After the good news for OpenForce US for this year (see this post) I am very pleased to have been selected to present at OpenForce EU as well. These sessions will be:
Advanced Module Development in DNN
When developing DNN modules for a single installation you do not have much to worry about. The production environment is very controlled and you can develop on a copy of it. All this changes when you begin development for a wider audience. In this session we examine issues and some dos and don’ts when developing modules for DNN installations ‘in the wild’. Specifically we look at DLL hell, the build process, isolation, and packaging/distribution. Next to this we will also list a number of common caveats in DNN module programming and how to keep your code lean and maintainable.
Extension Software Protection in DNN
DotNetNuke is the premier Open Source web development platform on the Win Stack. In part this is due to its huge appeal to .net developers and in part to its liberal license. The latter encourages commercial development on top of the framework. And many have done this. But many of us are not developing Open Source extensions. Rather we're following the traditional closed source route. Even DotNetNuke Pro now also includes closed source bits.
One of the inevitable challenges for a commercial closed source module developer is how to adequately protect oneself against unlicensed, uncontrolled distribution of the work. In this presentation I will look at how Bring2mind has addressed this using an activation mechanism for modules. We will look at asymmetric encryption, digital signing and the support DNN offers for module licensing.
These sessions have in common that they take the perspective of the ‘generic’ module developer, i.e. the one that sells a common solution on the web just like I do with Document Exchange. Over the years I have noticed that the airwaves are filled with training and help for the custom solution developer. Very useful and interesting stuff but often the ‘good practice’ there does not translate well to our business. Over the years I have built up close relations with a number of fellow developers and when I discussed this with them, they confirm this sentiment. So hence this year I will be taking the floor to illuminate some issues that I feel are particular to our business and how I have tackled these. I hope you’ll find this interesting enough to book your ticket to Amsterdam (incidentally the party capital of Europe) and this event.
OpenForce 2009 European Edition takes place on October 19 and 20th in Arnhem, The Netherlands. Book your entrance here.