I was privileged to attend the IDesign WCF Master Class last week. It only comes to the USA one time each year, and is presented by the one and only Juval Lowy. The class is held at the training center on the Microsoft Silicon Valley campus in Mountain View, CA. Five very intense days of WCF covering all aspects of WCF from essentials like the ABCs to the most intricate details about advanced topics like concurrency, security, transactions, and the service bus.

What we’ve been told sold about WCF from Microsoft is truly just the tip of the iceberg. Juval presents countless examples that prove WCF is not just about web services. WCF is the evolution of .NET, providing world-class features that no class should ever be without.

Demos, samples, and labs are presented using .NET 3.5 and 4.0 with an emphasis on the new features and functionality in 4.0. Discovery and announcements are the most underrated and unknown new features of WCF 4.0. After seeing Juval’s demos on discovery and announcement, I can’t imagine creating services without them.

More than all of the WCF content, the class gives you a lot to think about regarding architecture, the framework, and engineering principles. Juval’s mastery of .NET is evident in his ServiceModelEx library that extends almost all aspects of WCF and the service bus. His “one line of code” motto makes it possible for all of us to configure our WCF services with ease. The ServiceModelEx library is a good example for all developers to know and understand how to “do .NET” the right way. It exemplifies the best of what .NET and WCF have to offer.

Check out the IDesign website to get the WCF Resource CD (containing many of the examples and demos from the class). Also note the next class dates and sign up for the IDesign newsletter.

Important, proven, and universally-useful technologies like WCF and Mobile are still not well-known in the development community. Many believe there is another boom, similar to the 1992 Internet boom, on the horizon that will require skilled and knowledgeable developers to engineer the framework and associated connecting systems. Staying tech-current and adapting to our new world is an absolute necessity. Don’t become the COBOL programmer of the future. Knowing these great system-connecting technologies (WCF, Mobile, Cloud, etc.) will quickly become a requirement to compete in the software industry.

Check out the following interview with Richard Campbell (DotNetRocks, RunAs Radio) and Juval Lowy (IDesign) talking about the EnergyNet at the DevConnections conference. The growing hype about alternative energy and the EnergyNet is stunning. Technology has progressed far enough where we can start to tie together disparate systems to benefit producers and consumers alike.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4831440850220717845