Azure & DevOps Podcast

This week, Kendra Havens is joining the podcast! Kendra is a Program Manager at Microsoft on the .NET and Visual Studio team. She is incredibly passionate about using technology to empower people and solve the world's problems whether it be technological, business, or people puzzles — and she always loves a good challenge! In her role at Microsoft, she focuses mainly on .NET Tooling and the testing experience in Visual Studio. You may recognize her from videos on Visual Studio, .NET Core, C#, and Testing tools; or, as a speaker at the recent .NET Conf 2020.   In this episode, Kendra and Jeffrey discuss Codespaces. If you haven’t heard the buzz about Codespaces yet, they provide a fully managed dev environment that you can deploy. They’re reproducible, re-deployable, manageable, and set up everything in your dev environment for you. Kendra equates them to a remote desktop… but better!   Kendra shares her insights and knowledge on Codespaces, what she and her team are currently working on with regards to it, shares some recent developments, and much more!   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [1:02] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:16] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:43] About today’s guest, Kendra Havens! [2:19] Jeffrey welcomes Kendra to the podcast. [2:26] Kendra speaks about her career path that has led her to her current role with Microsoft and what Codespaces is. [4:30] Is Codespaces 100% ready to go? How easy is it to set up? [6:57] Does it matter if the software is targeting the full operating system on the Windows side or if the developer doesn’t care and is just throwing it to Azure App Service? Is there a difference between the two when it comes to implementing Codespaces? [8:08] Is the best experience right now with what’s in development for .NET 5 container-destined applications? [8:48] What to do if you want to run a .NET 5.0 app. [9:03] Which application dependencies has Kendra seen as being the most common that are well-supported? [10:10] Would it be fair to say that if something can be set up with a command line that it probably works well at this point? [10:48] Having they been testing with SQL Server or is it implicitly supported with Codespaces? [11:57] Kendra speaks about the overall vision for Codespaces, what they’re working towards, and the kinds of conversations that they’re having within Microsoft around it. [15:29] Is Microsoft planning on hosting Codespaces or is there going to be a private capacity that is available if you want to equip your company with a certain amount of horsepower to connect to? [17:26] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [17:59] Kendra speaks about the potential of configuration in regards to servicing  [19:13] What Codespaces is working towards offering: being able to configure how much horsepower your codespace gets. [19:49] Some of the big benefits that will come from this offering. [20:26] What clients are they intending to support with Codespaces? [21:59] Kendra speaks about something she is currently really excited about: GitHub Actions. [22:39] Some of the recent developments with GitHub Actions. [24:14] The latest in testing in Visual Studio. [26:00] How does Kendra keep up with all of the new framework changes? What’s the strategy for testing the new frameworks? [29:51] Kendra shares some final words about what she and her team are working on and what she is excited about going forward. [32:28] Jeffrey thanks Kendra for joining the podcast!   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow .NET Conf 2020 Kendra Havens’ Linkedin Kendra Havens’ Twitter Kendra Haven’s GitHub Codespaces JSON DevContainer.JSON .NET 5 Code Quality AnalyzersDocker VSCode .NET Core 3.1 .NET 5.0 SQL Server IOS RabbitMQ devinit devinit.JSON Azure Pipelines GitHub Universe 2020 GitHub Actions Azure DevOps Podcast Ep. 95: “Chris Patterson on GitHub Actions” Blazor Playwright Test   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

In this episode, Jeffrey is joined by Maddy Leger, a Program Manager at Microsoft on the Xamarin team!   Maddy has been with the Xamarin team since 2018 working on Xamarin tooling. When she first joined Microsoft and worked with the Xamarin team as an intern, she realized the impact that she could have in creating amazing developer tools and frameworks, which inspired her to pursue a role as Program Manager. You can connect with her on Twitter and GitHub @maddyleger1!   In Jeffrey and Maddy’s conversation, they discuss Xamarin in a .NET 5 world. Maddy shares her vision for where Xamarin is headed and what she hopes will be the new normal for C# developers five years from now; what the state-of-the-art is now for Xamarin; what a Xamarin developer setup looks like in the .NET 5 world for mobile, Mac, and Windows; and what developers with existing Xamarin apps should they be paying attention to (or change) with .NET 5 coming out.   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [1:07] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:20] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:43] About today’s guest, Maddy Leger! [2:17] Jeffrey welcomes Maddy Leger to the podcast. [2:25] Maddy speaks about her career journey thus far and what led to her working on the Xamarin team at Microsoft. [5:20] Overtime, the story for developing on non-Windows computers has been fragmented. Maddy speaks about this and what the story looks like right now. [6:25] Maddy shares her vision for where Xamarin is headed and what she hopes will be the new normal for C# developers five years from now. [7:09] What the state-of-the-art is now for Xamarin. [9:30] If you just want things to work and just have an app to access some data, what level of share code is Xamarin currently? [10:50] Maddy speaks about what a Xamarin developer setup looks like in the .NET 5 world for mobile. [13:38] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [14:25] Maddy speaks on the Mac story as a Xamarin developer and when you need to have a Mac on the .NET 5 side. [18:06] For developers now, do they need a Mac of some type? Or does the iPhone suffice? [19:07] Azure DevOps has hosted Mac Agents. If you’re using that, do you need a local Mac? [20:35] In the .NET 5 world, what is state-of-the-art when it comes to the teams’ development, DevOps environment, building, testing, packaging, and deploying? What should they choose? And what pieces do they put together? [22:30] What are the libraries and tools for automated testing and testing locally? What does that look like these days? [24:15] What do deployments to a DevOps environment look like in the world of .NET 5 in Xamarin? [27:04] For developers with existing Xamarin apps that they’ve been managing, what should they be paying attention to or change with .NET 5 coming out? What would they miss out on if they don’t move to .NET 5? [29:01] Jeffrey thanks Maddy for joining the podcast!   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow .NET Conf 2020 .NET Core .NET 5.0 Maddy Leger’s LinkedIn Maddy Leger’s Twitter @maddyleger1 Maddy Leger’s GitHub @maddyleger1 .NET Community Standup   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Scott is the Director of Program Management for .NET at Microsoft. When Scott first joined Microsoft back in 2007, he was working on the ASP.NET team.   As the Director of Program Management of .NET, Scott and his team build .NET Core, .NET Framework, ASP.NET, Entity Framework, managed languages (C#/F#/VB), as well as the Web and .NET Tooling for Visual Studio.   In this episode, Jeffrey and Scott discuss the announcements that were made at the recent .NET Conf 2020, everything .NET 5.0, and general advice for .NET developers. Scott also touches on the Experimental Mobile Blazor Bindings project, isolated CSS, browser-based applications, the pre-render server feature in .NET 5.0, and much more.   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [1:02] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:11] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:34] About today’s guest, Scott Hunter! [1:51] Jeffrey welcomes Scott back to the podcast. [1:58] Jeffrey and Scott reflect on software and tech history, their job history, and the history of how they know each other. [7:21] Scott shares his predictions on the technology and software that developers should be investing in that were showcased at .NET Conf 2020. [15:08] The two tracks Microsoft seems to be going on and Scott’s thoughts on what the overall vision seems to be. [19:05] About the Experimental Mobile Blazor Bindings project. [21:58] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [22:31] From a labor pool perspective, there seems to be a mountain more of people who know how to lay out a screen and make something attractive using an HTML and CSS combination. Contracting with a designer who only needs to know HTML and CSS is becoming an increasingly affordable option. Is this part of Scott’s thought process? [25:15] Jeffrey and Scott touch on another cool announcement from .NET Conf 2020: isolated CSS. [26:30] Scott tells a fun story about the merits of being on a .NET team and working at Microsoft. [29:59] There’s one paradigm in browser-based applications that doesn’t exist in desktop or mobile applications: the back button. Scott shares his perspective on this and whether or not they’ll be supported in a first-class way. [32:17] Scott highlights another cool feature in .NET 5: the pre-render server. [33:49] Scott speaks about an amazing customer of theirs that they highlighted at the .NET Conf 2020 keynote. [38:09] Is .NET 5 the fastest real programming platform? What would Scott’s recommendations be to a team looking to move from .NET 4.8 to 5.0? [42:47] Jeffrey thanks Scott for joining the show!   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow Scott Hunter Scott Hunter’s Twitter @coolcsh .NET 5 Azure DevOps Podcast: “Scott Hunter on DevOps Capabilities in Azure - Episode 24” Azure DevOps Podcast: “Microsoft Ignite 2019 Recap with Various Guests - Episode 65 Phil Haack NuGet Scott Guthrie ASP.NET Blazor .NET Conf 2020 .NET Core .NET 5.0 Xamarin Electron WebAssembly UnoConf 2020 Uno XAMLExperimental Mobile Blazor Bindings Flutter Project Comet WPF Angular Rust Python   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

In this episode, Michael A. Hawker, AKA ‘XAML Llama,’ joins the podcast to discuss the Windows Community Toolkit and more.   Michael is a Senior Software Engineer for the Partner, Analytics, and essential eXperiences (PAX) team at Microsoft. PAX focuses on driving the ISV ecosystem through technical engagement with partners and industry as well as providing essential first-party experiences. Michael is also the maintainer of the Windows Community Toolkit and prior to that, “App Ninja.” Previously, he’s worked on Windows Protocols, Message Analyzer, and Network Monitor. Additionally, he is also the creator of XAML Studio, a Microsoft Garage project.   Jeffrey and Michael discuss Michael’s role as a Windows Community Toolkit Maintainer, the ins and outs of the Windows Community Toolkit, its .NET Standard libraries, the state of full application testing, and key learning moments that he and his teams have gone through. Michael also provides advice, recommendations, and resources regarding .NET and application development; .NET Standard libraries; Project Reunion; what is currently state-of-the-art when it comes to UI layout; and, of course, the Windows Community Toolkit!   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [1:02] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:16] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:42] About today’s guest, Michael Hawker! [2:20] Jeffrey welcomes Michael to the podcast. [2:40] Michael shares about his background and how he ended up in his current role as a Senior Software Engineer and Windows Community Toolkit Maintainer. [5:00] Jeffrey and Michael talk about the strategy and vision for .NET 5. [7:11] Michael elaborates on what Project Reunion is. [10:10] What is the Windows Community Toolkit? [11:32] Michael shares about Windows Community Toolkit’s reach and where it works, and its .NET Standard libraries. [13:50] Is Michael seeing a lot of developers adopting their .NET Standard libraries on non-Windows applications? [16:01] What is the current modern installer or deployment package format? [19:16] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [19:46] The state of full application testing and the libraries that the Windows Community Toolkit is currently using. [26:29] Michael highlights some of the learning moments that he and his teams have gone through with having a high-productive DevOps environment and working on a Windows Application. [32:04] As more and more people come back to Windows development and natively installed applications in general, what is the state-of-the-art when it comes to UI layout? [34:15] Michael shares his recommendations and resources for .NET and application development. [37:00] Jeffrey thanks Michael for joining the podcast!   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow .NET Conf 2020 Windows Community Toolkit XAML Studio Michael Hawker’s LinkedIn Michael Hawker’s Twitter @XAMLLlama Michael Hawker’s Twitch @XAMLLlama WinUI 3 Project Reunion WinUI Community Call (Oct. 21st, 2020) Unity Blazor Xamarin Azure Artifacts Azure DevOps Podcast Ep. 80: “Ryan Demopoulos on WinUI” Docs.Microsoft.com   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Today, Jeffrey is joined by return guest, Paul Sheriff! Paul is a Business Technology Consultant with over thirty years of experience architecting information systems. His expertise is in much demand from Fortune 500 companies. He is a top-notch instructor and a Pluralsight author with over 20+ courses in the library, ranging on topics from Angular, MVC, WPF, XML, jQuery to Bootstrap. He has also published 300+ articles and has authored over 14 books on topics such as C#, SQL Server, and many .NET technologies!   In their conversation, Paul gives listeners an update on everything new in .NET. He speaks about the new .NET 5 release, .NET vs .NET Core, desktop apps vs. browser apps, upfront architecture, C#, and Visual Basic. He also shares his thoughts on where he sees technology headed in the next 5-10 years, the current path and strategy for teaching developers, the most important areas to pay attention to and questions to ask when planning your application, and how you can best stay on top of your game as a developer.   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [1:01] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:11] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:32] About today’s return guest, Paul Sheriff. [2:32] Jeffrey welcomes Paul back to the podcast! [2:52] Given the new .NET 5 release and all that was announced, what are Paul’s thoughts on the landscape going forward? He also talks C#, Visual Basic, the future of .NET 6. [7:56] Talking similarities and differences between .NET vs .NET Core. [9:25] Having seen so many different seasons of different types of apps, Paul gives his take on Windows desktop applications going forward. [12:40] What is it about desktop apps that make certain people love them far above browser apps? [17:43] Paul shares how he is strategizing how to teach developers through (and with) Pluralsight. [20:46] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [21:18] Should we be cautious about always jumping on the next new thing that comes along? Why or why not? [23:20] The importance of asking the right questions and getting help in the process of planning. [24:26] An incredibly important question to ask: What is my budget for running this in Azure? [29:58] Paul shares his predictions on where he sees things headed 5 and 10 years from now. [33:08] Paul talks programming boot camps, education, and understanding how to ‘finish’ software. [37:28] What course does Pluralsight not have that Paul wishes he could produce if the audience or need was there? [39:35] Jeffrey thanks Paul for joining the show once again!   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow Paul Sheriff’s Website (PDSA.com) Paul Sheriff on GitHub Paul Sheriff on Pluralsight Paul Sheriff’s Email: psheriff@pdsa.com Azure DevOps Podcast: “Paul Sheriff on How to be an Architect — Episode 77” Azure DevOps Podcast: “James Grenning on Test-Driven Development — Episode 114” Blazor   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

This episode is part 2 of the interview with Scott Nichols! Be sure to tune in to part 1 first before joining in on this episode’s conversation.   Scott Nichols is a Sr. Cloud Solutions Architect, Scott works for the commercial enterprise division serving the west region. He is also the leader of the .NET and the Azure user groups in Boise, Idaho. He started his career in the IT profession in 1993 as a mainframe and web developer. Since then, he has served as a Lead Software Engineer/Solution Architect, a Software Development Engineering Manager, a Sr. Cloud Software Solution Architect, a Sr. Enterprise Solution Architect, and of course, most recently, a Sr. Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft since 2019.   In this second part, the interview transitions from discussing the state of Azure and the Cloud industry into talking about how customers are modernizing their existing applications and infrastructure for Azure. Scott shares about infrastructure as code tools he sees as having the most traction right now, his recommendations for those looking to get their application into Azure, and what he sees as being the most successful pathways for his customers utilizing Azure infrastructure.   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [1:01] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:11] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:33] Jeffrey welcomes Scott back to the podcast for part 2 and shares about this episode’s conversation. [2:06] The infrastructure as code tools Scott sees as having the most traction. [4:35] Does Scott have any customers that have used Azure Bicep yet? [4:56] How Scott thinks about Azure infrastructure and what he sees as being most successful with his customers. [7:42] For certain tweaks in the infrastructure, where does an ARM template work? [9:45] What is the mechanism in Azure that would know that the Powershell script has not been run yet or has already been run so that it doesn’t run it again? [11:07] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [11:38] For people looking to get their application into Azure, what would Scott recommend their next steps be? [20:37] Jeffrey thanks Scott for joining the podcast and Scott offers some parting words of advice for developers.   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow Scott Nichols’ LinkedIn Scott Nichols’ Twitter @TheScottNichols Azure Architecture Center - Microsoft Amazon Web Services (AWS)Azure Architectures - Microsoft Docs Google Cloud (GCP) Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) Azure Bicep on GitHub .NET Conference 2020 Python Terraform Azure Resource Manager (ARM) CICD PowerShell HashiCorp   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Joining Jeffrey is Scott Nichols, a Sr. Cloud Architect at Microsoft, to discuss the state of Azure.   As a Sr. Cloud Solutions Architect, Scott works for the commercial enterprise division serving the west region. He is also the leader of the .NET and the Azure user groups in Boise, Idaho.   Scott started his career in the IT profession in 1993 as a mainframe and web developer. Since then, he has served as a Lead Software Engineer/Solution Architect, a Software Development Engineering Manager, a Sr. Cloud Software Solution Architect, a Sr. Enterprise Solution Architect, and of course, most recently, a Sr. Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft since 2019.   In their conversation today, they discuss the state of Azure. Scott compares and contrasts Azure and AWS, .NET vs. other major frameworks; shares about the most important languages developers should be learning today; what is currently state-of-the-art when it comes to infrastructure as code; and much more!   This is part one of a two-part interview with Scott Nichols, so be sure to tune in next week to catch the second half of the conversation!   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [:46] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:11] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:31] About today’s episode with Scott Nichols. [1:55] Jeffrey welcomes Scott to the podcast! [2:15] Scott shares about his career background and what has led to his current role as Sr. Cloud Architect at Microsoft. [6:59] Scott talks about Microsoft’s Patterns and Practices team. [9:23] Where to find the specific reference architectures Scott mentioned. [10:19] Scott compares and contrasts Azure and AWS. [14:45] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [15:17] Talking .NET in general and the breadth of .NET vs. other major frameworks. [18:32] Is it true that 31% of the entirety of the internet is .NET? [19:05] The most important languages Scott thinks developers should learn. [19:31] Scott is helping commercial customers to modernize their .NET apps so that they can run in Azure. Is there a formula or a generic process that Scott follows in particular? [24:48] Why are there so many Solution Architects out there right now? [25:36] Scott shares what he believes is currently state of the art when it comes to infrastructure as code and what falls into place nicely now vs. does not. [30:08] Be sure to tune in next week for part 2 of the interview!   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow Scott Nichols’ LinkedIn Scott Nichols’ Twitter @TheScottNichols Azure Architecture Center - Microsoft Amazon Web Services (AWS)Azure Architectures - Microsoft Docs Google Cloud (GCP) Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF) Azure Bicep on GitHub .NET Conference 2020 Python Terraform Azure Resource Manager (ARM) CICD   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.  

James Grenning joins the podcast this episode to discuss test-driven development.   James is one of the original authors of the Agile Manifesto. His specialties include test-driven development and embedded software going deep in C-based embedded technologies. At his company Wingman Software, he coaches and trains developers to deliver more. With deadlines to meet, quality goals to meet, and customers to satisfy, a developer’s day can often be packed to the brim with little time for investigating better ways to develop — this is where Wingman Software comes in. They offer training, coaching, consulting, and workshops for developers and teams looking to accelerate their progress and reach a new level of performance.   In this episode, James speaks about where test-driven development is today, how it has changed over the decades and his key advice for transitioning to TDD. He also shares some fun tips, from ZOMBIES guiding you through the process of TDD to the secrets of how to become a highly productive team or developer!   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [:46] About The Azure DevOps Podcast and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:11] Clear Measure is hiring! Be sure to check out the link in the show notes. [1:22] About today’s episode with James Grenning. [1:43] Jeffrey welcomes James to the podcast! [1:56] James speaks about what it was like at the turn of the millennium when conversations were just starting and the Agile Manifesto was only an idea in a few people’s heads. [6:45] For developers and teams that want to be highly productive, how does James explain the arguments that pit speed and quality against each other? [10:00] For new developers and those who have never done test-driven development before, when would James recommend that they start? And how should they get started? Why should they get started? [18:32] How ZOMBIES can guide you through the process of test-driven development! [20:38] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [21:10] James shares his thought process around managing dependencies. [23:09] The three critical skills of refactoring. [24:21] Why James thinks mob programming and paired programming is really powerful. [24:40] James highlights a key piece of The Agile Manifesto. [25:45] How should a developer be thinking about the process of pulling in a new library? [31:00] For developers who have either inherited a piece of software or have been working with a system for a long time, what would James say is the most effective way to start transitioning to test-driven development? [39:33] James gives some parting words and advice about TDD. [41:17] Jeffrey thanks James for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow James Grenning’s Blog James Grenning’s Blog: “TDD Guided by ZOMBIES” James Grenning’s Twitter @JWGrenning Wingman Software Wingman Software: Test-Driven Development for C or C++ Training | Remotely Delivered via Web-Meeting The Agile Manifesto Managing the Software Process, by Watts S. Humphrey Extreme Programming History: The Agile Manifesto Kevlin Henney: “Old is the New New”   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Today’s guest is none other than, Colin Pear — the Director of Engineering at Skimmer!    Colin is an NServiceBus Champion, an open-source contributor, and a recent Clear Measure alumnus (where he previously held the positions of Chief Architect and Principal Software Architect up until September 2020). In his current position at Skimmer, he runs the .NET software engineering department.   In this episode, Colin shares some invaluable tips on how to become a .NET architect, how to stay focused and effective in a leadership position, and how to effectively run a team as an architect. Colin also shares his thoughts on where to invest your time as a developer, shares about a current project of his, and gives some advice to developers looking to take on a leadership role in the future.   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [:46] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups, and his newest endeavor: a video podcast, Architect Tips! [1:33] About today’s episode with Colin Pear. [1:55] Jeffrey welcomes Colin to the podcast! [2:05] Colin introduces himself and shares about his development journey. [4:28] Colin shares how he transitioned from a developer role to leading in an architect position. [6:24] Colin demystifies and simplifies some developer job titles for those new to the industry. [9:04] When Colin was slinging code all day, every day, did he always think he wanted to code for his entire life? [11:52] Colin and Jeffrey talk about what it’s like to get into the higher levels of working with a team (such as an architect, manager, etc.) Colin also touches on some of the key characteristics that are important to have if you are taking on a leadership position. [15:15] When Colin is working on larger projects or multiple different projects, how does he time-slice his focus and stay effective when he doesn’t know every line of code in every codebase? [17:30] Colin busts the myths of the non-coding architect and those who say, “Architects don’t code, therefore they don’t know what they’re talking about!” Colin also shares about a project of his, BlazorComponentBus. [22:32] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [23:02] Jeffrey and Colin further discuss Colin’s project, BlazorComponentBus. [24:20] Where to find BlazorComponentBus. [24:51] Colin shares some advice on running a team as an architect and how to know which software and tech to invest time into as a developer and which to run away from. [31:12] Colin shares his thoughts and observations on microservices. [34:15] Colin shares some parting advice for developers looking to take on more leadership in the future. [36:22] Jeffrey thanks Colin for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow Colin Pear’s LinkedIn Colin Pear’s Twitter @ColinPear Pearweb.com — Colin Pear’s Blog Colin Pear’s Articles on Clear Measure GetSkimmer.com NServiceBusBlazor BlazorComponentBus on GitHub BlazorComponentBus on NuGet   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.

Joining Jeffrey in this episode is a longtime friend of his, Tony Champion! Tony is a software architect with over 20 years of experience, developing with Microsoft technologies. As the president and lead software architect of his own firm, Champion DS, he remains active in the latest trends and technologies, creating custom solutions on Microsoft platforms. Tony is also an active participant in the community as an eight-year recipient of the Microsoft MVP reward, an international speaker, a published author, and a blogger.   Jeffrey and Tony discuss Tony’s new podcast, Developers Roads, his career development, the current state of .NET Stack and his predictions on where it’s headed, and his tips and recommendations for developers looking to go into consulting. He also provides tips around authority building, coaching programs, and where you should be investing your time right now as a developer.   Topics of Discussion: [:38] Be sure to visit AzureDevOps.Show for past episodes and show notes. [:46] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups, and his newest endeavor: a video podcast, Architect Tips! [1:30] About today’s episode with Tony Champion. [2:07] Jeffrey welcomes Tony to the podcast! [2:18] Tony gives a rundown of his career. [4:07] About Tony’s new podcast, Developers Road; when it is launching, its focus, and show format. [7:13] Tony shares about his experience as a consultant; the ups, downs, and biggest lessons. [9:21] Tony breaks down ‘consulting as a way of working’ vs. independent consulting, how developers can break into those fields, and his experiences throughout his career as a consultant. [12:35] Would Tony agree with the sentiment: “Experts teach because if you don’t teach then nobody in the world will recognize that you have expertise”? [15:26] Why Tony has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for several years. [16:05] Tony gives recommendations to listeners looking to build their authority in consulting. [18:50] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [19:24] Coaching programs Tony recommends for developers who want to pursue consulting. [21:47] The current state of the current .NET Stack and where Tony sees it heading. [24:36] Tony shares his thoughts on the future of software development and gives some recommendations for where he believes it may be most valuable to invest your time as a developer. [30:45] Discussing what drives many of the current development jobs. [31:55] Tony speaks about his company, Champion DS, and what it was built off of. He also shares some more of his predictions for the future. [35:00] Jeffrey thanks Tony for joining the podcast.   Mentioned in this Episode: 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! The Azure DevOps Podcast’s Twitter: @AzureDevOpsShow @TonyChampion on Twitter TonyChampion.net Developers Road Podcast Microsoft Silverlight   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.