DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by BlackWasp

Signing an Assembly in Visual Studio

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:25:30 GMT

To protect your assemblies from unauthorised changes you should sign them using a strong name key. This process uses public and private cryptographic key technologies that can prove the origin and the integrity of your software to the end user.

Prototype Design Pattern

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:39:12 GMT

The prototype design pattern is a design pattern that is used to instantiate a class by copying, or cloning, the properties of an existing object. The new object is an exact copy of the prototype but permits modification without altering the original.

Google Chrome is here

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:16:02 GMT

not much to say except download it.

List of countries, cities, languages

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:31:03 GMT

You will find in the following links list of countries, cities, and their languages in CSV format, you can import into any database:

Logging Messages in Event Logs

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:51:39 GMT

Microsoft Windows provides a built-in event logging system where informational messages, warnings, errors and audit details can be stored and viewed with the Event Viewer utility. This system is ideal for logging messages generated by a .NET application.

Free SQL Server Videos

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:31:10 GMT

Free Training and Videos for Microsoft SQL Server. Hours of content covering tips and tricks, along with a whole slew of videos on backups. The site is still growing and there's an RSS feed you can use to be updated of newly added videos.

ASP.NET Myths Busted

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 11:46:10 GMT

Having read a great variety of forum and blog posts, I met a lot of misconceptions about ASP.NET that definitely made people to turn away from ASP.NET. I won't argue whether ASP.NET is better than PHP (or Ruby on Rails) or not, instead I'll try to bust those myths.

Create a Vista-Style File Size Formatter Using C#

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:08:35 GMT

When copying files, Microsoft Windows Vista shows a dialog box that indicates the size of the remaining items to be processed and the copying speed. The values are formatted with three significant figures. This article explains how to recreate this style.

Breakpoints and Tracepoints in Visual StudioWhen debugging program cod

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:51:05 GMT

When debugging program code it is important to be able to pause the code at a specific location. Using Visual Studio breakpoints and tracepoints, the code can be halted at a desired line or can output trace information when conditions are met.

10 Invaluable CSS Resources

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 17:01:13 GMT

First things first. I'm an application (middle tier) developer. My design skills while adequate, are not by any means what I'd like them to be. Like a good geek girl, I've been working on this. I've put together a list of very helpful CSS resources I've stumbled upon in my quest to improve my presentation layer skills. I thought I'd share them:

The WPF DataGrid is finally here

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:01:02 GMT

The CTP of the WPF DataGrid is finally released!!!

Checking Num Lock Status

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 09:42:16 GMT

The Num Lock status determines whether the numeric keypad on a keyboard can be used to enter numbers or is set to control the cursor position. On notebook computers, Num Lock may alternate between numbers and letters.

No, inheritance is not the way to achieve code reuse!

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:01:03 GMT

I am not sure how so many people go through so many years of school, which is supposed to make us better at thinking, and they fail to differentiate the "why" and the "how". During interviews, when I ask their opinion about the purpose of inheritance in OOP, invariably I get this precooked answer (not so nicely expressed): inheritance is the way to achieve code reuse. No it is not!

Why I'm Unimpressed With Rawness Of Skillz

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 23:46:02 GMT

Since forever, geeks who take themselves seriously have loved to brag such things as, "I use Notepad to edit web pages". Carrying this over to actual programming, "I never click into the designer when editing my ASPX", or "I never design a database using designer tools, I always design it all using raw T-SQL," or "I always update my SVN from the command line". (Someone in a local tech user group bears the post signature, "Real men use Notepad.") Puhleeze. I'm not impressed, and frankly I think anyone who brags like this should get a swift kick in the pants.

Implementing IDisposable

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:46:32 GMT

Classes that use unmanaged resources, or that hold references to managed objects that themselves use unmanaged resources, should always implement the IDisposable interface. The correct use of this interface ensures the efficient release of resources.

Abstract Factory Design Pattern

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:08:40 GMT

The abstract factory pattern is a design pattern that allows for the creation of groups of related objects without the requirement of specifying the exact concrete classes that will be used. One of a number of factory classes generates the object sets.

Using Regions in Code Files

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:31:03 GMT

Recently I have been confronted with a movement that seems to hate using #Regions in source code files. Personally I really like using regions and I absolutely like the ability to collapse sections of code I am not directly working with.

Check Type Compatibility with the "Is" Operator

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:26:54 GMT

Polymorphism allows a single variable to contain objects of different types. Sometimes it is necessary to determine whether a variable contains an object that is compatible with a specific type. This can be achieved using the "is" operator.

Visual Studio Namespace Resolution

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:09:14 GMT

Sometimes when coding you will type the name of a class or structure that is not recognised because the name is not fully qualified and the appropriate using statement is missing. This can be a particular problem when copying sample code from web sites.

Is Managed Code Slower Than Unmanaged Code?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:46:02 GMT

Ask anyone the question above and they will say that managed is slower than unmanaged code. Are they right? No they are not. The problem is that when most people think of .NET they think of other frameworks with a runtime, like Java or Visual Basic; or they may even think about interpreters. They do not think about applications, or what they do; they do not think about limiting factors like network or disk access; in short, they do not think.

New C# and .NET oriented search engine

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:46:02 GMT

A new search engine is available. Created with the Google Custom Search you can: - Search in MSDN forums - Search in Microsoft newsgroup - Search in .NET related sites (including dotnetkicks.com) - Search in everywhere with the standard Google search - Find any .NET tools or components

Detecting Windows Safe Mode

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:35:09 GMT

Microsoft Windows can start in a special mode known as "Safe Mode". In this mode, certain drivers are disabled and networking may not be available. If your software requires this missing functionality, problems may occur.

Retrieving the Installed Font List

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:07:19 GMT

A common task when creating programs that permit text editing, particularly What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) applications, is to retrieve the list of installed typefaces. The user's preferred fonts and styles may then be utilised as desired.

Meet the C# 4.0 team

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:16:05 GMT

... and some dude from the VB team. Anders and the guys in room 2543, building 41 (where C# was born) talk about the new features that will be in the next version of C#. I so wanted to blogspam this one. Enjoy your direct link.

Getting Started with TDD

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:31:02 GMT

Getting started with Test Driven Development can be challenging. In this blog post, Steve offers some advice on how to get started either for a brand new project or one that already in maintenance mode.