About...

I am a software architect in the .NET Developer Platform group within the Developer Division at Microsoft. I have recently completed 10 years at Microsoft, and have focused on the Web platform during these years. Specifically, that means I have worked on ASP.NET and .NET (since their inception around 1999 when the team was once called XSP and then subsequently ASP+ before being renamed to what it is known as today), Visual Studio and Visual Studio Web Developer as well as on IIS7. I am largely responsible for the overall Web Forms architecture and feature areas (aka server controls, aka page framework) within ASP.NET as well as several of the controls you find (and hopefully use) on the toolbox. I'm a huge fan of componentization and extensibility and a believer of the ecosystem and community around the platform. Hopefully that explains the buddy image that I've added for a touch of humor on the right (the gear represents components btw). In the recent couple of years, I led the creation and addition of the ASP.NET Ajax framework formerly known as Atlas, as well as the creation of the Silverlight technology and cross-platform managed programming model for the browser. It has been simply great to see the re-birth of the web as the application platform, and it has been a blast to have been involved and a part of the technology that enables using this platform.

I started my Microsoft career in the Visual InterDev team (yes, I worked on things like Design Time Controls, which really didn't go anywhere, but in some sense were precursors to server controls, as well as on things like Remote Scripting, which I guess was ahead of its time in '98, and has now made a come back under the guise of Ajax). I am also passionate about development tools, and frameworks - I guess that stems from the fact that I am just as much a consumer of these things, as much as I am involved in their creation.

I have invariably kept myself busy with side projects along the way that have served as means for continued education, fun and inspiration. My current projects include: Script# - a C# compiler that compiles C# code into JavaScript, Facebook.NET - an asp.net toolkit for creating Facebook applications and Web Development Helper - an IE plugin that provides a set of useful utilities for Ajax and asp.net developers. The projects section of my site provide more information on each project, as well as links for you to download the latest releases. In the past, I've worked on Web Matrix (a managed IDE for Web Forms development that started out as a night project, and eventually became an inspiration for Visual Web Developer), and secondly, the definitive book on authoring server controls: Developing Microsoft ASP.NET Server Controls and Components. 

Before joining Microsoft, I did my undergraduate in Information and Computer Science at University of California, Irvine. I am originally from India.

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I started blogging around May 2003. As you'd expect, the blog runs on ASP.NET and IIS6. It runs on a custom home-grown blogging engine. All of the content is pretty much completely held in a SQL database. The goal was to develop something small and focused, and allow me to play and get some first hand experience with developing and maintaining an end-to-end Web application. This has proven invaluable.

If you have suggestions for topics to blog about, do not hesitate. Simply drop me a note using my contact form.

Most of the content you'll find on this site will be pretty technical. However, one of my hobbies outside of work is photography, and every once in a while I do post to my photo gallery. But, there always seems to be a backlog of what I'd like to publish here...

I often get asked about how long I've been doing this, or what sort of camera I use. I've been photographing for about 5 years now. I started with a Nikon Coolpix, but have since switched completely to Canon. These days I use the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. Along with the camera, I have a set of Canon zoom lenses (a 17-85mm, 75-300mm both with image stabilization functionality), a macro lens, accompanied by stanard polarizer, and UV filters. And of course a tripod, and while it is useful, it is often times a hassle too. I truly believe the digital SLR is not only a lot of fun, but also goes a long way in helping one to grow their skills. These days I shoot exclusively in manual+RAW mode. That implies, I get to process the pictures manually on the computer instead of the camera doing its default thing. I perform this raw conversion using Adobe Lightroom. In terms of preferred subjects, I am primarily a nature-kind of person and gravitate toward landscapes, scenery, flora, sometimes architecture etc. I love to combine my work travels with my passion for photography.