Episode 169: myNewsWrap – SAP and Microsoft
Tags: azure, github, sap, serverless
Published: 2024-02-17 08:51:05


# Episode 169: myNewsWrap – Microsoft, GitHub and SAP

Welcome to this week's edition of myNewsWrap, news from the world of Microsoft, GitHub, SAP ... and the world in between. The focus of my newsletter is the *application development* and all things around that can improve our lives as developers.

Let's dive into the news and explore what came up this week that can help us to build better solutions for our customers.

## Microsoft Universe

First we take a look at the Microsoft universe and what crossed my path there.

### Serverless - Functions, SWA and Azure Container Apps

Apps need to run somewhere and a very convenient way to run them is *serverless*. What came up this week in this space?

#### Azure Functions and Static Web Apps (SWA)

* Durable Functions: [Suspend and Resume instances](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/azure-functions/durable/durable-functions-instance-management?tabs=csharp#suspend-and-resume-instances) is GA

### Dapr

Having containers is nice but everything (well ... nearly everything 😉) gets better with [Dapr](https://dapr.io/) as an outstanding tool for app development in the container-based area. Here we go what might be worth a look:

* [Dapr brings microservices principles to platform engineering](https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/news/366569865/Dapr-brings-microservices-principles-to-platform-engineering) by Beth Pariseau
* Don't miss Dapr Day next week: [Dapr Day 2024 - VIRTUAL](https://community.cncf.io/events/details/cncf-virtual-project-events-2024-hosted-by-cncf-presents-dapr-day-2024-virtual/)

### Developer Platform

This section collects all news touching the topic of a *developer platform*. Fuzzy term but here you find news on topics that make the life of developers easier beyond pure development be it *Infrastructure as Code*, *GitHub* and more like the [Azure Developer CLI](https://github.com/Azure/azure-dev).  

#### Infrastructure as Code

* [Beyond Terraform: How We Scaled DevOps](https://thenewstack.io/beyond-terraform-how-we-scaled-devops/) by Malcolm Edgar
* [HashiTalks 2024](https://www.youtube.com/live/3t5S2G7ez9I?si=TBb73dLHtxRjmK1C) hosted by Ned Bellavance (including ASL interpreter, nice!)
* [Azure Landing Zones Accelerators for Bicep and Terraform. Announcing General Availability!](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-tools-blog/azure-landing-zones-accelerators-for-bicep-and-terraform/ba-p/4029866) by Jared Holgate

#### GitHub

GitHub comes with a blast of new features and enhancements every week. Here are my top 3 news from GitHub that you should check out:

* [GitHub Availability Report: January 2024](https://github.blog/2024-02-14-github-availability-report-january-2024/) by Jakub Oleksy
* [Get started with v4 of GitHub Actions Artifacts](https://github.blog/2024-02-12-get-started-with-v4-of-github-actions-artifacts/) by Konrad Pabjan and Rob Herley
* [The architecture of SAST tools: An explainer for developers](https://github.blog/2024-02-12-the-architecture-of-sast-tools-an-explainer-for-developers/) by Nicole Choi

> Want to see all news around GitHub? I recommend to have a look at GitHub's [blog site](https://github.blog/) as well as at its [change log](https://github.blog/changelog/) to get the complete overview.

#### Azure Developer CLI

Close to my heart as essence of how to make the developer life easier is the [Azure Developer CLI](https://github.com/Azure/azure-dev). What's up in this area?

* [Azure Developer CLI (azd) – February 2024 Release](https://devblogs.microsoft.com/azure-sdk/azure-developer-cli-azd-february-2024-release/) by Grace Kulin ... finally!
  * [Release Notes 1.6.0](https://github.com/Azure/azure-dev/releases/tag/azure-dev-cli_1.6.0)
  * [Release Notes 1.6.1](https://github.com/Azure/azure-dev/releases/tag/azure-dev-cli_1.6.1)

### The best of the "rest"

No matter how the structure of this newsletter is crafted, there is always something that does not perfectly fit. This section is dedicated to topics that I think are worth reading but did not fit into the structure from above:

* Blog post to last weeks videos on Radius: [Building your first Radius application on Azure Kubernetes Service](https://dev.to/willvelida/building-our-first-radius-application-on-azure-kubernetes-service-53k7) by Will Velida
* [Measuring Your Azure Carbon Footprint with the Carbon Optimization Service](https://dannyvanderkraan.wordpress.com/2024/02/14/measuring-your-azure-carbon-footprint-with-the-carbon-optimization-service/) by Danny van der Kraan

## 🐱‍👤 SAP and Microsoft - Combining both worlds

Combining Microsoft with SAP can lead to incredible new applications. Let's enter the *twilight zone* (no worries the ninja cat is with us) between SAP and Microsoft and see what's up here:

* [SAP on Azure Video Podcast #179 - The one with Azure NetApp Files Backup (Ralf Klahr)](https://youtu.be/OHhRBxKKwY4?si=soAEQH6GV7cmFZVY)
* [Getting started with Microsoft Copilot Studio & SAP](https://youtu.be/ZD-i9L5mV8c?si=oqzZvAFAQUw9ZQi8) by Holger Bruchelt

> And of course a channel that you should subscribe to if you are working with SAP and Microsoft is the [SAP on Azure](https://www.youtube.com/@SAPonAzure) hosted by [Holger Bruchelt](https://www.linkedin.com/in/holger-bruchelt/) and friends.

### Further news from the SAP world

Let's check out what else happened in the SAP universe that you should check out:

* [SAP has a new succession plan](https://www.cio.com/article/1306972/sap-has-a-new-succession-plan.html) by Martin Bayer
* [SAP tauscht Plattner-Nachfolger überraschend aus](https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/tech/sap-pekka-ala-pietilae-soll-jetzt-nachfolger-von-hasso-plattner-im-aufsichtsrat-werden-a-48beee90-ed3d-4bdb-a971-77003ffa757b?sara_ref=re-so-li-sh) by Christina Kyriasoglou

## Learning

One important (and imho best part) of the job of a developer is the *continuous learning*. Here are some interesting learning resources that go beyond vendor-specific technology:

* [Legacy: Wirklich ein Problem?](https://youtu.be/XKadk07LcW8?si=K-5D7s_KMxZR1O46) by Eberhard Wolff
* [Cloud Native Weekly - S2E2 - Copa, Copacabana 🎶: Patching Container Images](https://www.youtube.com/live/HJ7bPMO1Lg8?si=-hlKValwLjG0KS9c) with Karl Cooke, Richard Hooper and Weslay Haakman
* News in 2024 need AI right: [Generative AI in a Nutshell - how to survive and thrive in the age of AI](https://youtu.be/2IK3DFHRFfw?si=2H2JcQFROlfu63aJ) by Henrik Kniberg

And a bit off-topic, but as return to office is mandated again, let's look at a interesting recent publication: [Return-to-Office Mandates](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4675401)

### Golo's Corner

One great resource for becoming a better developer and reflecting about our profession is the high-quality content of [the native web GmbH](https://thenativeweb.io/) by [Golo Roden](https://twitter.com/goloroden). This week the following topics were on the list:

* [Wenn Du denkst, Du kannst TypeScript … // deutsch](https://youtu.be/7SJFj6zZSok?si=_royG8lFi8FfxzcL)

Make sure to subscribe to Golo's YouTube [channel](https://www.youtube.com/@thenativeweb).

### Events

And last but not least heads up for these upcoming events:

* [Radius Community Call](https://aka.ms/radius/community-call) - Radius v0.30 release, demo some of the new features, and peek ahead at the v0.31 release
* [Azure Functions Community Standup - Azure Functions latest updates + sneak peak!](https://www.youtube.com/live/44P8C2_EW_c?si=VvkJ0lmU5GE_mJqj)

**And with this enjoy your weekend and have a successful next week!**