Language Support:
Straight out of the gate Azure allows you to leverage the power of C# and VB, and there is no reason why the other .Net savvy languages can’t join the party too. Look forward to IronPython, F# and Iron Ruby being a consideration in the not too distant future. Meanwhile GAE only gives Python as an option and further language support is not on the roadmap. .Net services is being designed from the ground up as language agnostic with Java & Ruby SDKs being readily available http://jdotnetservices.com/ http://www.dotnetservicesruby.com/
Result: SUPER BODY SLAM BY AZURE!!

Application Types
Azure offers two different kinds of application model; Web Roles and Worker Roles. Both can be utilised in your Azure applications. Web roles are your typical request/response HTTP paradigm similar to GAE’s request based model. More interesting is the Worker role that adds processing and logic that does not need to be triggered via a web request. Think Windows Service and you are on the right track. This gives you the ability to run background tasks and opens up a whole raft of application possibilities that GAE just cant offer right now. Looking at the roadmap, it’s not going to arrive any time soon either. There’s no chance of chron-like capability or long running processes with GAE.
Result: CHOKE HOLD BY AZURE!

Scalability
Microsoft Azure is as yet unproven in this area but there are plenty of indicators around the web that GAE would not hold up against traffic of a serious or sustained nature. Concerns with CPU and storage limitations, caching, database immutability plus one way in and out ( via the Google API ). App Engine’s 1MB file limit would seriously hinder the kind of audio-heavy enterprise applications we write at Qire. Of course we will have to wait and see how Azure stacks up in this regard, so it’s pretty impossible to compare both technologies at this time.
Result: Break!

Storage
Azure offers a few different storage options including Table Storage that leverages the killer ADO.NET Data Services Framework to get the job done. Add to this the more familiar SQL Data Services platform and you have more than enough flexibility to achieve all you need. GAE follows the ‘one big table’ approach and there is nothing wrong with that but the range of storage options provided by Azure gives it more of an edge.
Result: Knockout!

It’s plain to me that the Microsoft offering is way more advanced than anything else out there, an opinion that is echoed on many GAE forums and messageboards too.

Via Steve Clayton:

Monday, October 27 3:30pm – 5:30pm
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Tuesday, October 28 3:30pm – 5:30pm
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Now that the main objectives have been met, we have a little time to add a few nice bells and whistles to add that little sprinkling of fairy dust that makes good software better. So what could be nicer than cracking open Silverlight 2 and knocking together some cool data visualisation tools.

The first is a big client network monitor display that is going to deployed on a enormous plasma screen stuck to the wall to give the whole company visibility of any issues that our A-List clients have while using the application. We can pre-empt any problems and offer a greater level of service by offering clients help before they even ask for it. Pretty snazzy. Check the video below ( starring Katy, who is captured here between moments of moaning about the cold and making a brew. Plus you get a quick tour of my desktop art gallery.

Silverlight 2 Client Network Monitor from jon on Vimeo.

The second little control is a call visualisation control that will be embedded in Qore to show call details and narrative in a much more interactive fashion. I’ll edit and post the video later as Vimeo is playing up right now.

So that’s it, a little demonstration of what we are making in Silverlight 2; controls to help our clients and improve business processes, hopefully giving you the idea is useful for more than just trivial applications.

So to begin, create a new ASP.NET website, Add New item, and then choose ADO.NET Entity Data Model. Name it EntityModel.edmx and click Add to create a new model.

The Entity Data Model Wizard will pop up and give you a chance to configure your new model. For the purposes of this walk through, choose Generate from database and click Next.

Set up your data connection, I won’t go into this as it’s simple enough to figure out if you’ve never done it before. Click the checkbox to save entity connection settings into your web.config and name it MyEntities.

The wizard will then tootle off and retrieve the names of all the tables, views and stored procedures in your database. Choose a table ( I’ve chosen a table from my DB called ‘Log’ ) and name the Model Namespace MyModel.

Click Finish and the designer for your model will open. As a side note have a look at the Model Browser on the right hand side – it looks a bit ‘rendered’ for want of a better description, as though it’s drawn via GDI+ compared to the Solution Explorer….strange!

Now add a new web page and go into the code behind to start the real work. It’s just a simple bit of code to CRUD the Log entities in my database.

// instantiate a new Log entity
MyModel.Log log = new MyModel.Log();

// populate it’s properties
log.Date = DateTime.Now;
log.Exception = “Test Exception”;
log.Level = “Test Level”;
log.Logger = “Test Logger”;
log.Message = “Test Message”;
log.Thread = “Test Thread”;

//instantiate the entity ‘context’ – the object used
//as a ‘gateway’ to the DB
MyModel.MyEntities entities = new MyModel.MyEntities();

// Save the new log entity to the DB
entities.AddToLog(log);
entities.SaveChanges();

// Load it back via a little LINQ query
// ( funny how you must use .First instead of .Single )
MyModel.Log loadedLog = entities.Log .Where(ent => ent.Level == “Test Level”).First();

// make a change and save it back to the DB
loadedLog.Message = “Message has changed!”;
entities.SaveChanges();

// Finally delete the object from the DB
entities.DeleteObject(loadedLog);
entities.SaveChanges();

Notice how you have to call .SaveChanges() to persist back to the DB. That’s it! A super fast run through of CRUD with the ADO.NET Entity Framework! Enjoy!

From the official Microsoft blurb: To build software that meets your security objectives, you must integrate security activities into your software development lifecycle. This handbook captures and summarises the key security engineering activities that should be an integral part of your software development processes.
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Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise
Jonswain’s Weblog
paulpierce.co.uk
ts0
MJJames – Web Developer
Reflective Perspective
Paul Kinlan

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So only one exam to go until I am MCPD and it seems to be the easiest exam of the set, so I am not going to revise at all and just take my chances on the day. I am planning to take it this time next week and will update here on my progress.