DIY - Make A Kubernetes Cluster with Inexpensive Devices

If you are interested in Kubernetes, containers, and want an actual multi-node cluster you can use for learning, it is kind of fun to build your own by using low-cost devices such as Raspberry Pi and old laptops, plus a few extra bits of hardware.

Join Rockford Lhotka as he talks about how he assembled a multi-node cluster, got 64 bit Ubuntu set up, and installed Kubernetes with microk8s, all for less than the cost of a low-end laptop.

Building Enterprise Blazor Apps Using CSLA .NET

Blazor is one of the most powerful UI technologies available today, allowing you to write apps that run on a web server, or directly on client devices in any modern browser by using WebAssembly.

An enterprise app probably calls back-end services and needs to interact with app servers. Some or all of your business logic may run on the client, the app server, or both. That's ideal for the balance between user interactivity, performance, scalability, and security. The widely-used open source CSLA .NET framework helps you create a reusable, scalable, and cross-platform portable business layer that lets your application run on multiple types of client devices while sharing business logic between the clients and your app server. This session is an end-to-end walkthrough of how this works and how you can benefit.

Learning points:
1. Learn how Blazor can be used to build end-user experiences for the enterprise
2. Learn how CSLA .NET helps you develop maintainable, reusable, cross-platform business logic
3. Learn how to leverage your business logic on the server with Linux containers

Deep Dive: Microsoft Blazor Zero to Success

Blazor is a UI framework that enables you to build powerful web apps using HTML, CSS, and C#. You can host an app on a web server, or run the app on the client device in any modern browser. The Blazor UI framework is very capable, and provides a powerful UI component model, data binding, routing, authorization, and many other features necessary to build a modern app.

Learning points:
1. Learn how Blazor, WebAssembly, and .NET combine to enable this app platform
2. Learn how to build server-side Blazor and Blazor WebAssembly apps
3. Learn how to use Blazor UI framework features such as UI components, data binding, routing, and authorization

Workshop: Microsoft Blazor Top to Bottom

Blazor (Browser + Razor) has redefined the current landscape for web developers, allowing C# and .NET back into the modern web development picture. Leveraging WebAssembly to allow running .NET code in the browser, we can use the same C# language on the client and the server to build our modern web applications. At the core of Blazor is the ability to compose our web application using reusable components just like the modern browser frameworks.

Join experts in Blazor, WebAssembly, and enterprise development as they discuss why and when to use Blazor. They will give you everything you need to know to build Blazor apps, use the Razor component model, data and event binding, styling the UI, and building maintainable code. You will learn about Blazor server, WebAssembly, and MAUI hybrid apps, and how to implement authentication and authorization. WebAssembly and Blazor are incredibly powerful technologies and may be the future of web development. Come to this workshop to form your own view on this exciting platform.

Co-present with Allen Conway and Jason Bock.

Introduction to Blazor

Blazor is a UI framework that enables you to build powerful web apps using HTML, CSS, and C#. You can host an app on a web server or run the app on the client device in any modern browser. The Blazor UI framework is very capable, and provides a powerful UI component model, data binding, routing, authorization, and many other features necessary to build a modern app.

Learning points:
1. Learn how Blazor, WebAssembly, and .NET combine to enable this app platform
2. Learn how to build server-side Blazor and Blazor WebAssembly apps
3. Learn how to use Blazor UI framework features such as UI components, data binding, routing, and authorization

Making Use of Modern Blazor Render Modes

In .NET 8 Blazor introduced new and powerful render modes for components and pages. You can now render content statically on the server or using the Blazor interactive features from the server or on a WebAssembly client. Add to this the ability to stream static content, and automatically switch between these modes, and things are really powerful - but complex.

There are three primary challenges to overcome: render mode detection, state management, and authentication.

In this session you will learn how these new modes work, how to overcome the three challenges, how you can use them to build your sites and apps, and how to deal with potentially unexpected behaviors as your users move from page to page, and from one render mode to another.

Building Blazor Data Entry Forms with AI

One of the most common things developers do in Blazor is to create data entry forms. But did you know that there are multiple ways to design and build forms in Blazor 8? The EditForm component, HTML table or div tags, interactive pages vs server-static pages, and the new AI-driven Smart Components are some of the options at your disposal.

In this session you will learn about these techniques, along with their pros and cons, so you can decide that works best in your apps.

Building Blazor Applications

Blazor is a modern .NET application framework, primarily used to build web applications. Since its release in 2020, it has evolved with new features and capabilities, enabling developers with the ability to produce high-quality applications for their uses. In this workshop, we’ll cover numerous features that Blazor brings to the table. We’ll discuss different hosting models and how you can use them to your advantage. At the end of the workshop, you’ll leave with a comprehensive understanding of the Blazor landscape.

1. Learn how to build web, desktop, and mobile apps with Blazor
2. Learn about authentication and authorization with Blazor
3. Learn how to build apps top to bottom, from the UI to data access, with Blazor and .NET

Blazor Authentication and Authorization

Most web and native apps require some form of authentication to allow users access to the app. And they use authorization to change the app's behavior based on the user's roles and claims.

Learn how to implement Blazor authentication on the server, in WebAssembly, and in a MAUI Hybrid app. Then learn how to use the current user's identity to authorize access to pages, components, and UI elements in your Blazor apps.

Building a Blazor MAUI Hybrid App

Blazor is a powerful web UI framework. .NET MAUI allows you to build native apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS.

Fortunately, these technologies work together, allowing you to create a native app using the features and capabilities of Blazor. This is an incredibly powerful and cost-effective way to build cross-platform native apps, and even potentially reusing the same UI on the web.

Learn how to build a Blazor MAUI Hybrid app that can run natively on multiple types of device and operating system. This includes the use of per-platform APIs, authentication, authorization, and other important concepts.

Workshop: Building Blazor Applications

Blazor is a modern .NET application framework, primarily used to build web applications. Since its release in 2020, it has evolved with new features and capabilities, enabling developers with the ability to produce high-quality applications for their uses. In this workshop, we’ll cover numerous features that Blazor brings to the table. We’ll discuss different hosting models and how you can use them to your advantage. At the end of the workshop, you’ll leave with a comprehensive understanding of the Blazor landscape.

ℹ️ This is a lecture-based workshop, not a hands-on lab

You will learn:

1. How to leverage Blazor on the server, in the browser, and on mobile devices
2. How to effectively use the Blazor UI component model to build maintainable apps
3. How Blazor fits into an overall app architecture, including authentication, authorization, data access, and more

Co-presented with Allen Conway and Jason Bock

Build an AI-enabled Blazor App Using AI

As a developer, it is very powerful to leverage AI as a coding assistant, for code completion, via chat, and using AI as a co-developer. In addition, end users increasing expect AI to help them when using your app.

In this session you will see various ways to use AI to help build a Blazor app that incorporates AI to assist end users, and you can judge for yourself whether AI helps the software development process.

1. Learn how AI can help build Blazor apps.
2. Learn how AI can be used for code completion, chat, and as a co-developer.
3. Learn how to incorporate AI into your Blazor app to help your end users.

Kubernetes: A Great Place to Host .NET Apps

Modern .NET server-side code runs on Linux at least as well as Windows and works great in containers. Kubernetes is the most widely used orchestrator for hosting container-based apps, but it can be quite complex.

In this session you will learn how to build your .NET apps to run in Linux containers, and how to effectively host those containers in Kubernetes.

Once you understand how to host your code in Kubernetes, you are ready to use AKS in Azure, Kubernetes on-prem, or any Kubernetes hosting environment, opening up a wide world for your .NET code.

Learning objectives:
1. Learn how to package your .NET code into a Linux container
2. Learn how to host your containers in Kubernetes
3. Learn how to access other services in your Kubernetes cluster from your .NET code

No Silver Bullet: Use the Right Architecture for the Right Problem

Although monolithic architectures are making a comeback, the best way to build distributed software solutions is through the use of service-based architectures. These include microservices, dedicated n-tier services, and related architectural models widely used when building comprehensive solutions. In this session you will learn when to implement a system using microservices, and when to use dedicated services. You will also learn when to use sync vs async communication between system components, and the importance of discipline around messaging protocols within your system and with external consumers.

You will learn

1. How microservices fits into the history of distributed computing
2. When to use a well-architected monolith vs services
3. When to use n-tier services, microservices, and other architectures

A Career With Open Source

Open source (OSS) is inescapable in our industry today, and we are all part of the ecosystem one way or another. We all have a responsibility, as organizations and individuals, to understand our role in the ecosystem, and to actively engage to ensure OSS continues to be available into the future.

Learn how you and your organization can support the OSS ecosystem, what OSS many OSS projects need, and ways to help keep our industry vibrant and healthy into the future.

Rockford Lhotka relied on freeware, shareware, and OSS to build his career, and then became an OSS creator, with the CSLA project (https://cslanet.com) being active for more than 25 years.