Thanks to Keith and Woody for having us on their podcast.  It was a lot of fun.  The podcast is now published.  Here are the details.

Episode 48: Web Development with ASP.NET MVC In Action Authors

About This Episode

In this episode Keith and Woody caught up with the team that wrote the book ASP.NET MVC In Action: Jeffrey Palermo, Ben Scheirman and Jimmy Bogard. The guys discussed the book, what drives their passion around ASP.NET MVC and what is in store for this huge change in ASP.NET development.

On Tuesday, 3/16/2010, Headspring is offering another free monthly workshop.  This month, I am leading the workshop, and the topic is:

Architecture Analysis Patterns: How to reason about the structure of an application

Layering, a fundamental concept of software architecture: Layer helps to separate dependencies and to decouple concerns. Most of the industry does layering in name only. It’s lip service. In 23 slides and accompanying commentary, we will explore the fundamental concept of separating layers to absolutely isolate dependencies.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Microsoft hosts Headspring at:
Microsoft Technology Center
9606 N Mo Pac Expy
Austin, TX 78759
(map)

CoDE Magazine has published a new article from me on MvcContrib.  Here is an excerpt:

Hot on the heels of the groundbreaking release of ASP.NET MVC CTP 1 in December of 2007, an open source project called MvcContrib came to life. MvcContrib has enjoyed tens of thousands of downloads since it started in December of 2007. In this article, I will explain MvcContrib; it’s major components, how to use it, and how to get involved in its continued development.

MvcContrib from 30,000 Feet

MvcContrib is a .NET 3.5 SP1 library that provides extensions for use with Microsoft’s ASP.NET MVC Framework. MvcContrib does not provide replacements for parts of ASP.NET MVC.

Click here for the full CoDe Magazine article.

Refer to position details: http://www.headspringsystems.com/careers/senior-software-engineer/

Headspring is always looking for good people, and we have continued to expand throughout the downturn in the economy.  Over 2009, I increased our development staff 13%, and already in 2010, it has increased 11% just in the first two months.  We are continuing to grow, and it doesn’t look like it is slowing down.

There are two model which work very well:

1. Contract-to-hire:  This is when a programmer very confident in his capabilities works on a contractor basis for a project while we both decide if it is a long-term fit.  Some individuals decide they like contracting and continue in that model.
2. Full-time employment w/ 90-day trial:  This is when a programmer definitely wants full-time work including top-notch benefits.  At about 90 days, we reevaluate the fit.  We or the employee can then decide to enter into a more permanent employment agreement.

I am currently looking for programmer who fit into either category.  Please email seniorsoftwareengineers@headspringsystems.com if you are interested.  Refer to http://www.headspringsystems.com/careers/senior-software-engineer/ for the items to include in the email.  Don’t let the email address fool you.  If you are aspiring to improve yourself but are not at the senior level, we want to speak with you as well.  Smart people are hard to find.  I can train you up, but I can’t make you smarter.  You have to bring that to the table by yourself.

Most companies who hire contract-to-hire won’t train them.  We are different.  Anyone who does any work for us represents us.  I believe that it is critical to our reputation that we equip our people with the tools and knowledge to succeed in any project.  We are very leading-edge, and we use the best tools the industry has available.  This is different from being “bleeding-edge”.  I do not believe in bleeding.  We will adopt those items which have passed the bleeding stage and have proven their value.

It takes several weeks to make it through our screening process, so please understand the lead time.  Identifying the right people is something I take very serious.

If you live in the area, or if you are a student at Texas Tech University, come on out to the Lubbock .Net Users Group.  More details to follow.

http://www.ldnug.net/

Recently, I gave a presentation to the C4MVC virtual user group focus on ASP.NET MVC, and headed up by Eric Hexter.  You can see the meeting info here.  I introduced and walked through a Portable Areas sample.  the purpose of MvcContrib Portable Areas is to provide a component model for ASP.NET MVC.  It’s not perfect, but it is a very powerful model.  Our hope is that, along with MvcContrib participating in the CodePlex Foundation, Microsoft will be able to take some of the code, or perhaps just the idea, and productize it into the much-needed component model for ASP.NET MVC.

http://www.viddler.com/player/81f1a688/

Started in January of 2008, Headspring’s Agile Boot Camp series of trainer has received many positive reviews both from local Austin developers to folks traveling from other parts of the country.  Go to Headspring.com, and sign up for the next class now.

This training encompasses…

Part I Agile Boot Camp™ Topics:

• object oriented programming
• SOLID principles
• design patterns
• dependency injection
• team design on whiteboard
• IDE tools and quickly navigating a codebase
• Test-Driven Development
• mocking
• pair programming
• refactoring
• pain driven development
• Domain Driven-Design
• ORM
• contributing to open source projects
• harnessing the community for extreme growth and continuous learning
• foundations of Agile
• Continuous Integration:
  • the "check-in dance" to ensure that code to be committed to a repository does not conflict with existing code or unit tests
  • to make code repositories automatically integrate with build scripts to build the most current source to staging servers
  • to make code repositories automatically integrate with build scripts to alert teams if any developer commits code that breaks any of the project’s unit tests (thus keeping the source code free of bugs)
  • to write deployment scripts to make separate databases from the project’s schema at individual developer/pair-programming workstations and well as production and staging servers
  • to write deployment scripts to roll out database changes as they occur at individual developer/pair-programming workstations and well as production and staging servers

What will I need to do to prepare for the training?

You’ve learned the .NET Framework – now learn the principles and tools to use it effectively. This intermediate curriculum will lead developers to work-changing techniques and create momentum towards continuous improvement in an ever-changing field. With a focus on object orientation and software engineering practices refined in real projects, students will discover principles and patterns to manage software complexity. By the end of the course students will have eliminated a reliance on leaky-abstraction APIs by

• understanding software design concepts and principles
• understanding and practicing test-driven development
• practicing working in an effective team
• implementing designs using object oriented techniques and design patterns
• understanding object-relational mapping
• driving future growth through exposure to advanced topics

Day 1

getting started

• lab 1: check out the project and run a unit test
• module: Intro
• module: TDD basics
• lab 2: writing your first failing unit test
• lab 3: writing the code that makes it pass
• demo: working with resharper

LUNCH (provided)

object oriented programming

• module: SOLID
• lab 4: interfaces, facade
• lab 5a: strategy pattern
• lab 5b: command pattern
• extra curricular lab: playing with structuremap

Day 2

team design & advanced tdd

• quick mini-lab involving structuremap
• module: dependency injection / ioc
• lab6: configuring structuremap
• demo: testing with mock objects
• lab7: rhino mocks
• team design on whiteboard

LUNCH (provided)

refactoring & pair programming

• lab8: more tests, enumeration base class, specification pattern, .NET 3.5 feature in the code
• module: refactoring
• demo: refactoring legacy code
• lab 9: pair tasks involving refactoring
• extra curricular: student-driven discussion and demo

Day 3

morning session

• lab 10: "refactor this" challenge
• module: DDD basics, terminology
• lab 11: repositories, using provided nhibernate stuff (HSB, DTB, etc.), specification pattern
• module: foundations of Agile

LUNCH (provided)

conclusion

• module: nhibernate
• demo: querying nhibernate
• lab 12: downloading source, creating patch for open source project
• student-driven discussion, demos

A glimpse at Tarantino database management:

Training located in Austin, Texas (8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.)
Although it is unlikely, class dates are subject to change. We encourage you to obtain transferable airline/hotel reservations in the event that this should occur.

Call Headspring to Enroll: (877) 459-2260