Succinctly, by Michael Washington (ebook) Blazor WebAssembly Succinctly, by Michael Washington (ebook) Azure Communication Services .NET Conf 2021 Visual Studio ‘22 .NET 6.0 Angular React .NET MAUI Xamarin Infragistics Azure DevOps Podcast Ep. 157 “Konstantin Dinev on Multi-Team DevOps” Azure DevOps Podcast Ep. 155 “Jason Beres on DevOps for Shipping Libraries” Azure DevOps Podcast Ep. 154 “Dean Guida on the Future of .NET Components” Syncfusion Radzen Telerik BlazorHelpWebsite.com   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

22 Nov 202134min

Today, James Shore joins The Azure DevOps Podcast! James teaches, writes, and consults on Agile software development. He is co-author of the classic Agile how-to guide, The Art of Agile Development, and is the co-creator of the Agile Fluency® Model; a highly-regarded guide for Agile adoption. He is also the recipient of the Agile Alliance’s Gordon Pask Award for Contributions to Agile Practice.   James’ book, The Art of Agile Development, first came out in late 2007. This year (late 2021), the second edition is coming out. A lot has changed with Agile development during this time and in this episode, James highlights what some of these key differences are and his advice to veteran, intermediate, and beginner programmers alike.   Topics of Discussion: [:36] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure; the new video podcast Architect Tips; and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:11] About today’s episode with James Shore. [1:39] Jeffrey welcomes James to the podcast. [1:44] Jeffrey congratulates James on the second edition of his book,  [2:01] James shares some of the highlights of his career and his journey as a programmer. [7:57] James discusses the history of test-driven development. [8:57] James highlights the mainstays from the first edition to the second edition of his book, The Art of Agile Development. [12:17] Why and how programming should stay fun. [13:50] James shares his perspective around what an Agile team looks like, structurally. [17:23] James elaborates on the fluidity of Agile and why it is a philosophy; not a method. [19:20] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [19:57] What needs to be in place in order for Agile to succeed. [23:13] How to answer the question of, “When is it going to be done?” with Agile. [26:22] How to be more predictive in an Agile team. [28:48] James speaks about engineering practices that are general rules of thumb for teams employing Agile. [32:23] Where Kanban fits into the Agile picture and what James recommends for new teams. [35:47] James gives advice to programmers and companies when it comes to working remotely. [39:14] Where to find James, his work, and his book online. [40:53] Jeffrey congratulates James once again on the 2nd edition of his book and thanks him for joining the podcast and sharing his insights!   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! 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! DEVintersection Conference — Dec. 7th‒9th in Las Vegas, Nevada (Use discount code: PALERMO) James Shore’s Website James Shore’s Twitter @JamesShore The Art of Agile Development, by James Shore and Shane Warden (2nd Edition, 2021) Dreyfus Learning Model Agile Fluency Miro Mural Mythical Man-Month, The: Essays on Software Engineering, by Frederick Brooks Jr.   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

15 Nov 202141min