Dario’s Learning Journey

A Living Knowledge Base for Modern Software Development

A comprehensive learning hub documenting my journey through modern software development—combining hands-on technical learning, conference insights, Azure guides, and practical solutions to real-world development challenges.
Author

Dario Airoldi

Published

December 29, 2025

🚀 Welcome to My Learning Hub

A living knowledge base that grows with every challenge solved, every technology explored, and every concept mastered.

This repository represents my continuous journey through modern software development, thoughtfully organized to help both my future self and fellow developers navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology. From conference insights to troubleshooting guides, from Azure cloud patterns to prompt engineering techniques—this is where theory meets practice.

📋 Quick Navigation

Section Description
📰 News Latest updates on VS Code releases and developer tools
🤖 AI & Prompt Engineering AI-assisted development and prompt file organization
🎯 Conference Notes 40+ Build 2025 sessions with detailed analysis
☁️ Azure Development Practical Azure service guides and patterns
🛠️ Development Tools Documentation tools, API testing, version control
💡 Ideas & Projects IQPilot and Learning Hub concepts
🐛 Problem Solving Real-world issue solutions
🔧 Hardware & DIY Surface analysis and DIY projects

🎯 Learning Hub Philosophy

This isn’t just documentation—it’s a curated learning experience. Each article, note, and guide reflects:

  • Hands-on exploration of technologies and tools
  • Real-world problem solving with actionable solutions
  • Conference learnings distilled into practical insights
  • Progressive complexity from fundamentals to advanced topics
  • Continuous refinement as technologies evolve

📰 News & Updates

VS Code Releases

📚 What You’ll Discover Here

🤖 AI & Intelligent Development

Exploring the frontiers of AI-powered development:

  • Prompt Engineering - Crafting effective prompts, organizing prompt files for GitHub Copilot
  • Azure AI Foundry - Building enterprise AI applications and agents
  • Local AI Development - Running LLMs locally with .NET integration
  • RAG Patterns - Retrieval-augmented generation for enterprise scenarios
  • .NET Aspire AI - Cloud-native AI application development

🎯 Conference Notes & Insights

Deep dives into 40+ sessions from Build 2025, covering the cutting edge of:

  • AI & Machine Learning - Azure AI Foundry, local AI development, RAG patterns, agentic applications
  • .NET Development - C# 14 features, .NET Aspire, Blazor, ASP.NET Core modernization
  • Developer Tools - GitHub Copilot, Visual Studio enhancements, advanced debugging techniques
  • Microsoft 365 & Copilot - Building intelligent agents and extending Microsoft 365
  • Windows AI - Windows AI Foundry, Model Context Protocol (MCP), local AI APIs

☁️ Azure Cloud Development

Practical, production-ready guides for Azure services:

  • Compute & Hosting - Azure Apps, Functions, Container Apps, deployment strategies
  • Data Services - Cosmos DB, Table Storage, Blob Storage with access patterns and partitioning
  • Security & Identity - Key Vault secrets management, Azure AD, external user authentication
  • Messaging & Events - Event Hubs, Service Bus, event-driven architectures
  • Best Practices - Naming conventions, service limitations, cost optimization, common pitfalls

🛠️ Development Tools & Workflows

Tools and techniques that elevate productivity:

  • Prompt Engineering - Crafting effective prompts, organizing prompt files for GitHub Copilot 🆕
  • Markdown Documentation - Quarto and MkDocs guides for building beautiful documentation sites 🆕
  • Version Control - Git command-line workflows, GitHub CLI commands, repository management
  • API Testing - Comprehensive comparison of HTTP/REST testing tools, .http files in VS Code/Visual Studio
  • Data Processing - yq for YAML processing, Diginsight for telemetry and query cost metrics
  • Feed Architectures - RSS/Atom protocols, podcast feeds, C# reference implementations
  • HowTo Guides - Step-by-step tutorials for common development tasks

🐛 Real-World Problem Solving

Battle-tested solutions to actual development challenges:

  • GitHub Actions - Artifact storage quota fixes, CI/CD optimizations, workflow troubleshooting
  • Authentication & Security - Azure AD configurations, external user management
  • Development Environment - Visual Studio troubleshooting, WSL fixes, ReFS compatibility issues
  • Repository Management - GitHub limitations, workarounds, and best practices
  • Azure Service Constraints - Understanding and working within service limits

🔧 Hardware & DIY Projects

Beyond software—exploring the physical side of technology:

  • Surface Laptop 6 - Feature analysis and hardware insights 🆕
  • DIY Battery Packs - Building custom Li-Ion battery solutions
  • E-Bike Projects - Electric bike builds and customization

💡 Ideas & Projects

Exploring new concepts and tool development:

  • IQPilot - AI-powered content quality assurance tool 🆕
    • Automated validation for documentation quality
    • Integrated with GitHub Copilot for intelligent checks
    • Metadata management and publishing workflows
  • Learning Hub Concepts - The philosophy behind this knowledge base

🌍 Beyond Code

Technology intersects with culture and exploration:

  • Travel & Culture - Paris cultural journey 2025, combining technology conferences with cultural experiences

🌟 Featured Content

🤖 AI & Intelligent Development

Prompt Engineering 🆕

Azure AI & .NET

☁️ Azure Development Guides

🛠️ Development Tools & Productivity

Markdown Documentation Tools 🆕

API Testing & Development

🐛 Problem Solving

🔧 Hardware

💡 Ideas & Projects

IQPilot - AI Content Quality Tool 🆕

📊 Content Organization

This learning hub contains 250+ articles organized into clear categories:

📁 By Topic Area

  • 📰 News - Latest tool releases and industry updates (VS Code, development tools)
  • 🎯 Events - 40+ Build 2025 conference sessions with summaries and detailed notes
  • ☁️ Azure - Cloud services organized by type (compute, data, security, messaging)
  • 🤖 AI & Prompt Engineering - Practical guides for AI-assisted development
  • 🛠️ Development Tools - Git, API testing, documentation (Quarto, MkDocs), data processing
  • 🏗️ Architectures - Feed protocols, RSS/Atom, architectural patterns
  • 💡 Ideas & Projects - IQPilot and experimental concepts
  • 🐛 Issues & Solutions - Real-world troubleshooting with battle-tested fixes
  • 📚 HowTo Guides - Step-by-step tutorials for common tasks
  • 🔧 Hardware - Device analysis and DIY projects
  • 🌍 Travel & Culture - Beyond code experiences

🎓 By Learning Path

  • 🌱 Beginner - Start with HowTo guides, Q&A articles, and introductory content
  • 🚀 Intermediate - Explore Azure learning paths, conference sessions, and tool comparisons
  • 🔬 Advanced - Deep dive into architecture patterns, problem-solving, and optimization

📈 Content Status

  • ⭐ Featured - Highly recommended starting points
  • 🆕 New - Recently added content
  • ✅ Solved - Issues with complete solutions

🚀 How to Use This Learning Hub

🎯 Different Paths for Different Goals

Learning a New Technology?

  1. Start with the structured learning paths (e.g., Azure Developer Learning Path)
  2. Review conference sessions for latest patterns and practices
  3. Consult HowTo guides for hands-on implementation
  4. Check Issues & Solutions for common pitfalls

Solving a Specific Problem?

  1. Use the search feature to find relevant troubleshooting guides
  2. Check the Issues & Solutions section
  3. Review Azure service limitations if working with cloud resources

Staying Current?

  1. Browse 🆕 marked content for recent additions
  2. Explore Build 2025 sessions for latest industry trends
  3. Check Prompt Engineering for AI-assisted development techniques

Building Reference Knowledge?

  1. Bookmark ⭐ featured articles as go-to references
  2. Use the sidebar navigation to explore systematically
  3. Follow architectural pattern articles for design insights

📝 About This Learning Hub

Learning by doing, documented for future reference

This repository embodies a hands-on learning philosophy—every article originates from real projects, conference attendance, or actual problem-solving. It’s not just documentation; it’s a living laboratory where theory meets practice.

What Makes This Different

  • 🔬 Experiential Learning - Content created while actively working through challenges
  • 🎯 Context-Rich - Includes the “why” and “when,” not just the “how”
  • 🌱 Growth Mindset - Documents the learning journey, including pivots and discoveries
  • 🔄 Living Documentation - Continuously refined as understanding deepens and technologies evolve
  • 🤝 Learning in Public - Sharing knowledge to help others (and future me)

Content Evolution

Each article is a snapshot of learning at a specific point in time. As technologies mature and understanding deepens, content is revisited and enhanced—making this truly a living knowledge base.

🤝 Feedback & Contributions

While this is a personal learning repository, feedback is welcome! If you:

  • Find errors or outdated information
  • Have suggestions for improvements
  • Want to discuss a topic
  • Encounter broken links

Feel free to open an issue on GitHub.

📄 License & Usage

Content is available for personal and educational use. See LICENSE for details.

🌟 Happy Learning! 🌟

Last Updated: December 2025 | Total Articles: 250+ | Conference Sessions: 40+ | Topics Covered: 18+

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