documentation and release schedule ?

 

We agree that documentation is a crucial part of the product ... and that v.5.0.0.0 documentation dedicated to Silverlight 3 is less than it should ... and will be.

 

Please note my emphasis on the verb, "dedicated". We have over 400 pages of written documentation and a load of tutorials that cover use of DevForce in application development for all client platforms. I encourage you and others to avail yourself of the Developers Guide, videos, code samples, and the tutorials for WinClient ... because most of the guidance is the same for Silverlight.

 

Meanwhile, we are re-casting much of this material for the Silverlight-specific developer and the fruits of that labor - which never ends - should be apparent in our May release.

 

As you observed, Silverlight 3 is new ... and not even released product yet; Microsoft won't even grant a "Go Live" license yet. No one could claim deep experience in Silverlight application development. We are developing more sample code (see also the Model Explorer) ... but we should think of these as examples of "emerging recommendations" rather than "proven best practices".

 

You wrote: "I also have not seen anything close to the release schedule stated in your post"

 

To be clear, we are exactly on the schedule announced on our web site.; that schedule (and that page) have not changed. We said we'd release RC2 in May ... and we will release it (99% confidence) on May 6th.

 

We drop intermediate builds between scheduled releases if we have a defect that can't wait (e.g., 5.0.0.1). We do not do nightly drops. In general, we have a new release about every six weeks ... and have maintained that pace for the last eight years.

 

I do regret the phrasing in the post above that seems to suggest there would be more frequent drops. What we were trying to say is that it is worth receiving the newsletter and watching this space for announcements about regular and exceptional releases.

 

We are eager to answer your questions and hear your feedback; we invite you to keep posting on the forum and to contact us directly at info@ideablade.com as well.

I have paid for the early adopter version of the software, and to be honest, would expect the documentation to include more than four pages regarding the silverlight product. I also have not seen anything close to the release schedule stated in your post.

 

 

I realize documenting your product at this early stage is difficult due to the early stage of the Silverlight 3 product.

 

I just wonder if I am missing the link to the dev or nightly builds.

 

Thanks,

Dan