Microsoft Communities’ Developer Day event

Microsoft Sri Lanka recently hosted “The Sri Lanka .NET Forum Developer Day-DevDay 2007” – which brought together developers, students, technology enthusiasts, etc from various sectors.

The DevDay 2007, held at Mount Lavinia Hotel recently, saw a turnout of over 500, according to a company statement. “The much awaited enthusiasts were elated by the new developments and innovations of Microsoft and were very interested in holding hands with the software giant to garner more mileage in terms of technical expertise and guidance,” the statement said.

The agenda included four technical presentations on some of the latest and greatest technologies from Microsoft, and an ‘Ask the Experts’ session which gave the opportunity to the audience to closely discuss technical issues with industry experts, and a networking dinner which helped to build close relationships among the tech geeks in the community.

Technical presentations included an overview about the new line of developer products coming out in the near future, an informative session into Windows Presentation Foundation which demonstrated new aspects on enhancing the user interface of windows application, a session on Language Integrated Query (LINQ) and finally about Silverlight which is going to revolutionize the way we develop and experience websites.

Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Country Manager, Microsoft Sri Lanka said, "User groups are independently run volunteer groups that meet on a regular basis to discuss and share information on a variety of technology topics surrounding Microsoft products and technologies.

Joining a user group is an excellent, inexpensive way to meet with your peers and to educate yourself to get more out of the latest Microsoft platforms, products, technologies and resources.”

Microsoft technical communities in Sri Lanka have established themselves as a key hub for industry professionals and students, whereby they can learn and develop their knowledge of the latest technologies in the world. The user base of registered members in Sri Lanka currently exceeds 3500 and the number keeps growing rapidly each day. Wellington Perera, Developer Evangelist – Microsoft Sri Lanka who works closely with the communities says, "Over the past couple of years, the technical communities have enabled Microsoft to identify some world class skilled individuals from Sri Lanka.

These individuals have been awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals - MVP title in recognition of their contribution to build the technical communities, and they have made us proud by excelling on the global arena. I work closely with three technical communities in Sri Lanka which primarily talk about Microsoft tools and technologies.”shows speaker Chua Wen Ching (MVP - C#) from Malaysia and the audience.