Last year's C# Advent was a success beyond anything I expected. I was worried that I wouldn't get enough sign-ups, but I ended up turning some people away. I was worried that people wouldn't get their blog posts done on time, but every single author delivered on time. I was worried there would be too much overlap in topics. There was a tiny bit, but every author's post had a unique, quality perspective, even if there was some overlap.

So, I'm doubling down this year! Each day of the Advent calendar will have up to TWO blog posts. That means that there is a maximum of FIFTY slots! So, tell your C# friends and let's fill up this calendar.

A little history: I heard about the F# Advent Calendar, a tradition that's been carried on since 2010 (2014 in English) and is still going strong in 2018. I think this is a great idea, and so I organized one for C#! (I asked Sergey Tihon for permission!). Other Advent calendars: C# Advent Calendar (in Spanish), Q# Advent Calendar.

So, I need you to write a C# blog post!

Here are the rules:

1. Reserve a slot on Twitter (with hash tag #csadvent) or leave a comment on this post. You do not have to announce your topic until the day you reserve.
2. Prepare a blog post (in English).
3. Add a link in your blog post that links back to here, so that your readers may find the entire advent.
4. Publish your blog post on the specified date. Your post must be related to C# in some way, but otherwise the content is completely up to you. I've posted a few ideas below to get your creativity flowing.
5. Share your post on Twitter with hashtags #csharp and #csadvent

Below are all the slots, and who has claimed each date.

I will do my best to keep this up to date. The slots will be first come first serve. I also allowed last year's authors to get first crack. I have already claimed one of the December 25th slots for myself, but I can be persuaded to change if you really want that date.

Alternates:

• IF ALL FIFTY SLOTS FILL UP, please leave a comment or tweet with #csadvent anyway!
• I will put you on this 'standby' list in case someone drops out or can't deliver their post in time.
• Standby list:
  • Corstiaan Hesselink

Some ideas/topics to help inspire you:

1. Blazor - now's your chance to experiment with writing C# for the browser
2. Your latest open source contribution - show the community how you contributed and why
3. Your favorite C# language feature - it doesn't even have to be a new feature, just blog about something you love about C#
4. Introduce your favorite NuGet package / library. Even if it's a library you take for granted, not everyone has heard about it.
5. How to avoid a pitfall you found with performance/memory/etc
6. Integration/deployment of a C# application with Jenkins, Docker, Kubernetes, TeamCity, Azure, etc
7. Write a "how to" for one of the many tools discussed in an episode of the Cross Cutting Concerns podcast
8. Create a video tutorial and embed it in your blog post.
9. Interview someone about C# and embed an audio player in your blog post.
10. Implement a simplified example of a design pattern in C#

Thanks to everyone who is participating!

If you were an author of a C# Advent blog post in 2017, you get a chance to sign up earlier than the general public.

Tweet #csadvent or leave a comment below with the date you want to blog on. Note that this year, each day has up to TWO slots. So if someone has already claimed the day you want, that day may still be available.

The general call for C# Advent authors will go out next week, so claim your dates as soon as possible. Just like last year, you do NOT have to pick a topic right now. If you DO want to pick a topic, I will pencil it in, but you are free to change it at any time up until the date you pick.