DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by terry.aney

I've Left Query Analyzer Hell For LINQPad Heaven

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:32:22 GMT

So now that LINQPad has enabled intellisense SQL Server Management Studio, Query Analyzer, and even Joseph Albahari's (LINQPad creator) own QueryEx have all been zapped from my memory. I'll no longer flounder in antiquated ANSI SQL, but instead flourish in fully typed C#/LINQ code. This post explores extension methods that make LINQPad an even more power tool.

Back to Basics: Generics

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:01:12 GMT

Introduction There are language features that are nothing more than syntactical sugar. For example, C#'s coalesce operator (??) is a short-handed and specialized if-else. Object initializers make it easier to set properties on a newly created objects. Some features though go beyond mere convenience and add real value. I know it seems like we constantly have to learn new things, while at the same time actually produce code to pay our bills. It can be hard to pick and choose what to learn and what can wait. Let me be straight up though: if you haven't mastered generics yet, you're starting to fall dangerously behind.

Breaking changes to the String class in .NET 4.0

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:31:13 GMT

This change will affect the behavior of the String.StartsWith, String.EndsWith, String.IndexOf and String.LastIndexOf methods by changing them to perform an ordinal (byte-for-byte) comparison by default instead of a culture-sensitive comparison using CultureInfo.CurrentCulture. In addition, the default overloads of String.ToUpper, String.ToLower, Char.ToUpper and Char.ToLower will be changed to use CultureInfo.InvariantCulture instead of CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.

Debate: Do We Really Need Three Layer Architecture?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:46:09 GMT

How many of you changed your database vendor (i.e. Sql Server, Access) after developing an application? How many of your data entities include business logic? I could say, less than 10% in both cases for my case. I found the similar statistics for my other known developers. I guess this is true for less that 10% of the developers around the world.

Boy Scout Check-ins

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:16:02 GMT

How to leave your code campground cleaner than you found it.

Looking for a Lot of .NET Code Samples - They Are Right Under Your Nos

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:16:11 GMT

You have a wealth of code samples on your computer, here is how to find them!!!! An Easter Egg from Microsoft.

Cloning extension method

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:58:49 GMT

Cloning without ICloneable

Shortcut Key to Comment code in VS and SQL Server Management Studio

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:01:21 GMT

Speed up your development with these simple keystrokes.

Important questions a developer should ask a prospective employer

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:01:08 GMT

A list of questions that software developers should ask a prospective employer during their interview process. Similar to the Joel test, but more in-depth.

BlogEngine Flaws

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:01:10 GMT

Recently I've been having problems as the site has gotten more popular I've had comments and even posts disappearing randomly, sometimes re-appearing you might have experienced this yourself either on my site or in your own so after divulging into the code to see what was happening found something I thought was shocking. When you add a comment, or Rating, Approving and Remove Comments this is what BlogEngine DbBlogProvider actually does...

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.

Showing some support for LINQ to SQL

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:16:02 GMT

Great article detailing why LINQ to SQL deserves some attention particularly if you buy into the object oriented style of development or are currently working with an ORM such as NHibernate.

Creating Visula Studio Keyborad Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:46:08 GMT

As we all know, there are a lot of keyboard shortcuts in Visual Studio. We mentioned only 21 of them here at Dev102.com but according to this article, there are about 450 shortcuts available.

Linq to SQL Wish List

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:46:02 GMT

What do we want to see in the next version of Linq to SQL ?

SQL Server Programming Hacks

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:16:02 GMT

This is a collection of SQL hacks, right now there are 8 sections and between 70 and 80 hacks.

Hanselminutes Podcast 110 - Microsoft Research: Spec#

Thu, 08 May 2008 21:50:33 GMT

Scott Hanselman's one-hundred-and-tenth podcast is up. This episode was recorded at the ALT.NET Open Spaces Conference in Seattle a few weeks back. He got to sit down with two gentlemen from Microsoft Research, Mike and Rustan, and talk about Spec# after their presentation at the conference.

11 More Visual Studio Shortcuts You Should Know

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:16:02 GMT

Following our First Visual Studio Shortcuts post here is another batch of shortcuts.

10 Tips to improve your LINQ TO SQL Application Performance

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:46:03 GMT

Sidar gives performance tips on developing linq 2 sql

On C# 3.0 Lambdas, or Why the Heck You Are Still Using C# 2.0

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:10:46 GMT

A simple example of C# 3.0's elegance

Out, Out, Damn Ref

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:01:02 GMT

The difference between the out and ref keywords in C# .. and other questions this brings up.

LINQ to SQL Batch Updates/Deletes: Fix for 'Could not translate expres

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:21:20 GMT

I've found and posted a new fix in the code from my original post: Batch Updates and Deletes with LINQ to SQL. I'm not sure of the etiquette for this sort of thing: new post (like I'm doing) or just a comment in the original post. I want to be sure to make anyone who downloaded my code aware of an issue/fix (assuming they are monitoring via a RSS feed).

5 JavaScript Best Practices

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:00:09 GMT

JavaScript is an extremely powerful and flexible scripting language. Unfortunately flexible, for many people, means fallible. This article highlights 5 best practices to keep in mind when programming.

LINQPad: Preview DELETE and UPDATE SQL before it executes

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:09:26 GMT

Newcomers to LINQ may get hesitant before perform a bunch of updates and/or deletes against their production data. Being more comfortable in Transact SQL compared to LINQ, they may want to see the SQL statements that would execute before actually calling SubmitChanges(). With a couple of extension methods, you can do exactly that: preview the SQL before it executes.

A C# fluent repeater

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:01:03 GMT

A fully-featured fluent class used for repeating method calls, handle exceptions, callbacks and more... Just plug-and-play and start repeating stuff!

Batch Updates and Deletes with LINQ to SQL

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:26:52 GMT

A couple weeks ago, I read the article, LINQ to SQL Extension: Batch Deletion with Lambda Expression by Jeffrey Zhao. In case you didn't read the article, it discusses the downside of most O/R Mapping frameworks when it comes to multiple updates or deletes. He states the fact that a SQL statement for each row flagged as update/delete in the entity set is created. I went about implementing something similar to what Jeffrey envisioned and I'll explain some of the hurdles I had to overcome to achieve it.