Category Archives: Announcements

General company announcements.

New course: Android for .NET Developers Series: Getting Started

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Jim Wilson has published the first course of five in the Android for .NET Developer Series, Getting Started.

This Getting Started course provides an overview of the tools used in the Android development process including the newly released Android Studio. The course provides step-by-step coverage of the tools installation process, their setup, and the respective roles of each.

The series is designed for experienced .NET developers who are looking to begin developeing applications on android using Java and the Android SDK.  You don’t need to have any knowledge of Java or the Android Platform. However, Jim created the series based on the idea that you have a fundamental understanding of programming concepts. The reason being, as often as possible he draws parallels and analogies between Android and .NET to help with your learning process. Those parallels are/will be drawn between Visual Studio equivalent features. In those cases where the Android tools have no Visual Studio equivalent, the reason for the tool’s need in the Android space will be discussed. He’s planned to take you through the following phases (subject to change):

  • Phase 1: Provide familiarity with the tools and workflow of Android app development
  • Phase 2: Translate existing developer skills from .NET to those of Android
  • Phase 3: Develop an understanding of the function and behavior of Android
  • Phase 4: Fully embrace the features and development style of Android

Click here to go directly to the course and get started. Stay tuned for the rest of the courses in this series. I hope you enjoy this course and have a fantastic weekend; to those in the USA have a great Memorial Day weekend!

New course: Designing Windows 8 Apps

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Jason Roberts has just published his 1st course: Designing Windows 8 Apps

A little about the author:

He is a Microsoft certified Journeyman Software Developer with over 12 years experience. He is the author of the book Keeping Software Soft (KeepingSoftwareSoft.com) and writes at his blog DontCodeTired.com. He is an open source contributor and the creator of FeatureToggle, InAppPurchaseToggle and MoqaLate. Jason has also created both Windows Phone and Windows 8 Store apps. He holds a Bachelor of Science in computing and is an amateur music producer and landscape photographer. Keep watching for more of his courses, he’s already working on his next one!

Now, about the course:

“It can be daunting when you want to create a new app. First you need some ideas, then, you need to choose the best one. Once you’ve done that, how do you decide what features to put in version one? This course leads you through this process and onwards into actually designing the navigation experience, user interface, and integrating your app into the Windows 8 experience.” – Jason Roberts

Go directly to the TOC to check out this course. Please post questions and comments on the course discussion forum or on twitter (@pluralsight @robertsjason @megbruss), and let us know how integrating your app works out. I’d love to hear about your experience.

 

New course: AngularJS Fundamentals

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Jim Cooper and Joe Eames have just published a new course: AngularJS Fundamentals

In this course you will learn how simple it is to use AngularJS to create maintainable and testable single page applications.

You will learn how to:

  • Bootstrap your AngularJS application
  • Use AngularJS markup and expressions
  • Create and use controllers
  • Use built-in services and create custom services
  • Turn your application into a SPA using routing
  • Create your own custom elements and handle events using directives.
  • You will also learn how AngularJS allows you to do all thing using test-driven-development.

Both Jim and Joe have been creating courses over the past few years, click on their names to learn more about them and the courses they offer.  You can also check out their blogs (Jim, Joe). Get started on this course by clicking here to go directly to the TOC. I hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend!

New course: Creating Acceptance Tests with FitNesse

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Another new course from John Sonmez: Creating Acceptance Tests with FitNesse

Creating acceptance tests can be difficult in software development, because often a developer has to translate business requirements into coded tests. Many times some of what needs to be tested and how it needs to be tested gets lost in the translation. Wouldn’t it be easier if the business person or QA person could just create the test cases themselves and still have them automated? FitNesse is a great testing framework that allows you to do just that. Using FitNesse, a developer creates test fixtures that allow non-technical people to write tests just by modifying a Wiki page.

In this course John walks you through the steps to get set up and running with FitNesse. He’ll show you how to use the older Fit style of creating test and the newer Slim style and we’ll cover both Java and .NET, since FitNesse can work with either platform. FitNesse itself happens to be a Wiki, so it is also an excellent tool for documenting a system and the tests that go with it in a format that changes with the system. So if you’ve been thinking about learning about an acceptance test framework, or you’ve been wanted to learn FitNesse, but have always thought it had a steep learning curve, this course will help you to get started quickly and understand how FitNesse works.

Check out the TOC, and possibly get started on this course before the weekend. Please let us know what you think on twitter or on the discussion forums. I hope you enjoy the course!

New course: Making Java and C# Work Together: JVM and .NET CLR Interop

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John Sonmez has just published a new course: Making Java and C# Work Together: JVM and .NET CLR Interop

Are you plagued by the problem of trying to get some Java and C# code to work together? Do you have constant battles between the .NET side and the Java side, because of the competition between the two? Perhaps you just have to work in both environments and wish there was a way to reuse some of your code from Java in .NET or .NET code in Java?

This course will give you solutions to help with all of those problems. In this course you’ll take a look at how you can make your Java and .NET code talk by utilizing 3 different technologies. First, you’ll use IKVM.NET to convert Java directly to .NET, which will allow you to use Java libraries in your .NET applications and even write Java applications in .NET. Then, you’ll use JNBridgePro to bridge directly between .NET and Java and allow you to communicate between .NET and Java applications while still running each in their own environment. Finally, John introduces you to RabbitMQ for creating a message based service that allows for not only Java and .NET to interoperate, but also any other language that can send messages to RabbitMQ.

So, if you’ve been considering rewrite a Java application as a .NET application or a .NET application as a Java application, but have been thinking there has to be a better way, this course might be just what you are looking for. Or if you are in an environment where both Java and .NET are used, but seldom talk to each other, this course can help you to learn about tools you can use to get both sides talking, letting you walk away a hero. Click here to go directly to the TOC. Keep watching… I have another course coming in just a few…

 

 

New course: Continuous Testing with NCrunch

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Erik Dietrich has just published his 1st course: Continuous Testing with NCrunch

Continuous testing is a practice that dramatically improves efficiency of unit testing and test driven development. This course provides background on continuous testing and explores the use of a tool called NCrunch to increase development efficiency, provide code coverage information and generally improve the unit testing process. Included are a deep-dive into NCrunch and a TDD demonstration.

We are thrilled to have Erik as our newest published author. He is a software architect, team leader and technologist that enjoys working with a wide variety of programming languages, frameworks and tools. You’ll note after checking out his blog, he is an active blogger with extensive experience teaching and demonstrating software development techniques. Erik is always up for any conversation about technology. Erik’s recent experience has focused on the .NET framework, though over the years he has worked with C++, Java, and a number of other languages. His projects range from low-level driver and kernel module programming all the way up to user interface design and the types of applications run the gamut from home automation to rigorous code analysis to line of business applications. Outside of the software industry, Erik has a wide range of interests including, but not limited to, mathematics, literature, history, philosophy, sciences, home improvement, gardening, cooking, and seeing the world. Keep watching for more courses from Erik.

Click here to go directly to the TOC and start learning. Don’t forget to let us know what you think on twitter (@pluralsight @daedtech @megbruss) or the discussion forums. I hope you enjoy this course!

New Android player released to the Google Play store today: v1.1.151

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This new release includes a modern look and features you’ve asked for:

  • Easier to use on tablets
  • Recently watched courses at your fingertips
  • Easy to find newly published courses
  • Plus members can now queue entire courses for download
  • All orientations supported on all form factors
  • Improved stability

Android player on the Google Play store – v1.1.151

Please if you like the app, take a moment and leave a rating and a review on the Google Play store. Thanks!

Playing a courseFull screen mode

Introducing our Learning Portal for Kids

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Technology has become so ingrained in our lives that many children today don’t know life without it. Whether it’s a mobile device, a computer, a gaming console, or a smart TV, our children use some form of modern technology every single day. And while our children might be experts in using technology, they’re primarily using it only for consumption. So why not build on their expertise, and teach them how to create what they consume, or better yet, show them what it takes to make the technologies they’re using?

We’ve been talking a lot about how we’ve used our courses to introduce kids to programming in our local schools, and how important it is for children to learn to program. Our belief is that all schools should offer computer programming courses as standard parts of their curriculum, however, this is not yet a reality. In the meantime, while we’re working on making this a reality, parents can give their kids a head start.

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New course: Ruby on Rails – A Jumpstart for .NET Developers

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Dustin Davis has just published: Ruby on Rails – A Jumpstart for .NET Developers

This course is for .NET developers who want to try out Ruby on Rails without investing a significant amount of time into learning both Ruby and the Rails framework. In this course, we walk through what Ruby and Rails are, how they compare to .NET languages like C# and VB. After a brief introduction to the Ruby language, we jump into building a Rails application and customizing it. Go directly to the TOC and get started on this one!

Dustin also has more courses in the library, click here to check them out and to read more about his background. I’ll sound like a broken record but I’ll say it anyway ;) … please let us know what you think about this one on the course forum. Your feedback helps us improve, we appreciate it.

 

 

New course: The Essentials of COM

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Kenny Kerr’s latest Pluralsight course is now available: The Essentials of COM

This is the first in a series of courses exploring the essentials of COM and the Windows Runtime. In this first course, you are going to learn everything you need to know to use COM confidently and effectively. This course explores the history of COM. You will learn about how C++ shaped the design of COM. You will learn the essentials of compilation and linking, fundamental to the idea of dynamically linking applications and components together. By the end of this course you will have a thorough understanding of COM’s IUnknown interface, how and why it works the way it does, how to implement it, how to use it, and how to wrap it up in a safe and efficient manner with modern C++ libraries.

Click here to get started on this course. Kenny has more and more courses in the works, keep watching for them! As usual, we would love to get your feedback. Please let us know what you think in the course forum. I hope you enjoy the course!