Thoughts on Visual Studio LightSwitch after Presenting at the Pittsburgh .NET Users Group

Last week, I gave a LightSwitch 101 session to a group of experienced developers at the Pittsburgh .NET users group. This is the third such session I have given (also presented at the Hampton Roads .NET User Group and DevConnections) and the feedback has been very interesting. Before I go on, let me explain my perspective. I am not a developer, but I know LightSwitch very well. In fact, I am in the middle of writing, LightSwitch in Action, a beginner's book. Because of this, I am able to present the concepts, architecture, and workflow behind LightSwitch without the influence of being a coder (LightSwitch's workflow is a different way of thinking). My observations from all three events is very similar:

• People aren’t aware that LightSwitch is based on modern standards such as MVVM, the Entity Framework, and OData. When they learn this, they start listening.
• After seeing a basic walkthrough, people instantly get ideas about how they can take advantage of LightSwitch to speed up development of business applications.
• Developers are normally surprised about the ease of customization. In other words, LightSwitch gives you many ways to add your own code whether it is a simple method or full-blown custom control.
• When people learn that an HTML5 client designed for mobile devices is coming (already available via CTP), they see that LightSwitch can be a great vehicle for bringing corporate data to the tablet or smartphone.
• LightSwitch’s Screen Designer looks strange, but when people learn about it, they realize it is a unique and powerful way to create interfaces.

Even if you are a professional developer who can code in your sleep. Give LightSwitch a look. It just might help you solve some problems you are facing. I will likely be doing more introductory sessions, so watch our schedule. If you think a LightSwitch session would fit in your event, please let me know.