It’s that time of the year again! DevConnections 2012 is right around the corner and we have a lot of great new workshops and sessions planned for the ASP.NET and Client-Dev (HTML5, Windows 8 Metro, JavaScript, jQuery, etc.) tracks.

The keynote at DevConnections will be given by the one and only Scott Guthrie who’s always up to something cool and is a lot of fun to listen to.

Several other great speakers will be at the conference as well. Here’s a quick sampling:

• John Papa (awesome presenter and a close personal friend of mine)
• Scott Hanselman (everyone’s favorite speaker/comedian)
• Stephen Walther  (one of the smartest people I’ve met and a great guy)
• Richard Campbell (super fun guy who’s a blast to listen/talk to on .NET Rocks)
• Mads Kristensen (of Visual Studio plugin fame)

And of course there are many more! Sessions are only part of a conference experience. Yeah there are the parties too … but the real value is in the hallway conversations and the people you meet and continue to talk to beyond the conference event. DevConnections is a great place to strike up these conversations as its one of the largest gatherings of super experts in our industry … and they are all very approachable. There will also be a panel discussions with many of us, which is a great chance to put us on the spot.

…Thanks to John for letting me hijack that last paragraph along with the pictures he put on his blog. I thought he nailed what DevConnections is all about in just a few sentences.

I’ll be co-presenting a full day jQuery workshop with John on Monday, March 26th. We really enjoy co-presenting and have a lot of great jQuery topics to discuss. You do have to register for the workshops so make sure to do that when you register for the conference.

Workshop

APR02: Building Ajax-Enabled Applications with jQuery (9:00AM - 4:00PM)
Add'l Fee $399.00
John Papa & Dan Wahlin

Building cross-browser AJAX applications can be a fun yet challenging proposition. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to put the joy back into AJAX development using the jQuery script library. Learn how jQuery selectors can reduce code and simplify the process of finding DOM elements, how chaining can be used to accomplish multiple tasks with a single line of code and how cross-browser AJAX calls can be made using built-in jQuery functionality. Other topics covered include using client-side templates as well as built-in plugins. If you’ve wanted to learn jQuery but haven’t made the time, this is the workshop for you since we’ll take you from the ground floor all the way to the top.

Sessions

I’m also presenting or co-presenting 4 other sessions. If you’ll be at the conference please stop by and introduce yourself.

CWI202: Fundamentals of Windows 8 HTML/JavaScript Metro Style Apps
Dan Wahlin

Heard the buzz about Windows 8 Metro style applications but don’t know where to start? In this session, you’ll learn how your existing HTML, JavaScript, and CSS skills can be used to build Windows 8 Metro applications. Learn about different Visual Studio 11 project templates, built-in scripts, and Windows Runtime (WinRT) calls that you can make to build robust applications that will be capable of targeting millions of Windows users on the desktop and on tablets in the near future.

CHT201: Developing an HTML5/jQuery Application - End to End
Dan Wahlin

HTML5 is all the rage these days but where do you look to find robust examples of using it along with jQuery, jQuery templates, Ajax calls, data access technologies, and more? In this session, Dan Wahlin will walk through an application called Account at a Glance that demonstrates how key HTML5 technologies can be integrated and used to present data to users in different ways. Topics covered include exposing data to the client using Entity Framework Code First and RESTful services, using jQuery templates to render data, JavaScript techniques for structuring code, the role of HTML5 semantic tags, as well as how technologies such as the canvas, SVG, and video can be used. If you want to learn HTML5 techniques and strategies from a real app, then this session is for you.

CJS301: Techniques, Strategies, and Patterns for Structuring JavaScript Code
John Papa & Dan Wahlin

Are you writing a lot of JavaScript code and trying to apply good practices to make it more maintainable and flexible? In this session, learn about common practices to make avoid problems such as polluting the global namespace and code that executes inconsistently, by using patterns such as separation and the Revealing Module Pattern. You will leave this session with several tips on how to write clean, more maintainable, and consistent code.

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If you can’t make the conference make sure to check out my new Structuring JavaScript Code course at Pluralsight.com. If you’re still writing “function spaghetti code” I’ll show you several techniques/patterns that will really improve the re-use and maintainability of your code.Good stuff to know if you’re building Web applications.

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CJS202: Templating and Data Binding for HTML5 Applications with JsRender and JsViews
John Papa & Dan Wahlin

Interested in using the latest JavaScript libraries for templating and data binding your HTML5 app? In this session you will learn how to simplify JavaScript development using JsRender and JsViews (the replacements for jQuery templates). Learn how JsRender brings a new templating library to HTML5 development that has a code-less tag syntax, high performance, no dependency on jQuery nor a DOM, supports creating custom functions, and uses pure string-based rendering. You will also see how JsViews compliments JsRender by providing data binding features through observability of changes that work with plain old JavaScript objects (POJO).