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Where are the Boston .NET User Group meetings?

Meetings held at the Microsoft New England Headquarters in Waltham, MA unless indicated otherwise (Directions).

Certification Study Group
Meets Every Monday, 18:30-21:00
MSFT Office, Waltham, MA

Work towards a Microsoft Certificaton Exam with Your Peers.

The Boston.NET User Group coordinates a Certification Study Group which is a volunteer peer study group devoted to earning Microsoft certification.

There is no fee to participate. The only requirement is that members come prepared to actively participate in a discussion of reading the week's material. We rotate presentations of the topic subject matter and review likely exam questions.

If you're serious about learning new technologies, advancing your career, and networking with other motivated peers we encourage you to attend our next meeting.

For more information visit our web site  or email Abe Rosner at certification_AT_bostondotnet.com.

Boston .NET User Group Monthly Meeting

Wednesday July 8, 2009
MSFT Office, Waltham, MA

ASP.NET Model View Controller (MVC): A Discussion

5:00-6:00 p.m.

Microsoft's ASP.NET MVC allows you to build Model/View/Controller (MVC) applications with the ASP.NET framework. While the architecture has been around for decades and Scott Guthrie first blogged about ASP.NET MVC in October of 2007, Version 1.0 was released in March of this year.

This is a different way of developing applications for ASP.NET than we've been used to with ASP.NET webforms. Some of it's promise is the "separation of concerns" and the ability to easily design for testability.

If you're interested in learning more about MVC, come to this session at BostonDotNet. We'll take an introductory look at MVC and discuss options for a series of free sessions on MVC this summer.

If you want to do some advanced reading before the session, take a look at the Nerd Dinner code sample on Codeplex and the free downloadable first chapter of the book Professional ASP.NET MVC 1.0. You'll find links at http://bobsbits.rgoodsoftware.com/blog/archive/2009/06/28/mvc-resources.aspx

Bob Goodearl is a software consultant specializing in custom software architecture, design and development using the Microsoft .Net tools and platform. You can reach him at http://www.rgoodsoftware.com.

Using Expresssion Web 2 and Visual Studio 2008

6:00-8:00 p.m.

This presentation will explore the integration of the design side of web development with Expression Web 2 and the integration with Visual Studio. In this presentation we will explore how to: prototype and build web application; illustrate the workflow between web designer and web developer; and also how to get the most out of the tools and technique that you have been using for years and some that you may have not heard of before or just started out using them. The application that we are going to build over the presentation will use Expression Web 2, VS 2008 and SQL Server 2008.

The languages that we are going to use for UI: CSS, HTML, ASP.NET and C#, LINQ for Business Logic. Whether you are a designer or developer this will be a great opportunity to see the tools and how best to utilize them together to create a good solution.

Slava Kokaev, Web developer and Technology analyst at Envisa Inc. specializing in both front end and back end Microsoft programming and analysis technologies. Slava have been involved over 5 years in the Scientist Community R&D projects working on various problems related to the Business system analysis, modeling and automation.

Earlier, as Business System Consultant Slava worked on designing and developing custom analytics solutions through complete project life cycle, for Large Oil & Gas and Metal steel Manufacturing Companies to help them improve business process performance and optimize operations to reduce the cost of key business process, automate analysis systems and workflows. He has evolved in a broad array of projects as a developer, focused on the effective use of business intelligence to drive critical decision-making and optimize business performance. And as designer helping online retailers design and re-launch competitive ecommerce applications. Client include: A.T. Cross, Work N Gear, Soundbite Communications, CRI, RentGrow.

Boston .NET User Group Monthly Meeting

Wednesday August 12, 2009
MSFT Office, Waltham, MA

On a Clear Day You Can See Cloud Computing: A First Look at Windows Azure
Michael Stiefel

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Michael Stiefel will give us a first hand look at Microsoft Azure, the new "cloud computing" service platform introduced at the Professional Developer Conference in Los Angeles. The Azure Services Platform is an internet-scale cloud computing and services platform hosted in Microsoft data centers. The Azure Services Platform provides a range of functionality to build applications that span from consumer web to enterprise scenarios and includes a cloud operating system and a set of developer services.

Michael Stiefel, principal of Reliable Software, Inc. is a consultant on software architecture and development, and the alignment of information technology with business goals. He is currently a member of the OASIS Technical Committee developing a core SOA Reference Model and related Reference Architectures. In July 2006 Stiefel was named a Microsoft Visual Developer - Solutions Architect MVP.

Stiefel was a Principal Software Engineer for Prime Computer, developing a mechanical CAD/CAM database system. He also worked for Microsoft assisting their Fortune 500 clients in developing client/server solutions. He is a Visiting Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Science, Technology and Society Program where his research and teaching focus is the teaching of engineering to high school and undergraduate students. As Adjunct faculty, Stiefel has taught graduate and undergraduate software engineering courses at Northeastern University and Framingham State University. Michael Stiefel's education is from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a Interdisciplinary Ph.D degree in Nuclear Engineering, Political Science, and History of Technology; M.S. in Nuclear Engineering; and B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He is an active member of Independent Computer Consultants Association and the IEEE Consultants Network.

Boston .NET User Group Monthly Meeting

Wednesday Septemeber 9, 2009
MSFT Office, Waltham, MA

Best Practices for Using Virtualization in Development Environments
Liz Hatch and Chuck Duncan

6:00-8:00 p.m.

Virtualized development environment are cost-effective and offer incomparable flexibility in sharing code, altering system configurations and versioning of disks during development and test cycles. This session will explore how best to take advantage of virtualization in a development environment. We will share real-world experiences from both business and technical standpoints. In addition, we will compare/contrast some of the major tools and present specific how-to’s including migration and portability.

Liz Hatch is a manager, architect and developer at Knowledge Management Associates, a Microsoft Gold partner based in Waltham. She has been using virtualized environments exclusively for development at KMA for the last 3 years and has helped guide internal use and acceptance at KMA. In her day-to-day work, Liz serves as a consultant and leads the SharePoint development team at KMA. She works with a wide range of clients including management consulting, life sciences, financial services firms and non-profits and is certified as an MCPD Enterprise Application Developer. At KMA, Liz’s work spans integrations on enterprise platforms such as SharePoint, Exchange, and CRM. Prior to the five years she has spent at KMA, Liz previously worked as a consultant on scheduling software and owned, guided development, and served as the principal software engineer for SoftMove Corporation, a software company serving the moving and storage industry.
Chuck Duncan is an architect and developer at Knowledge Management Associates who has been using virtualization tools for application development for over three years and has advised on its use in internal development as well as for projects by clients. Chuck serves as a consultant in SharePoint, InfoPath, and Workflow projects at KMA. Prior to joining KMA, he worked for another Gold Partner, did independent consulting, and ran his own company –Guardian Products – building proprietary hardware/software where using virtual tools was key to its success.
Boston .NET User Group Monthly Meeting

Wednesday November 11 2009
MSFT Office, Waltham, MA

SOLIDify Your Microsoft ASP.NET Model View Controller (MVC) Applications
Steve Smith (INETA Speakers Bureau)

6:00-8:00 p.m.

In this session, learn how to apply Robert Martin's SOLID principles of class design to ASP.NET MVC applications. Starting with a typical application that fails to follow these rules, the session quickly shows the disadvantages of tightly coupled, highly dependent code. After a bit of refactoring and testing, the initial application is transformed into code that follows best practices of Object Oriented Design.

Steve Smith is co-owner of Lake Quincy Media, the Microsoft Developer Ad Network, and ASPAlliance.com, a popular software professional web site. He is a Microsoft Regional Director, an ASP.NET MVP (profile), an INETA Speaker, and an ASPInsider. He's written or contributed to several books on ASP.NET and related topics and is a frequent speaker at industry conventions such as DevConnections and Tech Ed.

Steve is a US Army veteran who served in Iraq as a combat engineer platoon leader tasked with destroying unexploded ordnance and clearing IEDs. He received his honorable discharge as a CPT in 2005 and is now happy to be 100% a civilian.

Steve lives in Ohio with his wife and business partner Michelle, their daughter Ilyana, and son Nikita. When he's not trying to keep up with his business or technology, Steve enjoys games, bicycling, and karate.