Foreword


In order to keep in touch with customer concerns early in the product cycle, many Microsoft teams periodically hold Software Design Reviews (SDRs). Very early on, SDRs are about information flowing in to the product team: we invite a dozen industry experts in for a day or two of meetings, ask them for extensive feedback, and fold their thought into the product. As the product firms up, SDRs are about information flowing out to customers: we invite a couple hundred analysts and experts and early adapters to Seattle for a couple days of presentations, hands-on labs, and parties.

The hands-on labs at our last SDR, in March 2005, were created by our developer evangelist, Craig McMurtry, one of the authors of the book whose foreword you are now reading. Now, I've never been to South Africa (where Craig grew up), but after working with his hands-on labs, I feel like I've learned something about the South African educational system. They must give the kids a lot of homework. A lot. An overwhelming lot. Enough to make a child bitter. Extremely bitter. The kind of bitter that waits a lifetime for a chance at revenge. What else could explain a 11-part lab intended to be solved in an hour? What else justifies the haggard souls struggling to finish part 8 of that lab late on the first night of the SDR while the rest of us return to the conference hotel after dinner and frivolity? Why else would Craig rub his handsand chuckle at the sight?

Satisfied with their effect, Craig teamed up with his colleague, Marc Mercuri, who had been innocently working on organizing the SDR and helping drive customer adoption of the technology (albeit in a more kindly fashion). They set to work to evolve the March 2005 SDR labs into the larger set of labs presented at the PDC in September, and then again into the material that makes up the bulk of this book. Marc and Craig spent the holiday season with an additional guest at their dinner table: the manuscript. Now that you'll be able to take the material home and work on it at your own pace, Craig's bitterness becomes your gain. The material he wanted to torture you with in six one-hour timeslots, thanks to their joint effort, becomes a rich, deep introduction to WCF that you can explore at home. Over a period of months. In peace.

Have fun.

Steve Swartz

Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation Architect




Presenting Microsoft Communication Foundation. Hands-on.
Microsoft Windows Communication Foundation: Hands-on
ISBN: 0672328771
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 132

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