These Windows Azure and SQL Database (formerly SQL Azure) tutorials are designed for beginners who have some .NET development experience. Using a common scenario, each tutorial introduces one or two Windows Azure features or components. Even though each tutorial builds upon the previous ones, the tutorials are self-contained and can be used without completing the previous tutorials.

The first four tutorials demonstrate how to use roles, Windows Azure Storage services, and SQL Database, which are the basics for learning Windows Azure.

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Tutorials

• Tutorial 1: Using Windows Azure Web Role and Windows Azure Table Service (en-US)This first tutorial goes beyond a "Hello World" sample to show you how to use a Web role and table service.
• Tutorial 2: Using SQL Database (en-US) Based on the tutorial 1 application, this tutorial replaces the table service with SQL Database .
• Tutorial 2.1: Create an OData Service This tutorial extends tutorial 2 to add a OData service to access and change data in the SQL Database database created in tutorial 2.
• Tutorial 3: Using Windows Azure Blob Service (en-US) In this tutorial, blog storage is added to the tutorial 1 application for storing binary images.
• Tutorial 4: Using Windows Azure Worker Role and Windows Azure Queue Service (en-US) This tutorial adds a worker role for background processing, and a queue is used to facilitate communication between the two roles.

If you like, you can write a tutorial and add it to the list. Here are some ideas:

• Alternate versions of the tutorials in Ruby or Java
• Connecting to SQL Database using JDBC
• Migrating schema and data

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Before You Begin the Tutorials

Preparing the Local Development Environment

For configuration instructions, see How to Prepare the Windows Azure Compute Emulator at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg433136.aspx. 

Installing the Tutorial Files

Download the tutorial files from http://archive.msdn.microsoft.com/Project/Download/FileDownload.aspx?ProjectName=AzureTutorials&DownloadId=15390. Extract the files to the C root directory. The tutorial files contain the following folders:

• CodeSnippets contains the code snippets used for developing the application.
• CompletedSolution contains the completed solution. If you run into a problem, you can compare your code with the code in this folder.
• GolferMessageBoard contains the application you created in the previous tutorials. This is the application that the current application is based on.
• TutorialFiles contains the files that you will need to import into your project.

Note: This release of the tutorials only provide the C# code samples.

Installing the Code Snippets

For convenience, much of the code that you need to type while executing the tutorials is available as Visual Studio code snippets.

After installing the tutorial files, you can find the code snippets in the C:\AzureTutorials\Tutorial[#]\CodeSnippets folder.

You must install the code snippets manually by copying the contents from one folder to another for each of the 2 folders listed in the table below.

Using the Code Snippets

With code snippets, you have all the code you need at your fingertips. You can use the following procedure to add a code snippet:

1. Right-click where you want to insert the code snippet, and then click Insert Snippet.
2. Click My Code Snippets or My HTML Snippets, click Windows Azure Tutorials, and then click the name of the code snippet you want to insert.

Provisioning Windows Azure

In order to complete the deployment lesson in each tutorial, you must sign up for a Windows Azure account and purchase a subscription. For more information, see Get Started with the Windows Azure Platform at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff626271.aspx, and see Provisioning Windows Azure at http://blogs.msdn.com/david_sayed/archive/2010/01/07/provisioning-windows-azure.aspx.

Configuring IE

The Windows Azure Platform Management Portal allows you to manage all your Windows Azure platform resources from a single location. You must set the IE pop-up blocker to accept pop-ups from this site so that the database manager can be launched.

To configure the IE Pop-up Blocker

1. From Internet Explorer Tools menu, point to Pop-up Blocker, and then click Pop-up Blocker Settings.
2. In Address of website to allow, type windows.azure.com, and then click Add.
3. Click Close.

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Other Resources

• windowsazure.com .NET Developer Center?
• windowsazure.com Data Management
• Deploying an ASP.NET Web Application to a Windows Azure Web Site and SQL Database

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