DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by blacksauron

Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:16:07 GMT

It's finally here! I haven't seen an official announcement yet, but I did a search for "Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1" on Microsoft's Download Center and found the following downloads added today: Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (exe) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fbee1648-7106-44a7-9649-6d9f6d58056e&DisplayLang=en Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 (iso) http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=27673c47-b3b5-4c67-bd99-84e525b5ce61&DisplayLang=en

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.

Forgot that connection string?

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 04:16:03 GMT

Provides connection strings to many databases by many methods. An essential reference.

25 Resources for Tuning Your .NET Application Performance

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:46:02 GMT

A great list of resources, including MSDN links, guides, .NET blogs and how tos about improving .NET performance.

Introduction to the Ninject IoC Container

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:16:03 GMT

Short screencast that will walk you through how to use the Ninject IoC (Inversion of Control) Container. This episode will also review the basics of the Strategy Pattern as it is critical to IoC.

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.

Update to: Microsoft cracking down on community extensions

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:31:02 GMT

The original story (http://www.dotnetkicks.com/csharp/Microsoft_cracking_down_on_community_extensions) got quite a bit of traffic from here. There've been some clarifications and updates from Microsoft and the StyleCop team that, I think, make their position clear and reasonable -- also, the original how-to that had been taken down "at Microsoft's request" is back up. A lot of people kicked the original story, so I hope you'll all take the opportunity to read Microsoft's responses and give them fair consideration.

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

Learning To Drive a Stick Shift

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:01:03 GMT

Ruby. Java. C#. VB.NET. And yes, even Haskell. Whatever you program in: C++ will make you better at it.

Evolution of C# delegate syntax from .NET 1.x to 3.5

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:16:02 GMT

Evolution of C# delegate syntax from C# 1 - C# 3.

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.

What you don't know about Copy & Paste in Visual Studio

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:46:02 GMT

This post explains how to use clipboard ring and some other tricks with Ctrl-C/Ctrl-X.

Captcha the Flag

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:31:15 GMT

Jeff Blankenburg shows what Microsoft has up its sleeve for a new generation of CAPTCHA.

IE on Acid

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:46:02 GMT

Cool wallpaper for those who like IE. more..

Jump between braces in Visual Studio.

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:01:09 GMT

Move fast between open and close braces. No more scrolling to find beginning of that illusive if statement.

Foundation of Programming FREE EBook - CodeBetter.Com

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:46:05 GMT

The Foundation Of Programming Series Free ebook By Karl Seguin

The Weird And Wonderful World Of Extension Methods in C#

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:46:18 GMT

Extension methods are the most controversial feature that Microsoft has introduced in C# 3.0. Introduced to support the LINQ query framework, extension methods make it possible to define new methods for existing classes. Although extension methods can greatly simplify code that uses them, many are concerned that they could transform C# into something that programmers find unrecognizable, or that C#'s namespace mechanisms are inadequate for managing large systems that use extension methods. Adoption of the LINQ framework, however, means that extension methods are here to stay, and that .net programmers need to understand how to use them effectively, and, in particular, how extension methods are different from regular methods.

55 Free High Quality Icon Sets

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:01:02 GMT

A lot of freebie icons. Another great article from Smashing Magazine

Microsoft cracking down on community extensions

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:01:02 GMT

Microsoft released a tool called Microsoft Source Analyzer, or StyleCop. It analyzes source code for standards violations. It's a 1.0 release, so it doesn't do some things ... like have a published API for custom rules or MSBuild integration. So the community dug in and figured out how to do these things and now MS is firing off license-violation emails. Don't they get it? The community wants to use the product, but it's too limited ... these extensions help make it better.

Developer training, a real (non)success story

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:31:09 GMT

Helping new Developers catch-up

The 20 most kicked "top-10 stories" for Developers

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:46:04 GMT

A compilation of the 20 stories dealing with top-10 links or advices that were kicked most in 2008

Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:16:05 GMT

Internal email from Bill Gates detailing his difficulties with Microsoft.com, Windows Update, and more.

Metrosexual Developers

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:16:02 GMT

A blog post I wrote on the value and importance of looking good as a software developer.

Good SQL Articles To Read If You Can't Afford Books

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:01:02 GMT

You have only $50 left and you can buy two DVDs or one SQL book, what do you do? I would buy the book but not every person has the same idea of a fun time. This is the reason why I present you with a bunch of links to articles which will give you very good info. some of this you won't be able to find in a book anyway.

Hanselminutes 116 - Distributed Caching with Microsoft's Velocity

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:16:10 GMT

Scott sits down with 2 of the architects of Velocity.