VSX: Adding Value with Blueprints

The special topics track started on Day 2 with too-modest-to-introduce-himself and Michael Lehman who dove into the deep end with "software factories" and that domain's cute vocabulary (e.g., "unfolding a blueprint").

As near as I can tell, a Blueprint, once defined, is like a hands on lab, providing starter code ("templates") and an automated checklist ("guidance"), but not wizards or validators.

Positioned as moving beyond DSL tools, Blueprints are the next logical version of Guidance Automation Toolkit (GAT) / Guidance Automation Extensions (GAX) [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa905334.aspx], and builds on the experiences in Glidepath [http://projectglidepath.net/blog/default.aspx] and Software plus Services (S+S) Blueprints [http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/softwareplusservicesblueprints/].

You can see the previous version of Blueprints in action as a developer uses a blueprint to build an Outlook add in: http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/MichaelLehman/Microsoft-Software--Services-Blueprints-Walkthrough/

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Project/Download/FileDownload.aspx?ProjectName=vsxconf&DownloadId=3176