http://borcon2004.blogspot.com/ BorCon 2004 closing session Session is started with digest of the moment from opening session. Then it is followed by introduction dance by dancing group which we saw sunday. Dale and David thanks support team, advisory board, speakers, TeamB and people who blog during conference. "Thank you" word to a sponsors Then after some information discussion for BorCon attendees, John presents a new features of BDN web-site: new format (ASP.Net, Diamondback... some section are already moved some might moved as it go), new EventCentral. Dale and David again point to a presentation of new Delphi 2005 version and encourage to go and evaluate product (D2005 preview), prepare yourself for official release. Again Dale point at effort of Borland to go hand-by-hand with developers into a new era of Software Development and being with Borland all these years. Then it is a time for Borland bucks drawing for prizes. Dale mentioned accident happened in past when Borland bucks did fell, almost, on gim and missed by inch. ;o) My friend won one!!!! Congratulation. Again some people was shot. Then prizes again... BorCon 2004 officially is closed. PS. I will continue with this blog to give you more details on sessions I did attend. posted by Serge at 2:44 PM | 0 comments Delphi 2005 sneak preview You wasn't be able to attend BorCon, but you want to see some info about upcoming Delphi 2005 (yes, it is now Delphi 2005, I think Borland link say it all) check here http://info.borland.com/media/shockwave/delphi2005/d2005sneak.html posted by Serge at 9:45 AM | 0 comments Borland campus photo - link http://homepages.borland.com/aohlsson/BorlandCampus.html posted by Serge at 9:43 AM | 1 comments Tuesday, September 14, 2004 First news in a news Read what public sources are saying about BorCon eWeek -http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1645650,00.asp posted by Serge at 4:52 PM | 0 comments RemObjects at BorCon Alessandro Federici had BOF session today about RemObjects Framework and Chrome. Borland wasn't be able to manage to put his name on BC Update flyer for some reason but people did come and able to see in action an elegant solution provided by RemObjects for Delphi developers. Visit www.remobjects.com and see this great library. As a second part of presentation we saw Chrome Chrome is RemObjects' Next Generation Object Pascal language for the .NET and Mono Platforms. While implementing a language that stays true to the beauty and elegance of Object Pascal, Chrome adds useful design elements from other languages such as C#, Java and Eiffel, and it introduces its own language innovations. Use Chrome to write fully managed native .NET applications for the Microsoft .NET Framework, the Compact Framework or the Mono Platform, and develop your applications inside the well known Visual Studio .NET IDE I really would like to see evolution of this product. If you are open for changes in Object Pascal language then it will worth to look at it. Alessandro and team is introducing a new language which is similar to OP (about 80%) but added few extensions to it (aside from one related to .Net framework). For now it is just language (no designer), but you can code in it for .Net. And... it compiles and run!!!! And it is in Visual Studio, it consumes it, so all features of VS.Net available for developers. Using Pascal language for last 15 years, I really looking forward what this project became over time. Great staf. posted by Serge at 2:46 PM | 0 comments Night drink I finally saw Nick at DB preview, congrats again on Spirit of the Borland award. Very,very,very well deserved. I hope it will not affect Nick's attitude in newsgroup ;o) Has a nice chat with folks from AQA, Alessandro and others!!! Great to see "in flesh" people I know from newsgroup for years. I was quite worn out after day of sessions. Sorry not much posts here. I will try to catch up with my sessions post later today or tommorow. posted by Serge at 8:18 AM | 0 comments Monday, September 13, 2004 DiamondBack preview - tonight session I do not want to compite with Nick Check his blog... But I would say - congratiulations to him for getting "Spirit of the Borland" award And small word for Kylix community by Borland - "Kylix community project" See for more information - Kylix alive and has a future Also, DiamondBack installs !!! ;o) It includes almost everything for BDS (you never know what will make in final release) It has C#, D32, D.net posted by Serge at 8:24 PM | 0 comments BorCon Blog list I've decided to republish a list of blogs and put it in separate post, so there it is (in alphabetical order) Chuck Hutchings - http://www.chuckscorner.com/ - pictures Craig Stuntz - http://blogs.teamb.com/craigstuntz Dave Nottage - http://blogs.teamb.com/davenottage/category/138.aspx Dr. Bob's - http://www.drbob42.com/borcon Jim McKeeth - http://www.bsdg.org/ Joe White - http://excastle.com/blog/ Marco Cantu - http://www.marcocantu.com/ Nick's blog - http://www.lemanix.com/nick/ Paul Gustavson - http://www.simventions.com/gustavson/ Robert Love - http://peakxml.com/ Serge Dosyukov - http://borcon2004.blogspot.com/ Wayne Niddery - http://blogs.teamb.com/wayneniddery posted by Serge at 5:47 PM | 0 comments Monday's morning keynote session David I have continued a yesterday Dale’s music line and joined Taiko group (Taiko? Read this http://www.taiko.com/rollingthunder.html). Drums - Great wake up call for us. Boz Elloy holding a keynote session about Borland vision of software delivery optimization (http://info.borland.com/conf2004/keynotes.html). After short introduction he passed it to a Borland team to talk about SDO in action. As a sample project iPet.com #2 is shown. CaliberRM in a team planning and development... Nice phone conversations between team members in a mean time. Next step was to address requirement changes to a development team (automatically via CRM notification) to JBuilder X team into UML diagram which then posted into StarTeam Repository (integrated into IDE)... passed to next member of development team (notification and distribution)... two clicks and we have a code created which then passed to QA team which by time Mike come to QA department they already notified and almost done their job... and only need to change status of the request to go to deployment... and... done... version #2 defined, implented and deployed... And then come to Boz with next presentation about Borland vision for software development ... Borland saying - it is time to step forward from just development to a fully managed process from definition, design, implementation to QA and delivery... "getting good": decrease cost of the project, decreasing a time of the project, making project successful and delivered at time... Borland answer to development problems - Software Delivery Optimization. I am not very fast in typing, so I let other guys to give more details on each aspect in of SDO by Borland... Check blog list for more details. For example, Nick has very detailed blog about a presentation here http://www.lemanix.com/nick/. Then there were some comments from Borland team about how Borland strategy IS working within Borland software development cycle. Borland is going to make it available for Delphi developers next year. Borland plan to change a way how products are packaged and distributed: product line will be more segmented and target specific needs of development teams instead just having Pro/Ent/Arch versions. New projects were announced which address different part of development cycle: Prometheus - ERP for software delivery Hyperion - visibility and predictability Themis - team-work infrastructure We will see them integrated in current environment one by one during next few years. As a main next stage of evolution of Borland platform for 8 months - resource and project management, process automation and optimization (this segments are part of first two project). Next exciting news was announcment of the new versions of products JBuilder 2005 StarTeam 2005 Caliber 2005 Note. Borland finally decided to go with year based versioning As a closing point of the presentation we saw one of features of upcomming DiamondBack - NUnit based testing And then, just in case if someone fall asleep during presentation, we had a Taiko team with David I again. posted by Serge at 9:17 AM | 2 comments BorCon 2004 is opened - short BorCon is opened. Some people was shoot during a presentation. Just joking ;o) Great presentation, many people, big party after, casino, good music by great band, Dale Fuller played some music for us and through some gifts to us. Read more in Robert's log here or Nick's here. Check others logs from a blog list, you will find more. posted by Serge at 1:19 AM | 0 comments Tutorial Sessions - day 2 Delphi Tips and Techniques by Brian Long Foundations of Service-Oriented Architectures by Kenneth Faw Session #1: Many of us start a day with session which became classic of BorCon – Delphi Tips and Techniques by Brian Long. I think everybody enjoyed Brian’s British accent. ;o) As usual we see some nice ways to add homey touch to your Delphi IDE (such as make visible some hidden menus, make your hints nice and colorful, some undocumented registry keys and more. Because during a session Brian used DiamondBack attendee were be able to feel a new flavor of new Delphi version, see new features and language extensions. Session #2: My big “thank you” to Kenneth Faw, Pillar Technology Group, one of the favor presenters during BorCon (6 sessions). He did talk about SOA (Service-Oriented Architectures), not a web-service aspects of it (many of us see SOA from this perspective only), but as a full architecture for enterprise applications (remember CORBA?). Even it wasn’t many people during a presentation, I think it was GREAT. My opinion, Kenneth should have this session presented during regular tracks and for bigger auditoria. As soon as people go to enterprise market they start to make (in many cases) same mistakes, over and over… Going through major aspects of SOA architecture, Kenneth included many real life samples of building enterprise application in .Net and Java environment. building SOA detailed list of benefits do you have legacy system component - look at SOA architecture defining SOA architecture for your applications use of web-services in your SOA good and bad practices of implementing enterprise application If you miss a session, talk with Kenneth, you will find what you can get many good ideas. It might lead to a consulting contract with Pillar TG... or might be not... ;o) Anyway, it was gooood. posted by Serge at 1:10 AM | 0 comments Saturday, September 11, 2004 Tutorial Sessions - day 1 - extended and corrected From a variety of sessions I’ve choose two: Microsoft .net Framework Security by Steve Teixeira XML in Microsoft .Net Framework by Robert Love Bellow is a little about first I think it was a great session. Yes, there is not enough time to cover .Net security in 4 hours, but Steve did great presentation. He covered main aspects of incorporating security context into your application. Next topics were included: set a security for your application code -at design time assemblies security settings – signing, security certificates, … cryptography in your applications security in ASP.Net applications ASP.Net authorization What is good about all such sessions, it gives you an idea where to look and what to expect. It gives you a starting point from which you can elaborate and come with a solution you need. Note You might be surprised, but you will see a lot of Diamondback (Delphi 9) or Delphi 8 during a sessions which are in any way related to .Net and require some code samples. Almost all demos are done within them – you can see C# or ASP.Net code, Delphi.Win32 or Delphi.Net. I think this is showing a big effort of Borland in promoting a new version of Delphi or Delphi in general. I will encourage you to look at these products today and as soon as it (Delphi 9) will be available for evaluation. Second session by Robert. Great session! Tutorial provided a basic coverage of main elements on how XML is used throughout MS .Net Framework. All samples was done using Delphi for .Net (Delphi 2005 or Delphi 9.0, I really do not know what it will be at the end, I like 2005 better). Robert cover main aspects of use of XML from application: reading and writing from/in XML document, validation, and transformation. What I personally found handy – it is how any Delphi class can be easily serialized via XML by using XMLSerializer. It is easy and fully customizable. Great addition for Delphi component streaming. posted by Serge at 2:39 PM | 0 comments Registration Ok, there we go ... First day - preconference sessions My alarm clock died today, so I was just in time for the first session. We was late last night so I wasn't be able to register so I did it today... Every attendee received usual backpack with T-short - navy blue with ALM elements model at front - very nice, I personally do not like white style, so this one is perfect. Backpack also comes with BorCon 2004 program booklet, set of CD (ASP.Net resource kit, MS Windows XP SP2 and Tablet PC Developer Start CD), Delphi Informant Magazine and ASP.Net Pro Magazine issues, and some adv info. I like a t-short and backpack, they will be a good addition to my BorCon collection. It is not related to a registration but just to get you some info how everything is arranged – there is a wireless coverage during the conference, you can use it everywhere around the building (if you have a signal ;o)) Also there is a computer lab available for people who does not have air signal and regular LAN connection can be used. Note. I will try to write down everything what I see, but as you can imagine it is impossible to cover everything, so bellow is a list of other people’s blog, please read and enjoy: posted by Serge at 2:01 PM | 0 comments Friday, September 03, 2004 Be a guest... Borland offers guest passes. I did use this option last year, it was great. I was able to visit exhibitors buffs, keynote presentations. Also I was able to use computer lab and get PostConference CD Information for this year conference: Guest Passes will give you access to the following areas: Keynotes Monday, September 13 8:00AM - 9:45AM Join Boz Elloy, Borland Senior Vice President of Software Products, at this session for a presentation of Borland's continued innovation and to learn how the right approach unites business, development and operations teams, and roles to transform the black-art of software by applying focus, precision, and control to maximize the business value of software. Monday, September 13 11:30AM - 12:30PM Rick LaPlante, General Manager of the Visual Studio Team System from Microsoft Corporation will explore "Productivity and Predictability of the Software Development Lifecycle". Tuesday, September 14 11:00AM - 12:00PM Onno Kluyt, Director, JCP Initiative, and Jini Program, JCP Chairperson from Sun Microsystems will discuss "Communities, Network Computing, and Java Technology". Exhibit Hall Your guest pass will also enable you to explore the exhibit hall where you will have the opportunity to see new products in person, question exhibitors about services, and meet vendors face-to-face. Exhibit Hall Guest Hours: Sunday, September 12: 12:00PM - 5:45PM Monday, September 13: 12:00PM - 2:30PM Tuesday, September 14: 11:00AM - 2:30PM and 4:00 - 6:30 Wednesday, September 15: 10:30AM - 2:00PM Please register for your keynote/exhibit hall guest pass by September 8, 2004. Pre-registration is required and a limited number of passes will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. You will receive a confirmation to bring to the convention center. Passes do not include access to conference sessions, meals, or special events. You can still get something for $140 - Evening meals and events only and $285 - All meals and events. For detailed information about keynotes, the exhibit hall, and to register for your guest pass, visit http://borcon.borland.com/scripts/BorConGuests.exe/ For complete conference information, visit http://info.borland.com/conf2004 posted by Serge at 1:21 PM | 0 comments Wednesday, September 01, 2004 BorCon and accommodation When you do not live near a location for the conference it is usual question – where to stay during 3-5 days while attending conference. From BorCon 2004 website here we can find information about City of San Jose, driving directions and link to BorCon’s online reservation form for the hotel room. What we have here? Fairmont Hotel San Jose $145 San Jose Marriott $140 Hilton San Jose $139 Crowne Plaza Hotel $105 Nice hotels… but what if you think it is not price you are looking for… Can you get 3 stars hotel for half or even 1/3 of the price? Yes, you can! There is a list of on-line hotel reservation services available for travelers (list is not complete, it is just "my preference" list). http://www.priceline.com/ http://www.hotwire.com/ http://www.hotels.com/ If you do not have high established preference about exact location and level of service I would try next scenario: Go to Hotwire and find information about hotels in an area. We usually looking for 2 stars hotels, and in this case it will be Downtown San Jose area. If you have a car you can also consider Sunnyvale. Information found will give you an idea about highest bid you can go for on the next step Visit this link http://www.biddingfortravel.com/ and see what people are saying about hotels in an area and what they paid for the hotels. This is your “lowest” price. Now use PriceLine and try to place a bid for the hotel. Beware of PriceLine policy for bidding – you cannot bid again within the same area, hotel level and contact information for the next 24 hours if your bid didn’t win. So it is better if it will be not a last day before conference. You range is - from prices in step 2 to the prices in step 1. Also, start with one area (SJD 3* 1st bid) then add another area (SJD SV 3* 1st bid). If you didn’t win wait for 1 day or use your friend contact info and try again with 5-10$ increment. This is a basic technique. Worked for me in 90% of the cases. Again, if you prefer not to gamble, standard BorCon reservation form is for you. posted by Serge at 8:37 AM | 0 comments Thursday, August 19, 2004 Borland's Corporate Roadmap... inside info It is not per-se related to BorCon, but... Something very exciting going on lately at Borland. There is information available for public about what actually happened behind Borland’s doors. Some comments about Corporate Roadmap meeting (Aug, 16-18 2004) By Danny Thorpe, a Borland Chief Scientist - link By Allen Bauer, a Borland Principal Architect - link And some more Borland's SOA Push -- JBuilder 2005 and Beyond by Vance McCarthy - link posted by Serge at 2:06 PM | 0 comments