PHP 7 is out, start developing with PHP 7

This is a major version of PHP in years. PHP 7 has numerous improvements and new features with the new version of ZEND engine.

Importantly the code can be downloaded from here.

For Windows there are versions for IIS as well as APACHE. Find more information and downloads here.
http://windows.php.net/download#php-7.0

Note:
The VC11 builds require to have the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2012 x86 or x64 installed
- The VC14 builds require to have the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 x86 or x64 installed

See what you get if you ue PHP 7.0:

 . PHP 7 is up to twice as fast as PHP 5.6
•Significantly reduced memory usage
•Abstract Syntax Tree
•Consistent 64-bit support
•Improved Exception hierarchy
•Many fatal errors converted to Exceptions
•Secure random number generator
•Removed old and unsupported SAPIs and extensions
•The null coalescing operator (??)
•Return and Scalar Type Declarations
•Anonymous Classes
•Zero cost asserts

The best open source software for you to develop and prosper. It almost looks like a Christmas Gift!

New update to SQL Server Data Tools: July 2014 Update

Latest release of SQL Server Data Tools(SSDT) is now available here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/hh297027

This update is now available for Visual Studio 2012 and 2013

Instead of the above link you can also get it from inside Visual Stuido 2012 via Tools -> Extensions and Updates->Updates.

What's new in this:
Of course more bug fixes and some of the following enhancements:

• Schema Compare update

         Added MSBuild support for Schema Compare with text and XML output.  A blog post is    available with more information.

• Improved Windows Azure SQL Database node in the Server Explorer

        Added Token-based authentication using a Microsoft account (MSA) or organizational account (OrgId)

        Added supported for VS2012

• Improved (Parallel Data Warehouse) PDW support

       PDW tooling is now part of the Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2013 for Windows Desktop SKU.  This requires the VS 2013 Update 2 or later to be installed

      Support for PDW appliance updates in both VS2012 and VS2013

Also read:
http://brianwmitchell.com/2013/11/sql-server-to-pdw-migration-whitepaper/

SSDT for SQL Server 2014 here:
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2014/03/sql-server-data-tools-to-go-with-sql.html

SSDT BI_Templates here:
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2013/10/ssdt-bi-templates-for-sql-server-2012.html

SSDT Web Site:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/data/tools.aspx

 

Roslyn and Visual Studio

Roslyn with the last public preview released in September 2012 is described as, Microsoft's 'compiler as service' project (new language object models for code generation, analysis, and refactoring, and the upcoming support for scripting and interactive use of C# and Visual Basic). It appears Roslyn is being used internally by Microsoft and is in the process of being 'solidified'.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/csharpfaq/archive/2013/12/16/throwing-the-big-switch-on-roslyn-matt-gertz-vs-managed-languages-development-manager.aspx

Rosalyn will create APIs for the compiler which is no longer a blackbox  - the Visual Basic and C# compilers being written in C# instead of C++.

Presently the only version of Visual Studio you can use with 'Roslyn' is Visual Studio 2012. The September 2012 CTP can be downloaded here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34685 - get this file:

RoslynSetup.exe (10.8 MB)

The CTP supports all of the following:

• You can use the VS Project templates to get started with the RoslynAPIs and build new VS Extensions
• Provides assemblies that you can add to your project
• C# interactive window 
• C# Script File Editing Support

This image is an example of interactive C# taken from,
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/roslyn.aspx

Read about script support here:
http://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2011/11/16/the-roslyn-scripting-api.aspx

I look forward to the next update.

Visual Studio 2012 RTM comes with Lightswitch and other enhancements

*VS2012 allows designing and building UIs with Blend
VS2012 RTM has Blend which can be used to build Windows 8 App using:
1. HTML  project type for JavaScript
2. XAML project type supporting code development using C#, VB or C++
VB provides more project options with Blend to create Windows 8 apps.
Designing screens for Window 8 apps is a breeze with Blend support

*Lightswitch is part of VS2012. You can create both HTML5 and Silverlight based apps
  LightSwitch+HTML5 works with any browser.

*Use OData protocol to feed Lightswitch application

For example: You can access the famous Northwind from a ODATA endpoint at
http://services.odata.org/Northwind/Northwind.svc
With any of the authentication methods.

* Ability to create multiple Solution Explorer windows and move them on to connected monitors.

*IDE has grown so much, there is even a search feature to search the IDE for objects

Follow Jeff Cogswell's article + Slide from which this post is generated here:
http://www.eweek.com/developer/slideshows/visual-studio-2012-rtm-comes-chock-full-of-enhancements/