MSDN Developer Centers at a Glance

I created a simple map of the MSDN Developer Centers.  I’m doing a quick assessment and evaluation of the Information Architecture across the various Dev Centers.  I exposed the URLs so I could see at a glance, where the Dev Center actually lives.  Before I give my feedback on the Dev Centers, I like to do my homework and walk all of them and compare the site designs, the patterns, the antipatterns, and the user experiences.  

All I really care about is how well they help me know what’s going on with the given technology, and find the most relevant resources, including the product documentation, code samples, how tos, videos, training, etc. as well as what’s going on in the community.  Ideally, a Dev Center helps me understand the story for the technology, how it fits in with other technologies, and what the roadmap is.

Here are the MSDN Developer Centers at a glance …

MSDN Developer Centers at a Glance    

Category	Items
.NET Framework	.NET Framework - http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/
Cloud	Windows Azure - http://msdn.microsoft.com/azure/   SQL Azure - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sqlserver/dataservices   Windows Azure platform AppFabric - http://msdn.microsoft.com/azure/netservices.aspx   Windows Live Services - http://dev.live.com/
Desktop	Windows Client - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windows/   Windows Presentation Foundation - http://www.windowsclient.net/
Data	Data - http://msdn.microsoft.com/data/
Developer Languages	Visual Basic - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/   Visual C# - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vcsharp/   Visual C++ - http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/   F# - http://msdn.microsoft.com/fsharp/
Developer Tools	Expression - http://expression.microsoft.com/   Visual Studio - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/   Visual Studio Express - http://msdn.microsoft.com/express/   Visual Studio LightSwitch - http://msdn.microsoft.com/lightswitch/   Team Foundation Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ff637362.aspx   Extending Visual Studio - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ff718165.aspx   SharePoint Developer Tools - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/ee514561.aspx
Games	DirectX - http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/   XNA - http://msdn.microsoft.com/xna/   Xbox 360 - http://www.xbox.com/en-US/dev/regdev.htm
Mobile	Windows Mobile - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/   Windows Embedded - http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/
Networking	Microsoft Sync Framework - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sync/   Networking Developer Platform - http://msdn.microsoft.com/network/
Office	Office - http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/   Office Development with Visual Studio - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vsto/
Phone	Windows Phone Portal - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsphone/   Windows Phone for Developers - http://developer.windowsphone.com/windows-phone-7/
Server	BizTalk Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/biztalk/   Exchange Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/exchange/   SQL Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sql/   Windows Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsserver/
Web	ASP.NET - http://www.asp.net/ Silverlight - http://www.silverlight.net/    Internet Explorer - http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/   SharePoint - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/ee514561.aspx Windows Live - http://msdn.microsoft.com/live/   IIS.NET - http://www.iis.net/
Architecture	Architecture - http://msdn.microsoft.com/Architecture/   patterns & practices - http://msdn.microsoft.com/practices/
Performance	Parallel Computing - http://msdn.microsoft.com/concurrency/
Process	ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ff625779.aspx   ATeam Foundation Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ff637362.aspx
Security	Security - http://msdn.microsoft.com/security/
Testing	Tester Center - http://msdn.microsoft.com/testing/
General	Dynamics - http://msdn.microsoft.com/Dynamics/   HealthVault - http://msdn.microsoft.com/healthvault/   Microsoft Robotics - http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics/

 

A-Z List of MSDN Developer Center

• .NET Framework - http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/
• ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ff625779.aspx
• Architecture - http://msdn.microsoft.com/Architecture/
• ASP.NET - http://www.asp.net/
• Beginner Developer Learning Center - http://msdn.microsoft.com/beginner/
• BizTalk Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/biztalk/
• DirectX - http://msdn.microsoft.com/directx/
• Data - http://msdn.microsoft.com/data/
• DevLabs Portal - http://msdn.microsoft.com/devlabs/
• Dynamics - http://msdn.microsoft.com/Dynamics/
• Evaluation Center - http://msdn.microsoft.com/evalcenter/
• Exchange Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/exchange/
• Expression - http://expression.microsoft.com/
• Extending Visual Studio - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ff718165.aspx
• F# - http://msdn.microsoft.com/fsharp/
• Go Global - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/default.aspx
• HealthVault - http://msdn.microsoft.com/healthvault/
• Internet Explorer - http://msdn.microsoft.com/ie/
• Microsoft Robotics - http://msdn.microsoft.com/robotics/
• Microsoft Sync Framework - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sync/
• Networking Developer Platform - http://msdn.microsoft.com/network/
• Parallel Computing - http://msdn.microsoft.com/concurrency/
• patterns & practices - http://msdn.microsoft.com/practices/
• Security - http://msdn.microsoft.com/security/
• SharePoint - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/
• SharePoint Developer Tools - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sharepoint/ee514561.aspx
• Silverlight - http://www.silverlight.net/
• Speech Technologies - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/speech/default.aspx
• SQL Azure - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sqlserver/dataservices
• SQL Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/sql/
• Team Foundation Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/ff637362.aspx
• Tester Center - http://msdn.microsoft.com/testing/
• Visual Basic - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vbasic/
• Visual C# - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vcsharp/
• Visual C++ - http://msdn.microsoft.com/visualc/
• Visual FoxPro - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/
• Visual J# - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vjsharp/
• Visual Studio - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/
• Visual Studio Express - http://msdn.microsoft.com/express/
• Visual Studio LightSwitch - http://msdn.microsoft.com/lightswitch/
• Windows Azure - http://msdn.microsoft.com/azure/
• Windows Azure platform AppFabric - http://msdn.microsoft.com/azure/netservices.aspx
• Windows Client - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windows/
• Windows Embedded - http://msdn.microsoft.com/embedded/
• Windows Live Services - http://dev.live.com/
• Windows Mobile - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/
• Windows Performance Analysis - http://msdn.microsoft.com/performance/
• Windows Phone Portal - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsphone/
• Windows Phone Portal for Developers - http://developer.windowsphone.com/windows-phone-7/
• Windows Presentation Foundation - http://www.windowsclient.net/
• Windows Server - http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsserver/
• Xbox 360 - http://www.xbox.com/en-US/dev/regdev.htm
• XNA - http://msdn.microsoft.com/xna/