Random Technology Ramblings

Cross posted from my work blog, this will likely be the only cross post so if you want to see what I am up to at work check it out Woody’s DevExpress Blog. I will keep blogging here as well just nor work related stuff.

Let’s face it… It’s still what we all start off when we’re writing something new, beginning a cyber-adventure, charting new territory… (language, platform or environment) so, that is how I am going to start my first blog here at DevExpress.

First, introductions… My name is Woody Pewitt and I’m excited to say I joined DevExpress last week! I have known DevExpress as well as some of the team for years but did not realize that they were based just up the coast from Sunny San Diego. When I heard that Steve Andrews had started with the company, it sparked my interest and once I knew they were based in Glendale and looked at some of their tools I emailed Mark Miller and asked if there were any opportunities at DevExpress. After a few long phone calls, researching the company more online, getting to some friends that knew of the company and a trip up to Glendale I joined the DevExpress team! w00t!

My role at DevExpress is as a Technical Evangelist covering Analytics for DevExpress. Just one problem… I didn’t know any of the DevExpress products! As an Evangelist at Microsoft, I did not feel comfortable using any third-party tools or components. ..I can’t believe what I was missing! Have you seen what they have ?? (ok I guess most of you have) but seriously, this stuff is crazy good! Yep, I’m really excited. As a geek, that’s a feat usually saved for creating amazing lines of code as well as finding a great BBQ place.

First thing I did when I started (ok about a week before I started) was to install Code Rush in to Visual Studio 2010. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about Code Rush and I can now stay I can’t see myself ever coding in Visual Studio without it! I have several large code bases that I work on and I have not noticed any performance impact, even on my wimpy personal laptop. I am enjoying the rich code visualizations and am starting to play with all the templates, there is soooo much to dig into!

Next, I began reading about the controls, starting with the Version History pages. Wow, I can’t believe the pace of innovation, functionality and quality that DevExpress has accomplished. While I was in the office last week I was shown the correct way to submit demo code and it seemed a little strange until they explained why… ready for it? The demo code gets integrated into the build process… [wait.. what did he just say?] yep, you read that correctly, if I want to post anything more than a blog post snip-it, I have to have it pass a few build cycles and it says to test for regressions. Wow, that just blew me away! Then, I began going over some of the demo code and was impressed at how well written it was. I can see how DevExpress can write good components and not look back, just keep moving forward. Awesome.

I had the opportunity to attend the Silicon Valley Code Camp last weekend, where I spoke to some of our customers directly for the first time. Their enthusiasm for our products was a big conformation to me that I had made the right decision joining DevExpress. While at the event, I let Mehul Harry talk me into doing two of my favorite code camp talks as webinars in the next few weeks. The two topics are on Getting Things Done (GTD) and Mobile Web Best Practices. See Mehul’s post New Webinars – GTD and Mobile Web Best Practices with Woody Pewitt for all the details I hope you can make it to them!

Last week Mehul also got me to do an interview with him for the DevExpress Channel you can see that interview check it out Say Hello to Woody Pewitt.

I am currently working on the new features and functions of the next volume for the Pivot table, look for posts from me soon discussing them. I would like to find out how our customers are currently using the Pivot table and gather feedback so if you have an application that you can share the details of, please contact me, I’d love to hear from you.

Woody Pewitt
woodyp@devexpress.com
twitter: @woodyp

Tags: Devexpress