Blend for Developers Course Now Available!

November 08, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Silverlight Blend XAML

If you're a XAML developer and have proudly stated that you hand-code all your markup, it’s time to learn how to be more productive. I’ve authored a new course for PluralSight. If you have a subscription, you can view it my new “Blend for Developers” course now:

Hope you enjoy the course!

New Article on Software Development

October 26, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Writing Development

My new article disruptive technologies is now available on Software Quality Connection.  If you’re an organization or developer who are worried about what is coming next, my “Which Platform is Next: All of Them” may be a good read for you.

I am Coming to Washington DC for 2 Classes

October 24, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Training Silverlight XAML HTML5

If you are in the Washington, DC area (or are close enough to fly), I am coming to teach two courses just after Thanksgiving.

Confusion Around WP7.1 Periodic Agents

October 15, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Silverlight Windows Phone

After my recent post on Periodic Agents, I had a number of people react to specific parts of the API. Let’s discuss each of these separately.

Periodic Agents’ 14-day Lifespan

My New Silverlight Services Course is Live

October 13, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Training Silverlight

I am happy to announce my new online course on using Silverlight Server Communication is now available on Pluralsight. This course covers the basics of using services from with Silverlight projects. The course covers:

You can view the course online at Pluralsight’s website:

Want to Learn iOS or Android?

October 09, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Training Android iOS

AgiliTrain has partnered with the excellent Wei-Meng Lee (author of several books on iPhone, iPad and Android development) to provide three new courses this winter. He’s coming to Atlanta to teach both iOS and Android development. The courses include:

In each course, Wei-Meng will walk you through the development process and help you test your applications on actual devices. Early bird and group discounts are available. Please see more about these courses on the AgiliTrain website!

Win8, Metro Apps and Silverlight

September 20, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Win8 WinRT Metro

I decided at Build to try and not answer the question I was getting all the time:

What about Metro JS Projects and jQuery?

September 16, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
JQuery HTML5

I spent this week at Build and was interested in both the XAML and HTML/JS part of the Metro story. I am in the middle of converting GooNews into both HTML and XAML Metro apps to test out the new APIs.

I have to admit, I was nervous at first because this in the keynote:

In a Perfect World? Build Conference Wishes

September 09, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
.NET Silverlight Web Development HTML5

I am headed to Build Windows next week and I have a lot of hopes for the conference. I haven’t been to a conference as an attendee alone in quite a long time. I am anxious to see what the v.Next is out of Redmond.

I didn’t get to go to the 2000 PDC that changed everything…so I really wanted to be here for this conference. Is this going to change everything again?  I have no earthly idea but I hope for a mix of new and old. 

UX is Important

September 08, 2011 Shawn Wildermuth No Comments.
Design User Interface

I talk to a lot of people about what people call “design”. There are developers who are great at design but many are worried about not having ‘design’ skills. But I don’t think design skills are nearly as important as usability skills. Shiny buttons, rounded corners, and lovely gradients are great, but if I am guessing on what the app is doing, we’re all doomed.

I use Skype. There I said it. I feel better.