Reading Notes #711

This week’s collection covers everything from streamlined Azure deployment techniques to the practical realities of local versus cloud AI models. I have also gathered several helpful resources for .NET developers and some thoughts on maintaining sharp mental habits in an increasingly automated world.

Cloud

• A simpler way to deploy ZIP packages to Azure App Service from the Azure portal - Perfect for quick simple one shot deployment

AI

• No, local models will not win (sean goedecke) - I agree that local models won't replace cloud ones, but disagree and think local models usage will grow. Not only for niche operations but also for simple tasks.

• v1.2: /wait-what, /writing-for-agents, Claude Code Plugin, and more (Matt Pocock) - Cool update on some skills and new ones. Worth your time!

• AI Governance Is a Developer Experience Problem (Karan Verma) - Part 3 of a series; this post continues to share reasons why it's important to isolate our agent to gain freedom.

• Why the GitHub Copilot app became my daily driver (AJ Bajada) - When the app came out, I was pulled to it that much. Now that I have multiple accounts, and often run multiple sessions... This post shares features I did know GH app had...I have to give it a try

• How to keep thinking (Sam Basu) - Brain push-ups have always been important. But with the bad habits that AI "forces" us to use, it's more than ever.

Programming

• Building Bookmark Studio: bookmarks that belong to the codebase (Mads Kristensen) - Interesting tools! I can see how it can be useful for ourselves but also as a team.

• Multi-Language Support for Cross-Platform .NET (Sam Basu) - Very impressive work from Uno. It looks like they thought of everything.

• Announcing v2.0 of the official MCP C# SDK (Jeff Handley) - This post shares important changes in the new release compared to the previous one; it's stateless.

DevOps

• Docker snapshot tags aren't as static as I thought (Bart Wullems) - There is always something else to learn about containers, nice ha-ah moment.

Open Source

• Am I neglecting my open source projects? (Zach Leat­herman) - Oh! I like that dashboard. I'm both scared and envious to have something like that.

~frank

Reading Notes #710

This week’s collection highlights several key advancements in Azure performance, the nuances of orchestrating multiple AI agents, and critical updates to NuGet security. These pieces offer practical insights for anyone looking to streamline their development workflow while maintaining a more secure infrastructure.

Cloud

• Azure Service Bus: Count your filters (Daniel Marbach) - Great deep post about performance. The architecture and number of filters can and will greatly affect the performance.

AI

• How I Work With 5 Coding Agents Simultaneously (Michael Shpilt) - Getting to multiple agents simultaneously is harder than we think. This post shares a few ideas that could help.

• Why your AI agent likes em-dashes and long sentences (Keith W. Boone) - I'm sure you want to know too, right?

• From generated code to trusted code with a unit-test agent - .NET Blog (Amaury Levé) - A very interesting skill to add to our toolbox.

• Why Empty Sandboxes Break Developer Experience (Oleg Selajev) - That's exactly what I was looking for! It will be much safer than a container.

DevOps

• Strengthening NuGet Supply Chain Security: Reducing API Key Lifetime - .NET Blog - Security first. It's a good evolution for NuGet. I don't publish packages these days but if you do, this is your cue for the upgrade.

~frank

Reading Notes #709

This week’s notes focus heavily on the practicalities of building reliable AI agents, specifically looking at how we manage their memory and governance. I have also included a few notable wins in Azure storage performance and some honest reflections on where our industry is heading next.

AI

• AI Governance: Runtime Enforcement, Not Runtime Advice (Karan Verma) - I'm impressed by our journey of using AI. Not long ago, we barely trusted it, and now it's running independently, and we think more about limiting what it can do. Nice second post o to a series.

• Computer use: How AI agents can automate almost anything | Red Hat Developer - Learn more about the different options that Red Hat AI offers and how they integrate with everything you may already have.

• Native Agent Memory for Microsoft Agent Framework, Powered by Azure Cosmos DB - Azure Cosmos DB Blog (Theo van Kraay) - That seems pretty cool! Attaching a serverless NoSQL database to our agent to get super memory.

• Squad 0.11.0: portable teams and a harder release train · Brady Gaster (Brady Gaster) - I have used Squad from the beginning, and it's great to see it evolving. Thank you for this update post! I wish the release notes (of all projects) were that clear sometimes.

• I've Spent 25 Years in Tech. The AI Gap That Worries Me Most Isn't the One You're Thinking About (Fabrice Lacroix) - Great reflection on AI for our business. Are we ready?

Cloud

• Faster blob copying in Azure Blob Storage (Mark Heath) - Some may think it's trivial, but when you hit big numbers, the way you copy makes a huge difference.
  

Sharing my Reading Notes is a habit I started a long time ago, where I share a list of all the articles, blog posts, and books that catch my interest during the week. 

 ~frank