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Heath Stewart

Heath Stewart

(he/him)
@heaths.dev

Principal Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer at Microsoft

United States🇺🇸
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With over 20 years of experience in Windows and cross-platform terminal applications, I am currently the architect the Azure SDK for Rust at Microsoft, guiding partners and reviewing design for service crates. I led the Azure SDK for .NET, started our Rust SDKs, and am now exploring generative AI and MCP servers to enhance partner agility and improve customer outcomes with safe, efficient use of our SDKs.

My background includes designing and building primarily Windows apps and services with C/C++ and .NET, as well as deep proficiency in deployment. With a complete architecture, I improved Visual Studio installer reliability by 200% and speed by 400%, contributed to the .NET Framework and former Visual Studio installers, worked on the Windows Installer XML toolset, created and advised on many first- and third-party installers, and have worked extensively with deployment tools like SSMS, WinGet, and Homebrew, and others.

Career: 6

Microsoft

1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052

Mar 2024 - Present

• Developed the Azure SDK for Rust, focusing on architecture, guidelines, and core libraries. • Developed instructions, skills, and MCP server for partner agility and customer success. • Supported partners through design and code reviews, enhancing collaboration and code quality. • Implemented DevOps infrastructure, including recorded tests in Rust utilizing custom attribute-like proc macros.

Microsoft

1 Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052

Aug 2019 - Mar 2024

• Developed and maintained the Azure SDK for .NET, focusing on Key Vault and Cognitive Services. • Unified test resource provisioning with PowerShell and build pipelines across all Azure SDK languages to enhance developer efficiency. • Participated in the Azure REST API review board, advising on partner service APIs in OpenAPI and TypeSpec.

Microsoft

United States

Aug 2004 - Aug 2019

• Architected the new Visual Studio Installer, improving reliability from under 50% to 99% and install performance 4x. • Improved division agility from almost 2 days to build the installers to about 2 hours. • Developed major features for the WiX Toolset, enhancing package management and interoperability. • Innovated serviceability processes for .NET, including the first NGEN service integrated into .NET.

Proplanner

Ames, IA

Mar 2002 - Aug 2004

• Architected and implemented the Proplanner ERP application suite, enhancing operational efficiency. • Managed builds and installations, ensuring seamless deployment of our Web-deployed software. • Oversaw the interoperability of our .NET applications with EDS's Java applications, facilitating better integration. • Established and upgraded the network infrastructure and web servers, improving system performance.

Iowa State University, College of Veterinary Medicine

Ames, IA

May 2001 - Mar 2002

• Re-designed the website for the College of Veterinary Medicine using ASP.NET, transitioning from static pages to a data-driven approach. • Supported the network administrator by developing useful utilities for faculty and staff, enhancing operational efficiency. • Collaborated with a team to ensure seamless integration of new technologies, improving user experience and site functionality.

Palisade Systems, Inc.

Ames, IA

May 1999 - Aug 2001

• Designed and implemented user authentication and data encryption for Internet filtration software. • Supported network administration on both Windows and Linux platforms. • Conducted software testing and developed automation tools to enhance efficiency. • Maintained the installer for new software versions using Windows Installer.

Projects: 6

Jan 2026 - Present

Adds samples from the Azure SDKs as context to better generate idiomatic samples following recommended practices.

May 2023 - Present

Cryptography client for Azure SDK for Go. I lead the development of cryptography clients for other Azure SDK languages that help customers use Key Vault cryptography operations securely and that cache public keys for faster public key operations. We decided not to write one for Go - focused on generation-only - so this a side project.

Apr 2021 - Present

I've added a number of features as a top external contributor that improve the Azure SDK team's automation including batch operations, project V2 support via extension prior to first-party support, expansive templating, and more.

github.com/heaths

Apr 2007 - Present

I am the founding developer on the project, which exposes Windows Installer functionality to PowerShell providing means to query installed product and patch information and to query views on packages.

wixtoolset.org

Oct 2008 - May 2015

Windows Installer XML is a toolset for creating and building deployment packages and bundles. It is one of the first open source projects at Microsoft and is used throughout Microsoft to ship major products like Office, SQL Server, Visual Studio, and the .NET Framework. During this time period I was a core developer in a small team. We implemented many of the requirements from many divisions in ways that would work for the global community. Notable features I worked on were the product dependency and reference counting feature, the patch build system, validation rules, and migrating from Source Depot (in-house version control system) to Mercurial and finally into Git with full historical context.

I added support to install the product per-user or per-machine and continue to help maintain the installer.

Publications: 38

Heath Stewart's Blog37 articles
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I'm a masochist on Zwift

heaths.dev

Aug 2026

Apropos of power tools

heaths.dev

Jun 2026

Cooler theme palette

heaths.dev

May 2026

We all make mistakes

heaths.dev

Apr 2026

Cleaning up Rust

heaths.dev

Mar 2025

Helix support for TypeSpec

heaths.dev

Aug 2024

Oh My Posh

heaths.dev

Jan 2023

On Mastodon

heaths.dev

Nov 2022

git sync any branch

heaths.dev

Aug 2021

gh user

heaths.dev

Apr 2021

Configure Multiple Clocks

heaths.dev

Apr 2021

git sync

heaths.dev

May 2020

Simple WiX Project

heaths.dev

May 2020

Powerline in Vim

heaths.dev

May 2020

Tracing Azure SDK for .NET

heaths.dev

Feb 2020

Welcome to my blog

heaths.dev

Nov 2019

Other publications

Skills: 39

Technical

.NET.NET Core.NET FrameworkC (Programming Language)C#C++DockerGit
Go (Programming Language)JavaScriptLinuxMicrosoft SQL ServerNode.jsPowershellRepresentational State Transfer (REST)Rust (Programming Language)Software DevelopmentSoftware EngineeringSQLTypeScriptVisual StudioXML

Other

ASP.NETAzure Key VaultAzure SDKLINQMicrosoft Cognitive ServicesModel Context Protocol (MCP)OpenAPI Specification (OAS)Software Deployment
T-SQLTypeSpecWindowsWindows AzureWindows InstallerWindows Presentation Foundation (WPF)Windows UIWiXWiX Toolset

Education: 1

Iowa State University

Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Computer Science

Aug 1997 - Dec 2001

Involvement: 2

Volunteering

Kirkland National Little League

Umpire

Mar 2020 - Jun 2024

Committee Chair

Sep 2017 - Mar 2024

Cubscout Pack 559 Committee Chair

Languages: 2

German(Elementary)
Italian(Elementary)

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