DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by ekampf

The Dark Side of LINQ

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:46:03 GMT

I've been having mixed feeling for quite some time now regarding LINQ. Sure it can make working with data sources a lot easier and it can definately save a lot of code but it also has the potential of creating cryptic complex code...

Migrating from dasBlog to Wordpress

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:28:17 GMT

A guide on how to migrate all dasBlog posts to WordPress and ensure that your old dasBlog sitere directs all calls to the right address on the new blog so that you don't loose search engine links\ranking and confuse your readers.

Are You Designing for Bigfoot?

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:02:08 GMT

Change your team's terminology and work in terms of personas and goals. Rather than thinking of users as an abstract, difficult-to-describe, amorphous group of people, personas instruct us to talk about specific users who have names, personalities, needs, and goals. Understanding exactly who the users are and what they do with the software is essential to determine if a certain feature is actually required.

How Do You Define "Good Code" ?

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 03:29:19 GMT

I was on a phone interview the other day where I was asked for my definition of "Good Code"...

Microsoft and Yahoo! ... Revisited...

Sun, 18 May 2008 21:59:42 GMT

It seems like Microsoft and Yahoo! are talking again to such an extent that is was either required, or in Microsoft's interest to release the following statement...

dasBlog 2.1 Released!

Tue, 13 May 2008 04:16:02 GMT

dasBlog 2.1 has been released from its new home at CodePlex.

Developing a Robust Data Driven UI Using WPF - Stock DataModel Sample

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:06:27 GMT

A concrete example for a DataModel as discussed in the previoud posts in the series....

How to: Optimize the memory usage with strings

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 10:16:03 GMT

System.String type is used in any .NET application. We have strings as: names, addresses, descriptions, error messages, warnings or even application settings. Each application has to create, compare or format string data. Considering the immutability and the fact that any object can be converted to a string, all the available memory can be swallowed by a huge amount of unwanted string duplicates or unclaimed string objects. Now let's see how a string object should be handled to preserve memory.

FormatWith 2.0 - String formatting with named variables

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:31:02 GMT

An improved version of the string FormatWith extension method. It now has the ability to also work with named variables, e.g. "{UserName} last logged in at {LastLoginDate}".FormatWith(user)

Integrate PayPal Checkout Button with ASP.NET 2.0

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:01:02 GMT

I recently posted a solution to the eternal PayPal / ASP.NET form submission problem using Jeremy Schneider's custom GhostForm class. Since then, several people have made mention of a problem of a problem that I came across myself when coding this, namely getting your project to recognize the reference to the new custom form class.

Developing a Robust Data Driven UI Using WPF - The DataModel

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:31:05 GMT

In the first post in the series I gave an overview of the pattern we'll be using. This post will go deeper into the DataModel, as defined in the previous post: The DataModel is defined exactly as the Model in MVC; it is the data or business logic that stores the state and does processing of the problem domain. The DataModel abstracts expensive operations such as data fetching without blocking the UI thread. It can keep data "alive" fetching it periodically from source (example: stock ticket), merge information from several sources etc. The DataModel is completely UI independent and pretty much straightforward to unit test. The DataModel exposes data in a way that makes it easily consumable by IBF.

Windows Vista SP1 Available on Windows Update

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:02:21 GMT

Just got the following update notification

Developing a Robust Data-Driven UI Using WPF - Introduction.

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:31:02 GMT

First post in a series. Discusses patterns for data-driven UI development in WPF.

WPF Screen Saver Template for Visual Studio 2008

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:30:42 GMT

A WPF screen saver project template for Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5

Microsoft to Make a Significant Announcement

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:05:42 GMT

icrosoft got Steve Ballmer, Ray Ozzie, the SVP of the Servers and Tools Business and the SVP of Legal and Corporate Affairs announcing something "significant". The only reason I can think of for having a lawyer on call is if the announcement is about an acquisition or licensing. Maybe something regarding open source?

Linq to SQL DataContext Lifetime Management

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 14:16:02 GMT

The DataContext is the central object that holds LINQ to SQL together. This post talks about a few different approaches you can use to hang on to your DataContext in the course of a request, to pass between layers or to manage on a per thread/request level.

Pipes and filters: The multi threaded version

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:37:24 GMT

Another advantage of using the pipes and filters approach is that it is naturally thread safe. Only a single filter is handling an item at a given time, even if the pipes are all running on multiply threads...

Short Introduction to Powershell

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:20:35 GMT

A short introduction to Powershell...

MVC/MVP Framework for WPF

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 23:16:02 GMT

Rob Eisenberg introduces MVP framework he's been developing for WPF (source code included).

Extending the string object in c#

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 22:31:04 GMT

Four methods to extend your string, ToCamel(), Capitalize(), CapitalizeAll() and ToPascal().

Silverlight SEO (Search Engine Optimisation / Optimization)

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:54:07 GMT

This is a blog post of my own making talking about Silverlight and Search Engine optimisation and a test I conducted on the site http://www.silverlightseo.net on the 30th of December. The test page got indexed and now ranks at number 2 for the search term silverlight seo on google. This post describes the results and the approach.

Creating RESTful Web Services with Windows Communication Foundation

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:16:02 GMT

An article covering using "web programming" with WCF - including an example blog service implementation.

Sexy Enterprise Software?

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:31:57 GMT

Robert Scoble started a debate over the weekend when he wrote that enterprise software isn't sexy. I guess Scoble struck a nerve as his post caused a frenzy in the enterprise blogsphere, and on a Sunday...

Duet: An Enterprise S+S Offering From Microsoft And SAP

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:31:14 GMT

The Strategic Architect Forum (SAF) conference was hosted at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond over three days during November 2007. All the keynotes and informational sessions are available for download at the SAF recorded sessions site. Be sure to check out the Duet: An Enterprise S+S Offering From Microsoft And SAP session"...

My Takes From the Silverlight Firestarter Event

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:29:42 GMT

My takes from the Silverlight Firestarter event that took place at Redmond