XPages Workshop Impressions from Bangkok

The XPages workshop proved to be very popular. About 30 participants showed up to get their take on web2.0 development with Domino Designer 8.5. Impressions from earlier workshops got confirmed:

• Everybody loves XPages
• Developer with a background in web development grasp XPages faster than classical Notes developers
• Exercise 17 is the most difficult one, but everybody can complete it
• The XPages outline (in the default Domino Designer perspective on the lower left) is a huge time saver navigating your XPage
• Having the ability to inspect the source code can accelerate trouble shooting tremendously
• A modal window to enter code is a nuisance

For business partners the workshop run as "bring your own laptop". To my surprise quite a number had Windows ME 2009 Edition Vista on their machines and quite some trouble getting the local preview of Domino designer to work. This is a known problem that plagued others too but has been solved one way or another. Just keep in mind: Never ever install a data directory inside the place where programs go (I think we need to adjust our installer defaults) and be clear what runs/blocks Port 80. Look out for Skype (can be switched off in the settings), Firewalls, Webservers etc.