DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by Rickasaurus

Var Wars - Abuse of the CSharp var

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:04:49 GMT

CSharp 3.0 introduced the var keyword for declaring variables without having to explicitly specify the type. This was done for using anonymous types returned from LINQ queries. Now, I am seeing many developers use it all over their code and think its a good thing.

Spell Check Web Service

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:45:50 GMT

In this example we will create a Web Service which provides spell check functionality.

Covariance, Contravariance and Invariance in C# 4.0

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:05:04 GMT

Generally, C# supports covariant parameters and contravariant return types. There has always been support for covariance and contravariance in C# - C# 4.0 will just ensure that generic delegates and interfaces will also comply.

Refactoring: parameterize constructor

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:45:03 GMT

In legacy code you may find classes with constructor where some objects are created and initialized. These classes are not easily testable because they depend on other classes and therefore when you unit test these classes they may also throw exceptions of classes they depend on. In these cases we can use parameterize constructor refactoring.

Refactoring: reduce variable scope

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 11:03:27 GMT

In good code variables are used as short as possible. Often we can see code where variables are defined in wider scope than it is necessary. There are many examples about too wide scopes. One of fuzziest of them is variable that is defined in class scope but it used only by one method and this method uses this variable as local variable. But variable life time can also be reduced in local scope. To achieve this we use refactoring method called reduce variable scope.

.NET 2.0 ActiveX Control Gotchas (Safe for Scripting and Events)

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:05:12 GMT

I've recently been building an ActiveX Control in .NET 2.0 and thought I would share some of the problems I've run into, as well as their solutions. I hope that in reading this you can avoid a few of the timesinks I fell into.

Overview of .NET 4.0 features - C# 4.0 Named and Optional Parameters

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:45:05 GMT

The concept of Optional parameters is not new and exists in other languages such as C++. Infact, the functionality is a part of the .NET framework and exists is in VB.NET. Optional parameters will be introduced in C# 4.0 and can be used to call a method without having to specify all the arguments. The intent of this feature is to assist in writing concise code and in COM interoperability.

Visual Studio 2010: Multiple web.config versions

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:30:00 GMT

Visual Studio 2010 has support for multiple web.config files. It is one feature of new web application packaging and deployment system. We can create now separate web.config files for each configuration we have for application.

Scott Guthrie's links for May 30th

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:30:00 GMT

More of Scott Guthrie's links: May 30th Links: ASP.NET, AJAX, ASP.NET MVC, Visual Studio.

Performance testing of Dictionary, List and HashSet

Fri, 29 May 2009 20:30:00 GMT

A quick little test of how the .net 3.5 Dictionary, List and HashSet compare adding and finding items.

Live Twitter stream of notable people in the .NET community

Tue, 26 May 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Built with ASP.NET MVC, jQuery and TweetSharp

My Dot Net Developer's tools list, and more.

Wed, 27 May 2009 04:00:01 GMT

I gave a brownbag presentation at my current client recently about the common tools (in addition to Visual Studio), that I use on a regular basis for working with .NET or web development in general. I also threw in some non-development tools that are a part of my day to day life and make things easier. Here's the complete list:

The Dynamic Programmer - Tuple, a new type on .Net 4.0

Mon, 25 May 2009 19:00:06 GMT

If you ever played with some language that have the Tuple type I bet you miss it in .Net. Well 4.0 adds it. Let's take a look at the implementation and how to use it.

21 Important FAQ questions for WPF and SilverLight

Thu, 21 May 2009 22:19:53 GMT

This article talks about 21 important FAQ from the perspective of WPF and Silver light. Both of these technologies are connected to a certain extent. This article not only explains the theory aspect of these technologies but also shows small samples for each of them.

YUI Compressor for Visual Studio

Wed, 13 May 2009 04:01:14 GMT

Add a custom tool in visual studio for YUI Compressor.

How to test your multi-threaded code (part 2 of 3)?

Wed, 13 May 2009 18:16:03 GMT

Previously we saw how to build a test to find a multi-thread bug our your code. Now we will look at how to reproduce debug and fix it.

F# user group and community building

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:40:56 GMT

The beginnings of a F# user group and community in Massachusetts.

How to determine which language(s) were used to build a .NET assembly

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 22:20:19 GMT

While in most cases there is no explicit information in an assembly as to which languages it was compiled from, it is possible to make an educated guess as to which languages were used. This is due to the fact that each different .NET compiler leaves it's own unique type of fingerprint. In this article I discuss both my methodology for finding these fingerprints and which were unique to each language I used.

Today I've Realized How Far We Have To Go

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 07:01:02 GMT

A call to climb on the shoulders of giants within the software develeopment industry.

Top Visual Studio Add-ins

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:31:02 GMT

I am often asked what my favourite development tools are, so I thought I'd write down a few that I use and why. I have split this list in 2 as some of these are add-ons for visual studio and others are just standalone applications here are the VS Add-ins.

All Microsoft SDKs in one place!

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:16:02 GMT

Here's an almost complete list of all Microsoft SDKs for Azure Services Platform, Windows Desktop, Server Technologies, etc. along with their links in one place.

Transactional File System Operations with C#

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:01:02 GMT

In this post Tuna tries to explain his approach to transactional file system operations. This piece of code uses two of the Vista's new features namely Kernel Transaction Manager(KTM) and Transactional NTFS.

What Part Of The Process Are Your Tools Optimized For?

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:16:02 GMT

I'm writing this post because I am getting tired and weary of people pointing to "drag and drop tools", "visual designers", and "wizards" as reasons to use a particular tool. Only in Microsoft-land are developers so enamored with "wizards" and "drag and drop" and I think this is because Microsoft is the proverbial "crack dealer" when it comes to providing these tools.

S#arp Architecture Beta 1.0 now available!

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:01:02 GMT

Bill McCafferty announces the beta release of S#arp Architecture, a foundation for building ASP.NET MVC application with NHibernate, complete with support for testing, IoC, and validation.

Object Oriented Design Principles

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:01:02 GMT

Quick summary of SOLID, DRY, YAGNI and other useful OO principles.