Well, I guess if you complain about something long and hard enough, things happen. Sometimes, things happen that have nothing to do with your complaining, but the coincidental correlation is so strong that your mind draws associations for it (which sometimes leads to fodder for blog posts).
BTW, sorry for not posting much lately; my personal life has gotten rather complicated lately, so I’ve been avoiding the computer after hours.
Anyway, I’ve been struggling for some time now with Visual Studio for Team Systems: Database Edition, particularly in a scrum environment, and it just seems that I’m not making much headway with it. It’s just a foreign model of usage, and I’m still struggling with the tool. It’s kind of like learning to drive a car after driving a golf cart; the basic principles are the same, but there’s a heckuva lot more options.
Anyway, Shawn Wildermuth to my rescue; his company, Agilitrain, is hosting a series of workshops on Agile Database Techniques using Visual Studio 2008 Database Edition; I told my boss about it, and even though training money is pretty tight right now, I got approval to go within minutes (that says a lot about my boss, or it may say something about his opinion of me and the need for training). Anyway, here’s the course description:
Agile Database Techniques
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to properly manage the SQL Server database development lifecycle in an agile environment. The student will learn how to manage changes to the database structure, ensuring quality through T-SQL unit testing, and how to automate the building and deploying of SQL Server databases. Intended for developers and administrators already comfortable with the concepts of designing, programming, testing, and deploying SQL Server databases, this course focuses on using Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition to maximize productivity while minimizing mistakes.
Price: $1995.00 (USD)
Pricing may be different in locations outside the United States
Language(s): English
Length: 3 DaysPre-requisites:
Before attending this course, the student should have experience developing and maintaining SQL Server 2000, 2005, or 2008 databases. It would also be beneficial if the student has worked in a team-based software development project and is familiar with their organization’s Software Development Life Cycle.
I’ve also been notified that Nob Hill Software has released their latest version of Randolph (an automatic versioning software for databases) with full support for TFS. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to install and test it yet (I’ve actually been working on an Analysis Services project; looks like I’m becoming a BI guy), but once I do, I’ll post a review here and at the AtlantaMDF Review site.
