And so began a new chapter in the very happening Columbus. I joined Sogeti USA as a Consultant in January 2008 and embarked on a 5+ year journey. I must have been a complete tech newbie at the time; so I soaked it all in, delivering work on Microsoft technology stack to various clients around town. We got married & settled down, and my career grew inside Sogeti. The expectation of consultants to always be on top of the technology curve is a major enticement to stay cutting edge; learn like there is no tomorrow. And the experience one earns by architecting software solutions for clients across variety of industries and with varying levels of IT maturity – is priceless, in the life of a software craftsman.

My biggest gain in Columbus however, was the developer community involvement. Starting out with User Group participations, I soon found a group of like-minded developers to fall back on for networking & continuous learning. Along came the passion for speaking and the travelling to regional software developer conferences; the depth and breadth of knowledge to be gained from fellow developers from varied backgrounds is extraordinary. Even now, as we run User Groups or organize big conferences with relative ease, the committment of the developer community in Columbus amazes me. This is the reason why, even after moving out to PA last year for wife’s job, I am still involved with the developer community in OH and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

The two last years in Sogeti have been super interesting. We created a national group focused on MSFT Mobility, in particular app development for Windows Phone & Windows 8 platforms. I had the pleasure of leading the group, and in the process, got to work with some of the sharpest developers/designers I have known; together we churned out many internal/LOB/B2C apps with a whole lot more in the works this year. And while I am reminiscing, let me be open to mention my present client – Safelite Autoglass. This is possibly the best MSFT-tech based shop I have worked at, with a superb understanding manager and a genuinely awesome team of developers. I have learnt much and had a whole lot fun. Relaxed environment with cutting-edge work – isn’t that what we all seek?

But as they say, change is what is continuous. My alternate weeks of travel from PA is taking a toll and I lose precious time on the road every week. And as fun as it is to be in consulting, the desire for solutions work often means piling on more on our already-full work plates. I have often desired to work for a pure software products company to have a taste of what it is like on the other side, and some developments recently may have clicked to provide that opportunity. Sadly, that means it is the end of the road for me in Sogeti after 5+ years. There is no love lost and I step out with cautiousness. I wish my talented colleagues at Sogeti all the very best, specially in the mobility front. If our hectic transitioning is any indication, excellent leadership will ensure our continued success.

Now, that brings us to the next chapter in my life. I am very very excited to join the Telerik team next week. My long term adoration of Telerik as a company, its excellent control suites and unwavering support for the developer community provided the zeal when an opportunity opened up in the Hudson OH based Services division. Several interviews and a day spent with the energetic Telerik team made me firmly believe that this was a great fit. Thankfully, folks at the helm agreed – the simply excellent Steve Smith & Michelle Smith. My immediate partner in crime – the distinguished Chris Woodruff. Actually I owe a huge thank you to Woody for making the connections, starting way back in Codemash this year. Networking and putting in your dues in our software community truly pays dividends.

My immediate goals – focus on enterprise/developer training & evangelism for the Devtools division; but in time, I am sure we will end up touching just about everything in the Telerik stack. My passion for the XAML stack should come handy with Telerik’s generous offerings in the DevCraft space; but I am eager to dip my feet into other technology areas like cross-platform mobile, CMS, productivity & testing. My developer community involvement gets added boost; just might be more easy to spot in bright green Telerik shirts at conferences. In short, I am super excited to start working in a position that demands passion for latest technology and join the impressive Telerik team studded with rockstars. Using or considering Telerik products and have questions? – let’s bring it on.

Cheers everyone!

All the above skills needed to be a successful Windows 8 App developer necessitate a broad knowledge base, along with grasp of architectural patterns to keep your codebase clean. Now, if you are already doing all of that, kudos to you! Apart from having your Apps shine in the Windows 8 Store or impressive LOB Apps for Enterprises, there is another way to “let them know that you know” – yup, Certifications. Additionally certification tests validate your knowledge & give you confidence in your abilities on a development platform.

For Windows Store App developers, an MCSD certification takes two routes – HTML/CSS/Jscript or C#/XAML. For those of us inclined towards C#, the MCSD path includes the C# Fundamentals test in 70-483 and then two tests focused on developing Windows Store Apps. Exam 70-484 [Essentials of Developing Windows Store Apps Using C#] is the one of them and is the first obstacle towards establishing your certification klout for Windows 8 App development. I recently cleared this test & can share a few tips for my fellow developers. So, here goes my top 21 list:

Read the whole article on the SilverlightShow site HERE.

Thanks for reading & Best of luck!
Adios

First, INETA is the mothership for most Microsoft/.NET based developer communities that we have worldwide. If you are a community member or leader, make sure you know all about INETA and the resources available to you. The INETA Community Champion program is wonderful way of recognizing those who stand out in their contributions .. find out more details @ http://www.inetachamps.com/. If you are a community lead, make sure to record your contributions with INETA. See someone doing a lot for your local developer community? Nominate them for the INETA Community Champion Award or ping me & I’ll be happy to. Like they say – you already do a lot, why not get recognized for it? Here’s a quick view of the wonderful certificate INETA sends your way!

Check out the 2012 Q3 INETA Community Award Winners page HERE – a stellar group of folks indeed. Not sure how worthy I am to be on the list, but thanks anyways INETA . What’s important to note is that community leaders have a support system to fall back on which helps build developer communities. Communities cannot operate in a silo; it has to be a consolidated effort from folks without vested interests. And technical communities need to be fun & engaging for volunteers to happily contribute. Every community has its story .. here’s a short version of ours!

June 2011. Windows Phone has been out for a little over 6 months. In Central Ohio, just like in many other cities, we have the .NET User Group as CONDG – Central Ohio .NET Developers Group and few other User Groups focused on Microsoft technology stack. While these groups were great & had regular meetups, we also had a bunch of passionate Windows Phone developers in town. We used to talk at other meetups on how we could use a dedicated forum just to focus on the mobile technologies; Mobile is a different beast after all. After a lot of planning, cross-checking on resources & advice from other community leaders, we started the Central Ohio Windows Phone User Group. A small group of passionate developers to begin with, we soon found out that we could easily talk about the Windows Phone ecosystem once a month, if not more often – the dedicated forum was absolutely worth it. And the shiny gadgets that we brought along did not hurt. In fact, my most enjoyable times at our UG Meetups was often the hangouts after the technical talks – the sharing of what’s new on our phones, the next big App idea, the banter! Even though we were a little late getting back to our spouses, the geek talk was pure fun.

Then, Windows 8 came along. What we were so passionate about in Windows Phone – the Modern UI design, the fast & fluid UX – that was all suddenly mainstream & bigger than ever. We quickly adapted and finally regrouped as The Windows Developer User Group. We now embrace a wider technology stack, starting from XAML with C#/VB.NET, C++, HTML/CSS/JScript & game development in XNA/DirectX. The wider reach paid dividends and our little User Group grew to 70+ members. We have a long way to go, but we’re excited to see the passion in the new Microsoft ecosystem grow – that was the primary reason why we wanted the forum. Our meetups offer terrific speakers sharing their technical knowledge, as well as serving as a networking tool to increase awareness & learn from each other. We have our group of regular patrons & the trickle of new faces every month. This is what technical community should be – for developers & by developers.

Now, a little something about our locals. Here in Columbus OH, we have an absolutely rocking developer community – developers from all platforms who just need a forum to come share war stories & learn from each other. We are able to pull off conferences/events sheerly due to the passion that the developer community has towards improving our craft – this is truly amazing, and I hope folks in this town realize how wonderful it is to be ensconced amidst so much talent. On the Microsoft stack, we have involvement from the northern Heartland DPE folks – Jeff Blankenburg, Brian Prince, Jennifer Marsman, Clark Sell, Dave Bost & David Isbitski – I don’t think I need to tell you how superbly awesome every one of them is. Jeff deserves a special thanks for helping our UG get off the ground & providing support throughout. Doug Mair and Chris Ellis are truly the pillars of our User Group now – they have stepped up selflessly and make sure that our group has a long life ahead. Doug & Chris – Thank you for what you do; this recognition is as much yours as mine. Michael Collier, who runs our sister User Group – Central Ohio Cloud Computing User Group, deserves a big thanks for helping us spread the word. Cheers to patrons like Craig Blazakis & Rylin Slotterbeck. Also, our UG quickly found a solid support system in our awesome sponsors, who make sure we are never short on logistic supplies & raffle prizes – thank you for your involvement. And lastly, I circle back to our wonderful UG Members who come to our meetups with so much energy to share & learn – it makes for a truly delightful community.

Still with me? Because now comes the good part . We, at the Windows Developer User Group, have had a good run in growing our little group with the help of passionate individuals. In no way can we claim success, but only a little pride in what we love doing. Running a technical User Group and slowly building up a community is not for the faint-hearted; here are some personal tips that I have seen working. Most community leaders will tell you the same things and it is common sense. But here goes:

• Again, running a User Group is not easy – there are a thousand things to take care of. So, be in it for the long run & without a vested goal in mind.
• The focus of the User Group needs to something that you are truly passionate about. Otherwise, volunteering is just not fun and you will see interest fall off the peak.
• Too much of anything might cause fatigue – applies for developer interest. If you already have local User Groups with similar focus, do not create another UG just to target a very small technological area. Try to invest your time & energy towards growing into a leadership role within your existing developer community.
• Be wary of time and always be conscious of the fact that folks are coming to User Group meetups sacrificing family/personal time. What value are you providing in return of their precious time? Stick to announced meeting times.
• A user group is a community offering; it can never be about one or two people. Even though you may have started a group yourself, give up control – it shows leadership & contributes to the life of the user group. Create leadership teams within the user group, so that the group can function fine even if one/two of the owners move out. Delegate work, since it provides volunteers with a sense of ownership & stake in the success of a user group meeting. If your group becomes big enough, consider democratizing the board through elections.
• There is no easy pill towards spreading the word – try everything. Social & web presence is big, but so is reminding folks at other UG meetups about your group’s existence & upcoming meetings.
• Seeing the same faces every month isn’t a bad thing – it starts with a small group of passionate developers. Ask every one to try to bring a friend each month. Keep spreading the word through networks.
• Get some really good speakers, as their klout draws attendance. Tap into INETA’s Speaker Program if your group is Microsoft focused. Encourage locals to come share knowledge.
• Pizza is the glue . Food is optional, but matters when done right. At the end of a long day’s work, wouldn’t you want some refreshments before gearing up for some learning? Food helps in networking as well. Celebrate milestones & seasonal events if your budget permits.
• Get sponsors – lots of them. Knock on doors & remember to not feel bad – you’re not doing this for yourself & people will see your big heart.
• Giveaways is again optional, but a big draw if you have junior developers & University students in attendance. The Microsoft stack has plenty of vendors, partners & publishers to make sure your group is well-stocked with raffle prizes. Pace yourself with the prizes so that you don’t ask your sponsors too often.
• Give your group some identity & members some sense of belonging. A strong logo, focused social presence & the occasional custom-printed UG shirt does not hurt.
• Plan on few hackathon-type events throughout the year, if your group is development focused. We developers love to get hands-on.
• Give up your ego and truly listen to members about what’s working & what’s not. Seek feedback from other community leaders.
• Network & build bridges.
• Listen, host, embrace & enjoy. Repeat.

That’s all from me. Thank you once again INETA for your support infrastructure & the recognition.  Cheers to our User Group & the awesome folks who make it worth it!

Adios.

Here are some things that stood out for me from this year’s M3 Conference:

• We started the year re-evaluating the core promise of M3 Conference – an all-out mobile conference, catering the midwest with some of the best brains in the industry. Focus on not just one, but all aspects & all major platforms of the mobile ecosystem. Thankfully, we were still golden; an unique offering for a town full of passionate developers.
• However, there was plenty of feedback to improve upon – the need for more hands-on experience, the big no-no of lunch boxes etc. So, months of planning ensued.
• Quick tip for fellow conference organizers: If budget permits, get a solid event organizer on the team. Since we’re forgetful geeks, the event organizer role does immediately take a lot of pressure off our shoulders. Smaller details and on-the-day logistics can be nicely delegated to. Thanks Cindy Groeniger for all the help!
• We had really pushed COSI to it’s capacity last year; so a short venue search followed. There really aren’t a whole lot of choices for such event hosting in Columbus and the Ohio Union was a natural fit. Boy, it did not disappoint on M3 day. I would admiringly take photos of the Archie Griffin ballroom chandeliers & wooden flooring; glad that most attendees I talked to said the venue worked out perfect.
• We talked at length about extending the conference to 2 days to provide for an intimate learning experience through workshops. There were, off course, challenges like finding the right tracks for the workshops, folks to run it, finances and so on; but in the end, it was a go. Feedback & high interest in learning mobile development hands-on was hard to ignore; we took the plunge and experts in our awesome developer community stepped forward to help.
• Unless a conference makes a huge name for itself & is guaranteed a sell-out, there is always the guessing game of attendee count. Despite a sold out M3 Conference in 2011, we’re not sure of hitting the projected headcount and spent several nervous weeks wondering about our bottomline and commitments. IT, business & local media blood streams help a lot, as do alumni of the conference .. we finally proudly sold out our Day 1 workshop day & reached near full Day 2 headcount targets.
• One of the things we were most proud of was the kind of speaker talent we attracted this year. The speaker line-up was simply stellar – http://m3conf.com/home/speakers.
• I have always had much to learn from & proud of my primary partners in crime – Tim Hibner & Phil Wilson. Tim’s superb organizational skills holds the conference planning together. And I’m convinced that Phil and his folks @ Fine Citizens have a magic wand to make just about anything look good.
• An event of the size of M3 Conference now takes a lot of orchestration to pull off. And we would not get much going without the help of our awesome volunteers. True champions of selfless help, hats off to my dear friends for your volunteering spirit – Travis Smith, Matthew Noggle, Matthew Middendorf, Bob Reid, Troy GIbson, Brenda Hibner, Chris Judd, Carl Brack & others. Honest thank you from the bottom of my heart.
• While we got praise for serving steak @ lunch, the parking scenario left a bad taste. Essentially, there were big misunderstandings between the parking ramp operator & the Ohio Union; rest assured, we’re consolidating records and reimbursements.
• Clash of the Titans – this was an curious experiment and ended up being one the high-points for me during M3 Conference. I was to be the anchor for a panel discussion involving 3 rockstars in the mobile space: Jeff Blankenburg for Windows Phone, Ben Von Handorf for Android & Leon Gersing for iOS. With greek mythical references & audience tweet-up questions, we tried our best to harass our esteemed panelists, without success. It ended up being a energetic discussion about mobile strategies from MSFT/Apple/Google and developer polyglotism. Thanks guys!
• Surface giveaways – Now, we had built the tradition of M3Conf raffle prizes to be the latest & greatest. With Windows 8 launch on the same day, and the MSFT Surface selling like hot cakes, what better way to top off our raffle prizes with 2 of the shiny tablets.

In all, M3 Conference was a great experience for us, the second consecutive year. Just like last year, we’ll send out a little survey trying to gauge what attendees/speakers felt about it. Please give us honest feedback so we could improve upon it.

Adios!

Mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve 2011: We are headed to NYC to enjoy some time off. My wife’s on the phone, even though we’re driving through the WV mountains with spotty connectivity. On the call is the Dean of a Graduate School, negotiating the details of an impending job offer. Wife hangs up with a big smile, having bagged exactly the terms she was hoping for. She was just finishing up her long-winded road to a PhD in Psychology @ The Ohio State University. Surely bagging just about every Teaching award at OSU had to count for something. Yes, a coveted Assistant Professor position @ The Allegheny College was now guaranteed. I am a very proud hubby indeed ..

So, it was apparent that 2012 would bring on a family move. After considerations of commute time & city amenities, we decided on Erie, PA. Yep, right by the lake. Let’s break down a little what this means, with few photos to end …

• It’s a step closer to nature & a quieter life. Hard to get deers in your backyard and a bustling mall 3 minutes from home.
• We have gotten ourselves a small condo amidst lush settings.
• The gorgeous beaches & outdoor life offered by Presque Isle State Park are a stones throw away.
• The other day, we decided to go for a little drive after lunch. 1.5 hours later, we’re on the Maid of the Mist @ Niagara Falls!
• Now, to be fair, we might get the brunt of lake-effect snow; but we’ll take it in our stride!
• More precious family time …

Now, what happens to my work & community involvement? No, I’m not giving up coding to open a restaurant just yet! I’ll continue to work for Sogeti, since my client has graciously agreed to some remote work. So, I’m in the process of building my ultimate home office where no sunlight shall enter; yet bytes shall sustain through 360 degrees of LCD! With some work from home time, I would have more energy & opportunity to devote myself to driving our MSFT Mobility efforts, which takes no trivial time. So, hopefully a lot more fun times coming up in Windows Phone & Windows 8 development with my rather talented colleagues! And more blogging, writing or arguing on Twitter .

Now, as for Columbus OH, I guess I love our local developer community & being around some of the sharpest folks. So, I will be driving down twice a month for the weekdays .. yep, Extended Stay it is. No cleaning – get that? Most months, it will possibly be the odd weeks, so that we can keep organizing The Windows Developer User Group meetups/hackathons and the mad dash to end for M3Conference. So, if you are hacking stuff or playing games or need a hand moving? – Give me a holler when I’m lonely here in Columbus!

Adios!

• Got no qualms in accepting that this was the first time I got invited to Seattle/MSFT campus purely for work. So, I was really looking forward to soaking it all up, and it turned out to be an enlightening experience. Best part was catching up with folks that I talk to often, but have not met in person. The Hyatt House, MSFT campus & specially the cafeterias did not disappoint. Hopefully, more folks from our Mobility practice get to attend these Ranger events in future.
• Day 1 & Day 2 were all sessions on Windows 8. It was great to hear from candid experts on a variety of development areas, hardware & what Windows 8 meant for enterprises/mobility. A lot of the sessions were under strict NDA for obvious reasons .. so my lips are sealed . All I can say is you may want to really watch for news around Oct 26 – the Windows 8 GA date!
• An evening reception on second night may have seemed bland compared to the Seattle Mariner’s game on first night. But boy, we were in for a little surprise after dinner – yep, Samsung Series 7 slates for all !! Complete with dock & bluetooth keyboard/mouse.
• To sweeten the deal, our Global MSFT Business Development Lead, Darren Baker, personally dropped off a kickstand case for my slate .. how cool is that. Using the slate as a daily device now for Windows 8 development & showing the UX to clients.
• Now, surely there would something wanted in return, right? Yes, MSFT wanted us Rangers to code a little, all in the fun to gain some experience. So, we were paired up based on our skills – 10 teams of 4 members each. And one day to dream & code up a working Windows 8 application, complete with all sorts of OS integrations & leveraging Cloud services. Go!
• Guess I lucked out to be in an awesome team – Scott Newsome [Planet Tech], Hardeep Meen [CDW] & the awesome developer in Adam Grocholski [RBA]. We set our sights on a FDA product recall app, complete with Live Connect personalization, social integration & Azure services feeding Push Notifications. Between Thursday 8AM and the Friday 8AM deadline, our team slept for 1 hour only !! Hardcore effort to prove ourselves ..
• Now, in all fairness, there was a little incentive for us as well. So, Friday had all the teams show off their Windows 8 apps. And while others were impressive, our team won .. woot! What’s the prize – the MSFT Surface tablets gets shipped to all members of the winning team the day it is publicly available. Heck yeah!
• Oh, and not to be forgotten, we all got our customized traditional Delta Ranger Tilley hats – arguably the best hats in the world. And no Redmond trip is complete without a visit to the MSFT Company Store, where money simply knows to walk out of a geek’s wallet.

In all, a truly wonderful week of learning, networking & coding with peers. Windows 8 is going to big – the whole PC landscape is changing. Let’s gear up!

Adios

Day 1: Know the ecosystem; Start
Day 2: Layout, Navigation & Visual States
Day 3: Semantic Zoom
Day 4: Controls & Styling
Day 5: Search, Share & Settings Contracts
Day 6: Data Persistence & Application Life-Cycle Management
Day 7: Use of OData or Web Services
Day 8: Live Services integration

If you are writing applications for Windows 8 or you are on the fence, please check out the series above for tips on how to quickly get started towards building Windows 8 Apps which feel right at home in the OS. And please leave me feedback!

As always, check out the other great content on SilverlightShow.net to suit your development needs.

Adios!

Love it or hate it – you cannot deny, as a technologists, that relentless innovation from competing companies is what pushes our tech industry forward. Here are my 2 little cents on the Windows Phone announcements:

[Recently at a conference, I learnt from Jay Harris that "Bullets Kill People" . Bullets are meant for guns & not presentations/blog posts. Sorry Jay, it was just quick this one time .. hoping you don't see this! Moving forward, I promise ...]

• The One Ecosystem – First, in my opinion, Windows Phone 8 looks very very good; it delivers on everything we were expecting as enthusiasts. Most importantly, it draws from the power of Windows .. the NT Core stack for networking, file system, security & overall stability/performance. This was expected; but not a trivial ask ripping out the core underlying the 2 year old Windows Phone OS. This has positive implications written all over it .. the combo of Windows 8 & Windows Phone 8 sharing guts is going to make for brilliant opportunities. Just better together!
• First Loves – Here are things I absolutely loved about the direction in Windows Phone 8 platform, as a consumer: Sharper high-res screens, Wallet, NFC, Expandable storage, Nokia maps & IE 10 rendering engine. Oh, and OTA is for the win!
• Developer, Developer, Developer – Every tech giant knows who their best friends are; so no wonder developers need to be wooed. Here’s what I will be looking forward to in the next Windows Phone SDK: Native code support (Not smart enough to do myself yet; but this will be huge), In-App purchases (Thank You!), VoIP and Wallet API integrations. How do we make Digital coupons or use NFC APIs? Let’s hope the SDK lands soon .. can we have a BUILD please? Now, the real interesting thing would be the SDK. Would I be able to target both 7.5 & 8 from VS 2012 templates? What percent of us WPDevs would start jumping on the WP8 bandwagon, given most user base is on present generation & might not switch until their next phone? Let’s hope the transition would be smooth for devs ..
• Buyer’s Remorse – Now, the bittersweet. Would you agree that in today’s age, we live with constant buyer’s remorse, specially with gadgets? So, Windows Phone 8 OS would NOT run on present hardware devices. Somewhat awkward, but really not much way around. Shooting from the hip here, but given generation shift in technology between Windows CE Kernel & NT Core, I would imagine it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to flash smartphone ROMs that close to metal. So, there. Now, all three of Apple, MSFT & Google are refreshing their mobile OS big time every year. So, in practicality, we are being enticed to buy new hardware every year! Unfortunate, yes .. but let’s set aside budget, shall we? As Rob Gibbens mentioned, would you want to pay a little more upfront for a phone, given a 1 year contract? Thankfully, there would be Windows Phone 7.8 that would be pushed out to present phones, to bring you the advancements of the new Start Screen experience.
• Start – So, there is a somewhat new Windows Phone Start screen experience. See the wonderful video HERE. Live Tiles & pinnable content is one of the most loved Windows Phone features among users; so, nice to see this being pushed forward further. Live Tiles would come in 3 customizable sizes & various colors – so your phone is distinctly you! Personally, I somehow liked the little right arrow & the breathing space to the right in present generation Windows Phones – I think it’s aesthetic; most think it is wastage of valuable screen real estate. Guess I’m alone & we shall see how the new Start experience feels in hand. Clutter is uncalled for .. so may be we can be sparing in placement of the customized smallest Tiles.
• Enterprise Features – Encryption, Security, Remote Wipe & Company Hubs – Love it!

Overall, I am pretty excited about the announcements at Windows Phone Summit. The future of Windows Phone ecosystem is in good hands and Windows 8 will only help propel adoption. In fact, starting this Fall, between the Phone, the PC & the XBox – the MSFT ecosystem is pretty darn difficult to not get excited for. And we are just getting started .. let’s see all that is in store for developers! We win as one

Adios!

Grilled turkey burgers for lunch + wife busy with dissertation = Full & ready to crank out some solid code for a few hours. I rub my hands and sit down to knock off a pending project work. At hand, is a Windows 8 Release Preview Metro app that we are building for a client. Traditional technician-out-with-a-tablet setup; so offline access & later data sync with server DB is called for. The immediate answer is OData, as a service on top of backend Database .. seamlessly & asynchronously read/write data through plain HTTP. I have done OData CRUD numerous times in Windows Phone, web or Silverlight .. this should be a piece of cake!

Yeah, right .. what ensued was a few hours of frustration, trying to stitch together the moving pieces & beta software hurdles to overcome. So, here’s my attempt to save someone a few hours .. don’t you love writing blog posts which will be obsolete in a few weeks? Here’s the tale:

• First, the data store. Simple relational data. SQL Azure DB with appropriate Tables. Done.
• Next, expose the data through an OData service layer. SQL Azure Labs had this one click approach to setting up an OData service on top of existing DBs; not sure when that is coming back. So, custom service it is. Two step process to produce an OData service: ADO.NET Entity Data Model (EDM) pointed to DB Tables + WCF Data Service exposing the generated entities. If you need to do full CRUD, make sure you are configuring each entity with the right permissions.
• Host the service in IIS, test & host in Azure. Done.
• Next, integrate in Windows 8 RP Metro app .. should have been simple if I had known what was supported. By the way, if you started writing your Metro app in Consumer Preview in XAML/C#, you’ll find a sleepless night with breaking changes in Release Preview. Expected, but awkward. Just restart fresh project & port over artifacts.
• Turns out, I had gone HERE to get Windows 8 RP. Right next to the RP ISO is the link to download the Dev tools, which happen to be VS 2012 Express for Windows 8. Point is, know what you are running.
• Next, grab OData service URL & hope against hope that Add Service Reference would work .. well, it didn’t. Turns out, not supported in VS 2012 Express.
• No problemo .. been there. So, immediately revert back to the DataSvcUtil.exe tool for Proxy generation. Yup works just fine in .NET 4.5. Check out THIS post if you need the steps.
• Grab the generated proxy file & drop in VS project. Voila, you have references to your OData entities in code. One problem — can’t easily work with them!
• The issue is, Windows 8 Metro apps written on top on WinRT would not allow you to add references to two super-useful class libraries — System.Data & System.Data.Services.Client. These two are the key to working easily with an OData service. Without them, you’ll be left hand-coding the HTTP requests .. Yuck!
• Has no one figured out a way? Well, sure .. and it is Phani Raju from MSFT. The very person whose bits we’re seeing in present VS 2012 RC. Check out his POST explaining how to consume the Netflix OData feed.
• Upon download of the sample code, you should see the following DLL references in the project:

  

• So, in addition to our generated proxy, could we just grab these DLLs & call it a day? Well, sure it compiles and we can use DataServiceContext/DataServiceCollection; but you get runtime exceptions around Type initializers. Closer reading of Phani’s post & comments reveal that the bits have changed some & not compatible with VS 2012 RC any more. Updated libraries have been shipped; but as a part of VS 2012 RC Ultimate!
• Aha, so that’s a problem .. Adding a Service Reference is not yet supported in the VS 2012 RC Express for Windows 8 Metro apps only; we need to get the Ultimate edition from HERE.
• One caveat – Do not install VS Ultimate on top of the Windows 8 Metro Express version; references still seemed broken. So, uninstall what you have & get the fresh full copy of VS 2012 RC Ultimate.
• Now, you should be set. And guess what, no more manual proxy generation or dropping DLLs. Simply grab the URL of your WCF/OData service and do Add Service Reference. Should work.
• And when you do successfully add reference, take a look at your project references .. yep, it has added back the same 3 DLLs we saw above; only with updated bits. Voila!
• And now, you can add references to System.Data & System.Data.Services.Client in your code. These seem to be non-accessible by default; upon service addition, the newly dropped DLLs open up these namespaces.
• That’s it: Now you can create a DataServiceCollection to pull down your OData entities and do full CRUD operations, if allowed by the data source. See this POST if you need pointers on how to do CRUD against OData.

Pretty simple in the end. Just that when you are dealing with beta software, you may have to tinkle around little bit. Hopefully, this can save someone a little time .. to go enjoy summer. But also, go ahead and add cloud/service support to your Windows 8 Metro apps!

Adios!

So, if you are passionate about Windows Phone development, a little something on the .NET web stack should interest you. It is called SignalR — An async signaling library for persistent connections between server & client. The real fun begins when you consider Windows Phone applications as client, with a SignalR powered server backend .. you get real-time connectivity on Windows Phone!! And tons of possibilities, like Chat, Maps, Game Scores, Stock Tickers, Object Exchange etc.

I was quite excited by the opportunities and took a stab at writing a Helper library with a demo Windows Phone application & a SignalR backend server. Since SignalR is open-source, along with most knowledge around it, why not this? So, all of my work is on CodePlex, ready to view/download/extend. A lot more work needs to go in to improve the libraries & may be make NuGets sometime. Please give it a shot .. download & hit F5. Would appreciate any feedback!

On CodePlex: http://wp7signalrhelper.codeplex.com/
Demo Video: Added to my WebCasts

Thank you & Adios!