Search results for 'app:weblogs' matching tags 'Workflow' and 'PDC'

Windows Workflow Foundation futures and database access

Maurice — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 06:00:00 GMT

Ron Jacobs showed a number of really cool new workflow features we can be expecting in the next version of Windows Workflow Foundation during the last PDC in Redmond and Tech-Ed Europe in Berlin. One of the new features he demonstrated where the activities we can use to load data from a SQL server database into our workflow. Most of the new features are really cool but the database activities are not.

Why don’t I like the new database activities

With the new ExecuteSqlQuery<T> we are back to typing in a literal SQL string to be executed on the server and the related connection string directly into a workflow. Not only does this feel like stepping 5 years back in time, back to plain ADO.NET, it also means that we get no compile time checking or IntelliSense whatsoever. Given that a workflow should be a high level concept this seems pretty harsh.

These days most .NET developers have gotten used to, and expect, the power and beauty or LINQ with the related IntelliSense and compile time checking. The fact that we can’t do so in a workflow but have to revert back to basic ADO.NET as it was released with .NET 1.0 nearly 10 years ago feels bad.

What I do like

There are some good parts though. The fact that it uses plain old ADO.NET means it can use the asynchronous model of calling the database, something still very much missing from the Entity Framework today. Another benefit is we can use any ADO.NET provider out there. So no problems reading data from Access or Oracle here.

Conclusion

While the async IO and ADO.NET provider model are nice they don’t make up for the big step backwards by not giving us LINQ, IntelliSense and compile time validation of our queries. So I am afraid I have to give this a thumbs down [:(].

Enjoy

www.TheProblemSolver.nl
Wiki.WindowsWorkflowFoundation.eu

Fun at the PDC

Maurice — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The PDC wasn't all hard work, we sure had some fun too .

As always there where a number of product group dinners. This year the C#, VB and F# product groups joined up and had a dinner together. I am at the right bottom, check Anders sitting at the left back end of the table. Lots of other team members and MVP's where there and we had a great time!

The party this year was at Universal Studio which is always a nice place to go to. Before we went there was another product group dinner to attend and afterward I drove with Beth and Alan to Universal Studio.

Last time Beth was in the Netherlands for the SDC I drove her around and this time she got to drive me around. The drive over was fun and fast, Beth drives like the Italian in her and this was with her "slow" car as she also has a tuned Subaru. This is Beth getting chased by a zombie.

Some of the creatures in Universal Studio where really creepy and well done.

www.TheProblemSolver.nl
Wiki.WindowsWorkflowFoundation.eu

PDC session download

Maurice — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Want to download and watch all PDC content? Then there are a couple of ways to get at them. The official way if to go through the session agenda at the conference site. See https://sessions.microsoftpdc.com/public/timeline.aspx. You see all sessions but it takes a bit of work. Another nice way is through Channel 9 by using the following feed: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/pdc2008/RSS/?tag=videos.

But the best as far as I am concerned is using the list compiled by Greg Duncan. Check this list http://coolthingoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/10/pdc2008-quick-video-link-list.html. And it even has the Visual Basic source code used to generate the list

Enjoy the videos!