VS2008

Work is progressing rapidly on VS2008. A second beta should be out this summer according to InfoWeek. The target release date is still by end of the year.

I have been playing with .Net 3.5 and VS2008 like a lot of developers. The things that I have found most intriguing are

• Windows Workflow component - this allows us developers to begin to abstract out business rules. It will allow for more rapid changes to business processes. So for example a change to how an order edit check could be done by business analysts and then deployed very quickly. You can also use it for running scenarios - I actually create a task to control Premise.
• Device Testing - device developers will get to now how a built-in unit test tool without resorting to the Mobile Software Factory.
• Windows Presentation Foundation - this XML based presentation layer will be able to run on the desktop and devices. I have only begun to play and am intrigued by its potential to help alleviate UI issues presented by so many display resolutions and sizes.
• LINQ - the more things change the more they stay the same. Unless you have been out of touch you already have heard about LINQ. Suffice to say that LINQ reminds me of the pre-SQL days when a pre-SQL processor would convert SQL to code to extract out the records you wanted. LINQ is just a more elegant implementation of this very old concept.

You will definitely see more VS2008 and .Net 3.5 content in my blog once beta 2 comes out.

Comments

[tomslee]

I wonder how widely LINQ will be used? There is always something appealing about data-source independent querying, and the design of LINQ as a language feature looks fine. But in the end, does something that works against all data sources end up being good enough for all, or for none?

Time will tell I suppose.

[Rabi Satter]

I think LINQ as implemented should be pretty good. One thing that I think our industry needs to do is stop re-inventing things. So for example almost every developer I know has their own data access framework. I think that VS has gotten us back on the right track - focus on solving problems not recreating technology.

[tomslee]

I hope you are right. Have you heard anything about adding it to the Compact Framework?

[Rabi Satter]

Yes LINQ is in the Compact Framework. It does have limitations though as not all of LINQ capabilities are implemented.