TechEd/PDC goodness

I've had a lot of people asking me how TechEd was and it's the first year that I didn't come back going wow over some new piece of Microsoft technology. It's not that there wasn't some cool stuff presented up there, but most of it was stuff that I had seen before either online, or at a local user group...but it was still definitely worth the trip.
The sessions that impressed me the most were:

• The Systems.Transactions session - the new transactions framework looks really interesting and definitely something I will be looking more into shortly
• VSTO 2005 - I've done some playing with the current version and while the potential is there to write some good solutions the new version looks way more powerful and useful
• Indigo

In the last few days a lot of people have been blogging about PDC and even though I wasn't there I'm definitely getting pretty excited about some of the stuff that is getting announced.
I've done a lot of Sharepoint development over the last couple of years and basically the current product has a few really annoying gaps which it sounds like they have fixed them in the next version.
For example the simple fact that if you don't have permission to do an action you won't see it. They have also added a bunch of great features which I am keen to check out like item level security, workflow and RSS integration. Check out this site for some more features.

The other product I'm keen to get my hands on is Infopath Server. Lately I've been involved in a couple of Infopath projects and eventually the client always seems to ask so what do I do if user x doesn't have infopath installed. It will be good to have a proper answer for this one.

Masters of System Development - Done

Got the official letter in the mail late last week that confirmed I have completed all the requirements for my Masters of Systems Development (.Net MCSD stream) at Charles Sturt.
I don't get to graduate until next year, but it's great to know that all the work is officially done.
All up it has only taken me 12 months to complete the degree thanks to getting a bunch of credits for already having an MCSD in C# but it certainly feels like it pretty much took up every weekend of that year doing assignment work or study.

It's funny cos I remember when I finished my initial degree in computer science back in mid 99 at Monash Clayton, at the time I swore I would never go back to uni so the question is what made me go back.

I guess the big difference is how relevant the content of this degree is. To be honest most of the stuff that I studied back in uni has been good background knowledge but I haven't really used it at work.....Although I guess you never know when some lisp or assembler will come in useful ;)

Basically everything I have studied in the Masters has been relevant to what I do now and importantly it was all fairly up to date with current Microsoft technology. There has been a few subjects like Ethics which I admittedly struggled to get motivated in, but on reflection I can see why they are in there. Not only do they require a wider look at some of the issues that come up in the field of IT but it also requires students to get better at writing content which is understandable to the normal non-technical audience. As you move up the ladder in a organization this is definitely something that would come in useful.

The second thing is that it is all online. At various times when a project hit's crisis point I tend to work some pretty irregular hours, so the only way I can do this kind of study is if I can manage when in the week I do it. It still required a fair bit of careful scheduling and a few late nights but all up it was pretty flexible.

The final thing is that when I completed my MCSD it really didn't feel like a huge validation of technical skill. I guess the main reason with all multiple choice you didn't have to write any actual code. The difference with the Masters is you have to complete a real project with a group of other developers to get through. Also it covers a much wider group of skills.

I still don't think I would recommend people doing their MCSD though the uni (unless they were struggling with it and needed the extra help) but if your looking for a good qualification that goes a bit further than an MCSD I definitely recommend it.