Is the .net framework dead or is .net dying?

Short answer: .net is not going away, .net is alive in the cloud and desktop… oh Javascript is back!

• Javascript, HTML5, and CSS3 are thriving
• ASP MVC on the rise
• Microsoft has no chance in mobile

After spending the last decade embracing .net as the top developers platform I have come to a sad conclusion that the .net ubiquitous client is terminal.

I have been tuned into the American software job market for the last few months checking all major cities for Craigslist software jobs. I am not suggesting there are no jobs in .net, rather more jobs are growing in other technologies. Also the perception of the tech software start up space right now is simply that .net isn’t cool.

• Linux is cool
• PHP is cool
• Ruby is uber cool
• Javascript is wicked uber cool
• HTML5 is cocaine in the 80′s cool
• Python is hip
• Asp.net MVC is socially acceptable
• .net is perceived as expensive which isn’t cool

It all started while I was living downtown Manhattan and getting involved in the NYC tech community. To my surprise there were a lot of cool startups but very few of them cared about .net. Speaking with a few companies I found they steered away from .net because of the perceived higher cost to purchasing visual studio as well as the cost of hosting .net – especially when using Amazon Web Services (AWS). Most of time they had never heard of Microsoft Bizspark which is an amazing offering from Microsoft which levels the playing field in terms of cost to development. Check out bizspark for yourself. Bizspark gives you 5 licenses of Visual Studio tools as well as free production versions of windows server, free sql server and more.

Why is .net dying?

It’s not because the start up community fails to recognize the lower cost of .net development. Rather it is simply because Apple and Google are kicking Microsoft’s butt in the mobile web space. On top of that pain Microsoft itself is moving away from .net. We have all heard the silverlight is dead debate. The truth is that Javascript and HTML5 are the real players in the client side software as a service space. I am hearing rumors that windows 8 is focused on HTML5 and javascript at the same time limiting Silverlight support in their cloud offering. People could argue Silverlight is alive in the Windows Phone space but in case you have not had the chance to seriously consider Windows Phone development I will save you the time – windows phone development sucks my big fat one.

In the mobile space it is a clear fight between Android and iPhone. IMO Android is the environment to learn and yes please learn Java.

Why is .net alive?…eh .net not dead!

2 Reasons

1. ASP MVC
2. WCF

ASP.net MVC is a relatively new framework from Microsoft designed to allow developers to get back to the HTML stack. This provides a lot of millage when leveraging existing .net skills as well as providing a great html5 dev platform.

WCF – Windows communication foundation is still a very strong offering when building middle ware and back end services. Recently I quickly coded a RESTful WCF service layer and then converted into a full server side asynchronous API. Regardless of front end technology WCF is still a strong cross platform offering especially with the OData services offering as well the JSON support in the WCF Web APIs

Windows vs LAMP is dead

When learning software development the old question of Windows vs Linux as a programming platform is no longer the question. Quite simply it is time to embrace multiple platforms and languages. Instead return to the art of software and learn design patterns such as model view controller. Then learn Asp.net MVC as well as a PHP MVC framework or Ruby on Rails then decide for yourself.

.net vs Java is dead

Most .net and java developers have an opinion on which platform is better. Most .net developers hate java and want it to go away. I too shared this sentiment however I have changed my tune. Java is simply a great cross OS platform. Period. If you love .net then learn Java. I am talking about going to Eclipse.org and installing the classic IDE or something else that lets you start coding java.

Javascript is thriving

In the same way that retro 80′s is cool Javascript is uber cool. Most agree that a java script framework is the most efficient way to write their javascript code as it handles a lot of the cross browser issues and makes coding faster, more stable etc. In case you are wondering jQuery is clearly the winner when it comes to choosing a javascript framework. In short embrace javascript like you embrace software development.

The state of software development today.

In closing if you happen to have a different opinion as to the future of .net and the state of software today then you probably do not know what you are talking about – however if you think you do then please leave a comment and I will publish it.

]]> http://www.firegarden.com/software/dot-net-is-dead/feed/ 2 http://www.firegarden.com/software/caliburn-micro-compile-net-3-5/ http://www.firegarden.com/software/caliburn-micro-compile-net-3-5/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:19:02 +0000 firegarden http://www.firegarden.com/software/?p=111

Instructions & Downloads for Caliburn Micro 1.1 RTW .net 3.5 WPF Compilation

Update: Caliburn.Micro 1.1 has been released (RTW) and if you are living in .net framework 3.5 Sp1 land these instructions show how to compile Caliburn.Micro 1.1 RTW against the .Net framework 3.5 SP1 runtime.

Instructions how to compile Caliburn.Micro 1.1 for .net framework 3.5 and WPF

1. First things first – you can skip these instructions and simply download Caliburn.Micro 1.1 RTW .net 3.5 assemblies.
2. Otherwise to get started download the Caliburn.Micro .net 4.0 source.
3. Copy the visual studio 2010 solution files into a working directory
   
4. Open the solution file (ignore projects not loading message).
5. Generally the windows phone 7 project will not load
   (unless you have WP7 SDK)
6. Remove the WP7 & Silverlight Projects from the solution
   (don’t delete the Silverlight files as they are referenced by WPF)
7. Change the project to target the .net 3.5 runtime . (client profile is optional depending on your needs)
8. Remove the existing reference to System.Windows.Interactivity and System.Xaml
   
9. Download System.Windows.Interactivity assembly dll for .net 3.5 from one of the following sources:
   • Blend 3 SDK
   • Firegarden Caliburn Micro 1.1 .net 3.5 Assemblies
10. Add a reference to System.Windows.Interactivity.dll assembly.
11. Download System.CoreEx assembly dll for .net 3.5 from one of the following sources:
    • reactive extensions framework for .net3.5 sp1
    • Firegarden Caliburn Micro 1.1 .net 3.5 Assemblies
12. Add a reference to the System.CoreEx.dll assembly.
13. Compiling the solution will throw an error: Invalid variance: The type parameter 'T' must be invariantly valid on 'Caliburn.Micro.IParent<T>.GetChildren()'. 'T' is covariant.
    • To correct this error change line 26 of IConductor.cs to remove the ‘out’ modifier
    • 
    • The updated code will look as follows:
14. Compiling will throw another error: type or namespace name 'DatePicker' could not be found
    • There are two options to correct this:
    • Add a reference to the WPF Toolkit.
    • Remove the conditional from line 182 of ConventionManager.cs
15. Compiling will throw one final error: ActionMessage.cs 'System.Array' does not contain a definition for 'Zip'...
    • The following code will fix the error and get Caliburn.Micro 1.1 to compile under .Net 3.5
    • You can download the EnumerableExtension.cs source file or copy the code below.
    • 
static class EnumerableExtension
{
public static IEnumerable<TResult> Zip<T1, T2, TResult>(this
IEnumerable<T1> source1, IEnumerable<T2> source2, Func<T1, T2,
TResult> func)
{
using (var iter1 = source1.GetEnumerator())
using (var iter2 = source2.GetEnumerator())
{
while (iter1.MoveNext() && iter2.MoveNext())
{
yield return func(iter1.Current, iter2.Current);
}
}
}
}

If all was followed correctly you will have a copy of the Caliburn.Micro 1.1 RTW source code building against the .net framework 3.5. If you have any questions please comment and I will replay asap. Of course you can always download the compiled Caliburn.Micro 3.5 assemblies directly.

How to setup Mercurial 1.8 HgWeb Repository hosted on IIS 7.5 with Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86 | x64 bit) and Python 2.6 or Python 2.7 with ISAPI or CGI

After reading existing tutorials Setting up Mercurial server in IIS7 using ISAPI-WSGI and
Setting up a Mercurial server on IIS7 via Fast CGI then receiving a number of Python errors including Failed to import callback module ‘hgwebdir_wsgi’ I decided to author this updated guide to setting up Mercurial 1.8 on IIS 7.5 (x86 or x64) using Python 2.6 or Python 2.7.

There are a number of problems with the existing instructions due to changes in Mercurial 1.7+. Unfortunately all other existing instructions fail under Mercurial 1.7.2+ as well they force you to install 32 bit versions of Mercurial / Python even on 64 bit systems – this is no longer an issue, so enjoy true 64 bit goodness!

This guide will show you how to successfully setup Mercurial 1.7 / 1.8 (either 64 bit or 32 bit versions) HgWeb hosted repositories on IIS7 and will allow you to use either Python 2.6 or the current version, Python 2.7.2 – look no further – this guide works Please donate your mouse button to support this information