Dean Guida on the Future of .NET Components - Episode 154

Joining Jeffrey this week is the CEO and founder of Infragistics, Dean Guida! Infragistics is the world leader in user interface development tools and experts in User-Centered Design; empowering you to build and style immersive user experiences and rich data visualization in line with business applications across all platforms.   Dean Guida shares his insights on the future of .NET components; lessons he has learned having run a software company for over 30 years; his top recommendations when it comes to managing software teams, DevOps toolchains, preparing for the release of .NET 6, server-side vs. Web Assembly, what .NET developers should be doing today for full system testing, and more! He also gives advice to aspiring entrepreneurial software engineers, an overview of Infragistics’ tools, and what to be looking out for as a software developer today.   Topics of Discussion: [:14] About The Azure DevOps Podcast, Clear Measure, and Jeffrey’s offer to speak at virtual user groups. [1:24] Jeffrey is looking to hire an apprentice! If you, or anyone you know, loves to code and wants to pursue software engineering, apply today! [2:13] Be sure to check out the new video podcast, Architect Tips. [2:17] About today’s episode with Dean Guida. [2:25] Jeffrey welcomes Dean to the show. [2:33] What got Dean into software development, the journey of his career, and how he came to create his company, Infragistics. [5:01] How many engineers do they have on staff at Infragistics? [5:09] Dean’s insights on managing software teams. [6:08] Dean’s perspective on cutting the scope vs. shifting the date. [7:25] Dean’s DevOps toolchain of choice. [8:25] Dean’s opinion on the adoption of GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines, and Team City. [9:28] Dean’s vision for the .NET 6 release and his team’s strategy regarding it. [12:57] Dean’s recommended path for the teams where developers are asked to lay things out and do not have a designer. [14:00] Do most developers just need applications that are completely unique or should they be attaching themselves to certain UI framework and worrying about customization less? [15:58] Why Blazor is going to work so much better with .NET 6 than it has with .NET 5? [16:30] Dean’s take on server-side and Web Assembly. [17:22] A word from Azure DevOps Podcast’s sponsor: Clear Measure. [17:53] What would it take for web applications developers to make Blazor their framework of choice? [19:22] What should .NET developers be doing today for full system testing when they need to go top-down, through the user interface? [22:00] Dean’s vision for the intersection of Digital Workforce and application developers. [26:12] The tech stack behind Slingshot that puts it ahead of .NET 6 and MAUI. [27:28] Is MAUI going to have a huge refactoring or are there gaps in MAUI that Slingshot can fill? [29:08] About the current public preview of Slingshot on Infragistics of components for MAUI. [29:28] Dean’s take on whether developers will begin to create C# smartphone apps on .NET 6 if they haven’t before? [30:40] Having run a software company for over 30 years, Dean shares some of the important lessons he has learned and gives advice to aspiring software engineers. [33:09] Jeffrey thanks Dean for joining the podcast!   Mentioned in this Episode: Architect Tips — New video podcast! Azure DevOps Clear Measure (Sponsor) .NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer's Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo — Available on Amazon! bit.ly/dotnetdevopsebook — Click here to download the .NET DevOps for Azure ebook! Jeffrey Palermo’s Youtube Jeffrey Palermo’s Twitter — Follow to stay informed about future events! Infragistics Dean Guida’s LinkedIn GitHub Actions Azure Pipelines TeamCity Slingshot Reveal Indigo.Design | Infragistics App Builder | Infragistics .NET 6 Blazor Digital Workforce .NET MAUI Xamarin Uno Platform WinUI Universal Windows Platform (UWP)   Want to Learn More? Visit AzureDevOps.Show for show notes and additional episodes.