I spoke at DevTeach Toronto 2008 a few weeks ago. Here are the two talks I gave with links to download my slides. Enjoy.
Talk #1: Customizing the Team System Web Test Framework (slides)
At first glance, the Web Tests in Visual Studio Team System might not seem very powerful or interesting but the web test framework can actually do a lot – it just takes a little customization.
In this session, Ben will show you how to create custom Validation Rules, Extraction Rules, and Web Test Plugins. Then he’ll show you how to create data-driven Web Tests so that the data sources are under version control along with the test. (It’s harder than you think.) Then finally, Ben will show you how to tie it all together and make it run as part of your Team Build.
Talk #2: Object-Relational Mapping in the Microsoft World (slides)
It’s coming. Some developers have pushed back against it for a long time and called it the domain of hacks and crazy people but it’s coming. Object-Relational Mapping – also known as ORM – has been viewed with passionate skepticism for years but with the LINQ to SQL and Entity Framework, Microsoft has started to publicly endorse this data access technique.
In this talk, Ben will compare three of the major ORM solutions: LINQ to SQL, Entity Framework, and NHibernate. He’ll show their strong and weak points, and discuss how you should incorporate them in your n-tier software architecture. Along the way, Ben will show you how ORMs can help you to manage database schemas and why that actually makes unit testing easier plus demonstrate how to do some basic tasks like row auditing. When we’re done, you’ll have a good handle on ORM in the Microsoft world and hopefully agree that ORM is not just for hacks and crazy people.
Leave a Reply