DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by rpatterson

Taking the Magic out of Expression

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:31:12 GMT

Concise introduction to expression trees.

Begining ReSharper

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:43:06 GMT

One of the greatest challenges to being productive with ReSharper is learning the daunting list of keys. Many of the Resharper features are highly discoverable using visual indicators such as icons "squiggly" lines but most refactoring and navigation activities require memorizing numerous key presses....or does it?

Creating complex code generators

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:36:56 GMT

This article is a part of a series that introduces code generation using C# and Text Templates (also known as T4 Templates) in Visual Studio; explains how to create reusable templates and combine them in complex code generators.

POCO and Unity Application Block - Constructor Injection

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:13:08 GMT

This article will walk you through setting up the Unity Application Block for classes that you cannot or should not change. The Unity Application Block has a rich API and robust XML configuration that will allow you to setup your objects without "polluting" them with Unity specific Attributes. In this article we will explore setting up constructor Injection using the Unity API and Configuration files.

Top Developer Podcasts Part II

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 21:24:15 GMT

It's been six months since my previous article "10 Podcasts Every Developer Should Listen To" so I thought I would do a follow up article outlining some of the new quality podcasts available to developers.

How To Use Unity Container In ASP.NET Web Applications

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:45:02 GMT

The post shows how to integrate Unity into ASP.NET web applications.

Entities Wiki

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:17:36 GMT

This is a Wiki site set up by some folks on the ADO.NET Entity Framework Team to get additional information on patterns and scenarios that people are currently using with general ORM stacks.

Architecting Linq to SQL, part 10

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:44:44 GMT

What Ian Cooper would like to see in the next version

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

Microsoft Community Summit 2008 - Free Weekend of Training

Wed, 07 May 2008 22:08:42 GMT

Jam packed weekend of FREE .NET Training at the Orlando Convention Center in between TechEd Developer week and TechEd ITPro week. With Nine large conference rooms that will hold tracks like Day Of Agile, SQL Server, VS Team System University and many more . In addition to the full day tracks listed below there will also be discounts on MS Certification Exam Tests, an MCSA/MCSE weekend upgrade bootcamp, a Developers Weekend Exam Cram and Train the Trainer sessions. There is content here for everyone.

How to: Use strings in a secure manner with SecureString class

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:01:02 GMT

The classic System.String type doesn't provide enough security for storing sensitive data like passwords, credit card numbers or personal information. If a String object contains sensitive information, there is a risk the information could be revealed after it is used because your application cannot delete the data from computer memory. Starting with the .NET Framework 2.0 the SecureString class is available. It was designed to provide encryption for sensitive data and other useful functions.

Lazy Instantiation using the Unity Application Block

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:57:30 GMT

The Unity IoC container Application Block does not provide a way to configure your dependencies so that they are resolved only if and when needed. This article explains how to accomplish Just-In-Time instantiation using Unity.

Using Code Metrics in Visual Studio Team System 2008

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:57:47 GMT

Developers need to have feedback about the quality of code immediately after the code is written. Team Edition for Software Developers which is part of Visual Studio Team System provides an integrated tool named Code Metrics to calculate how the code is written based upon some quantifiable criterion and shows the results in a separate window. Calculations are based upon criterions like Cyclomati complexity, number of lines in code and inheritance depth etc. all resulting in maintainability index of the code. In this article we will take an overview of Code Metrics built into VSTS.

T4 Overview and Examples

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:00:34 GMT

T4 (Text Template Transformation Toolkit) is a free template-based code generation engine from Microsoft. It integrates into Visual Studio and allows you to use ASP.NET-like template syntax to generate C#, configuration or any other text files. This articles provides an overview of T4, compares it to some of the existing alternatives and includes links to ready-to-use T4 template examples.

MVP Bundle Screencast - Model-View-Presenter with and without WCSF

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:16:32 GMT

Microsoft Patterns and Practices released their MVP Bundle a few weeks back which diverges a bit from the other guidance bundles that we have seen in the past in that it is more about guidance on the Model-View-Presenter Pattern itself as opposed to providing any new controls and automation to help with web client development

POT instead of Guidance

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:16:18 GMT

Text Template Transformation Toolkit (T4) is a template engine, similar to CodeSmith that you can use to generate code. It is included with DSL, GAT toolkits and Visual Studio 2008. This article provides an overview of how to create and use a light-weight POT (plain old template) in a C# project without having to create an entire DSL or Guidance Package.

Martin Fowler has a new Podcast!

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:12:16 GMT

ThoughtWorks has a new podcast, IT Matters, that discuss the business and technology issues facing the IT Industry. The First topic is Domain Specic Languages.

Microsoft Takes C# to Second Life

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:37:48 GMT

Microsoft will hold a Microsoft C# Day on the Second Life virtual world platform to introduce C# to developers that are new to the language

10 Podcasts Every Developer Should Listen To

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:16:05 GMT

A list of 10 developer related podcasts, some popular and some rather obscure, ranging in topics from Agile tenets to Architecture best practices. A list I hope everyone will discover at least a few new gems to listen to.

Type casting - the difference between as and () operators

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:16:02 GMT

In C#, you have two different ways to perform type casting (a.k.a. explicit type conversion) - as and () operators. The difference between the two operators is not limited to just syntax, they work differently. It is subtle enough to trap even experienced developers

Code Metrics in Visual Studio 2008

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:16:03 GMT

Review of Code Metrics feature of Visual Studio 2008

New site using DotNetKicks. ConservativeKicks.com

Thu, 08 Nov 2007 15:01:02 GMT

I've set up a site using the DotNetKicks open source project. Its called ConservativeKicks.com. Its a place were you can find politically conservative news, articles and stories. Please visit if the subject interests your or you'd just like to see this great software being used for other topics. I hope you enjoy the site and thanks again to Gavin and everybody else helping with DotNetKicks.

DesignByContract with Fluent Interfaces

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 16:16:04 GMT

I was reading through some blog posts and through a recent post, stumbled across this one from Bill McCafferty and took a look at the DesignByContract CodeProject article. This is just a simple utility class to pass in assertions and get an exception to be thrown with a message if the contract has been violated.

Scott Guthrie announces ASP.NET MVC framework at Alt.Net Conf

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:01:02 GMT

Some more information from ALT.NET on the new ASP.NET MVC framework.

Extension Methods in C# 3.0 + Fluent Interface = Ruby-like syntax

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 21:27:31 GMT

Attain highly-readable Ruby-like date syntax with C# 3.0 Extension Methods and Fluent Interface design.