Thanks to those of you who attended my sessions at TechEd South Africa 2008. As promised here are the presentation materials I used, so you try out the examples yourself! I’ve created a Code Gallery resource page to host the material, with all the session abstracts, powerpoints, and solutions. That resource page is available here: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/tesalf/

More details on the individual sessions are below. Please click the talk names to view their downloadable materials.

DEV311 – Visual Basic 2008 Tips and Tricks 

Abstract: In this session, learn how to turn yourself into a Visual Basic 2008 guru with the new language and IDE features. Tips and tricks covered include how to maximize your IntelliSense experience, leverage Refactoring features, and improve the performance of your query and XML code. We go deep into integrated XML and show you how to navigate XML gotchas and express what you wish in fewer lines of code. With respect to LINQ, we explore best practices, pitfalls to avoid, and answers to most frequently asked questions.

DEV312 – Best Practices for the VB9.0 and CSharp 3.0 Features that Make LINQ Work 

Abstract: VB 9.0 and C# 3.0 introduce a number of new language features such as anonymous types, lambda expressions, extension methods, local type inference and more. These are all features that can help improve your code; however, they also present new opportunities to make mistakes. This talk explains how to use and how not to use the new features of VB and C#. Each feature will be introduced with a small example, and you should be able to follow even if you’re not already familiar with it. Finally, the talk will culminate by showing how all these features come together in the VB and C# compilers to enable the most powerful language feature in the 2008 release: LINQ!

This talk was adapted from a presentation by Charlie Calvert. To view LINQ content from Charlie, please see his LINQ Farm resource page.

DEV313 – Conquering XML with Visual Basic 9.0 

Abstract: XML is used in most modern applications. Business documents, configuration files, object serialization, SOAP, RSS, and Office Open XML are just a few examples. Even your Visual Studio project files and configuration settings are XML files. However, XML processing currently requires you to learn a new set of concepts, and its text-based format is not easy to deal with programmatically… until now! In Visual Basic 9.0, XML becomes a built-in data type with a rich editing experience that completely eliminates the conceptual barrier between the code that you write and the XML you’re trying to manipulate. In this session you’ll learn how to easily create, query and transform XML with Visual Basic’s powerful yet easy to use syntax. We’ll discuss features like XML IntelliSense, XML literals, embedded expressions and using language constructs instead of a DOM to navigate the XML hierarchy. In addition, we’ll explore tips, tricks, and “gotchas”. Say goodbye to XSLT and hello to Visual Basic 9!

This talk was adapted from a presentation by Beth Massi. To view Beth’s webcast, please click here.

CNT01 – Q&A: .Net, A Multi-Language Platform 

Abstract: Lisa, the Microsoft program manager for Visual Basic’s Editor and Debugger, and Bart de Smet, former Visual C# MVP, will share their thoughts on .NET Languages and give you ample time for questions. Come prepared to chat, to listen, to ask questions, and to laugh.