|
|
Browse by Tags
All Tags » Oslo (RSS)
-
Just got the email the other day that PDC is less than 4 weeks away, and it got me thinking a bit about how I would think about these sessions as an attendee. Searching on the PDC site will yield 8 talks tagged with WF. Here's how I break some of these these down, the first few are about using WF, and the last 3 are about WF itself: Hosting Workflows and Services Dan Eshner Hear about extensions being made to Windows Server to provide a feature-rich middle-tier execution and deployment environment for Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) applications. Learn about the architecture of this new extension, how it works, how to take advantage of it, and the features it provides that simplify deployment, management, and troubleshooting of workflows and services. This talk is all about the host we're building for WF and WCF, which I mentioned earlier, we're calling "Dublin". If you're familiar with either technology, and have built a host of your own, this will be interesting both from the perspective of what is coming, as well as how we are thinking about solving some of the hosting problems. A Lap around "Oslo" Presenters: Douglas Purdy , Vijaye Raji "Oslo" is the family of new technologies that enable data-driven development and execution of services and applications. Come and learn how to capture all aspects of an application schematized in the "Oslo" repository and use "Oslo" Read More...
|
-
Steve Martin , a director of product management for CSD, has a blog post containing more information on the work that we are doing for the next versions of WF and WCF that we will release as a CTP at PDC. He also introduces "Dublin," the name for our efforts around creating a manageable and scalable host for WF and WCF applications, something that I know a few customers would be interested in. For you WF and WCF fans, there some more information about some of the features that you'll hear more about at PDC. I think for customers who are using either today, you'll see something on the list below that gets you interested. And, if you're not using WF or WCF today, I think there are a few things that might make you interested. We think that the features we're introducing (especially in WF, which is close to my heart) will make it easier to use WF, in more places, and by more people. Let us know what you think. What's exciting in the list below, what do you want to hear more about, is there something else you'd like to see on the list? WF Features Significant improvements in performance and scalability · Ten-fold improvement in performance New workflow flow-control models and pre-built activities · Flowcharts, rules · Expanded built-in activities – PowerShell, database, messaging, etc. Enhancements in workflow modeling · Persistence control, transaction flow, compensation support, data binding and scoping Read More...
|
-
One of the things that my team is working on is the next version of the workflow designer. In order to help us get real feedback, we engaged with our usability teams to design and execute a usability study. For details on what the test looks like (when we did them 3 years ago for the first version of the WF designer, see this great channel9 video ). The setup is still the same (one way glass mirror, cameras tracking the face, screen, posture of the subject), the only difference is the software, we're busy testing out some new concepts to make workflow development much more productive. At this stage of the lifecycle, we're really experimenting with some different designer metaphors, and a usability test is a great way to get real feedback. One thing I've always tried to do since I came to Microsoft is being sucked into the Redmond bubble. The symptoms of placement inside said bubble are a gradual removal from the reality that everyday developers face. When I came to the company two years ago, I was chock full of great thoughts and ideas from the outside, and much less tolerant of the "well, that's just how it works" defense. Slowly, though, as you start to get deep into thinking about a problem, and tightly focusing on that problem, those concerns start to fade away, as you look to optimize the experience you are providing. Sitting in on the usability labs yesterday was a great reminder to me of how easily one can slip into Read More...
|
-
My team is looking for people interested in building the next generation of the WF designer. We've posted an opening here , please let me know if you're interested. I can't really say too much about what we're building, but it's a great team that's committed to creating a great experience for building, editing, and viewing workflows. Everyone on the team believes in the power of a declarative model of process, and believes that tools are the way that model is consumable by humans. Everyone also believes that we're making it easier to write code and solve problems with software, which makes our mission exciting. From the job posting: Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) is the workflow engine that powers SharePoint, Speech Server, the next major release of BizTalk, and countless customer and partner solutions as part of the .NET Framework. Our team builds the tooling that allows people to rapidly model, execute and debug the execution logic of their applications in a rich, graphical programming environment. The tools we build range from flowchart and process designers, to the visualization and management of complex rule sets. If you’re passionate about enabling the rapid modeling of process, or creating a great user experience building on the power of WPF, check us out. The tools we build will ship inside the next release of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework, and support the “Oslo” effort currently ongoing in Microsoft’s Connected Read More...
|
-
I'm moving on from my role as the technical evangelist for WF, but not too far. I've joined the product team, working as a program manager (PM) for the Connected Tools team. The job of the connected tools team is to provide all of the tools for the technologies inside the Oslo effort, including the WF designer. As such, I'll be focused on the programming model for activity designers to use when they create WF activities. Oslo is interesting, as it represents the first real chance to look at the stuff we did in V1 of WF and think about it and find out ways we can improve on the experience. .NET 3.5 was a very "constrained" release for the WF team, as we had only shipped about 12 months prior, so we were primarily concerned with adding functionality to what we shipped (the WF/WCF integration, for instance). For WF, Oslo will be our first chance to take in a lot of the feedback we have heard (and keep it coming) to move things to the next level. I'm excited to be part of that effort, especially from the designer side of things, as I see a great opportunity to simplify a number of things that a lot of our customers have been doing. It was a tough decision to leave DPE (developer and platform evangelism). The job of a TE is probably one of the closest to geek nirvana one can achieve. It was a bit odd when I was looking into this new position to lead off by saying, "I'm leaving the best job I've had." I didn't Read More...
|
-
This morning at the SOA&BP Conference, we talked about Oslo for the first time. For me, this is a big day, as it marks the point where the rest of the world knows what a lot of people have been and will continue to be working on. Robert Wahbe , the VP of Connected Systems, mentioned in the keynote that Oslo can be best viewed as a series of investments that span a number of release cycles. What does this mean for me, a WF developer (note, these are my interpretations). A vehicle for further investments in WF and WCF. There will be a ton of enhancements in order to enable new scenarios, take the idea of modeling processes in an executable workflow to the next level, and drive performance and functional stuff. Moving WF to the next level, by making it a first class citizen in this modeling world, by making rules and other artifacts get elevated into a way to modeled, managed, deployed and monitored. Getting a chance to look at what people are doing with v1, and what lessons we can learn from it. In Orcas, the stuff that we did was purely additive. This longer release gives us a chance to enhance and improve and address things that we couldn't do in the Orcas timeframe. There's some really exciting work going on here that I'm looking forward to talking about more in the future. Finally, it gives us a better way to tell the WF hosting story, in that we will have a host and way to manage and deploy and execute WF and WCF in an host we will deliver, Read More...
|
|
|
|