Alvin Ashcraft
Alvin is a technical writer and software developer specializing in Microsoft technologies, specifically .NET, C#, and XAML. He has over 30 years of experience developing applications for Windows, mobile, and the web. He has authored two books for Packt Publishing and is a full-time content developer on the Windows developer docs on Microsoft Learn. His published books are "Learn WinUI 3" and "Parallel Programming and Concurrency with C# 10 and .NET 6".
Proposals - Montreal 2026
Choosing a framework for your native Windows apps in 2026
If you want to build a native Windows app, you might be overwhelmed by the number of UI frameworks available. How do you choose the best one for your project & skills? How do you compare the features, benefits & drawbacks of each framework? How do you ensure your app is modern & scalable? We'll discuss how to choose between: WPF WinUI WinForms .NET MAUI UWP Uno Platform Blazor Hybrid We'll explore demos of each in action too!
Create multi-platform apps w/ .NET MAUI & the MAUI Toolkit
Start your cross-platform app development journey w/ C# & .NET MAUI. .NET devs can build apps for iOS, Android, macOS & Windows with a single codebase. In this session, we'll explore multiple techniques to create apps quickly with .NET MAUI: - Build apps w/ XAML, C#, VS & VS Code - Use controls, extensions & more in the MAUI Community Toolkit - Integrate the MVVM Toolkit - Create MAUI apps w/o XAML - Access device-specific features
Learn, Share & Grow: Become a Microsoft Learn Contributor
Do you want to be part of one of the largest open-source projects in the world and help millions of learners achieve their goals? Do you want to learn how the Skilling teams at Microsoft are creating relevant and up-to-date content on Microsoft Learn? If so, then this session is for you! In this session, you will learn how to use GitHub to contribute to the Microsoft Learn docs through issues and PRs.
Build intelligent apps with WinUI, Phi Silica and Windows AI
Windows AI Foundry is the platform for AI development on Windows. The Windows AI APIs are a set of AI APIs in the Windows App SDK that enable powerful, local AI capabilities in your Windows apps. In this session, we'll explore the new AI features in Windows and how to integrate them into a WinUI or WPF application using C# & .NET. We'll explore: - Phi Silica local model - Text Recognition APIs - Imaging APIs - Windows Recall
