DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by alexexmachina

Talking To CouchDB in .Net With Relax

Thu, 06 May 2010 19:36:13 GMT

Introduction to a .Net API for talking to CouchDB.

Creating Windows Services With Symbiote Daemon

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:21:35 GMT

A 9 minute introduction to the Symbiote framework's Daemon library demonstrating how easy Symbiote makes things like creating windows service. This is meant to be a very simple introduction to this new open source collection of libraries.

Using jQuery To Control ASP.Net Client Side Validation

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:39:26 GMT

I recently had to add functionality to a ASP.Net 3.5 web form of ours that allowed a user to provide a suggested alternative when the value they needed wasn't available in a drop down box. To do this, I wanted to be able to turn our client side validation on and off for the controls involved.

Create Dictionaries From Two IEnumerables With Zip In .Net

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:48:25 GMT

Want a way to quickly and simply combine two IEnumerables into a Dictionary? Check out my .Net implementation of Haskell's Zip function. I even include MSUnit tests.

DatabaseRepository Sneak Preview

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:16:24 GMT

Examples from the new version of Nvigorate's ORM functionality. (coming soon-ish) Shows classes, map files, configuration and code examples for CRUD operations for a very simple domain model.

ArgumentOutOfRangeException in DropDownList - ASP.Net

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:20:11 GMT

Tired of the ArgumentOutOfRangeException in your Data Bound DropDownLists? I kept running into this issue on a project where the data integrity was out of my control. See one approach for adding a way to customize how you can elegantly handle this exception and change control behavior.

How The Adapter Pattern Saved My Sanity

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:08:07 GMT

I show how I used the adapter pattern to enable writing WCF service contracts against a base class but keeping the implementation child-type specific. It allowed us to go from 26 contracts down to 2 (one for each base class that our objects inherited from).

Using Lambdas To Write A Faster Factory

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:59:58 GMT

A while back, Scott Hanselman started a series of posts about leveraging lambdas as anonymous functions for a factory pattern in his BabySmash program. Recently I had to refactor a large portion of the persistence layer and realized that I needed a factory that would create SqlParameters with the correct SqlDbType given different sets of circumstances.

Faster Than Reflection - Lambda Almighty

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 11:54:36 GMT

In my previous post Using Lambdas To Write A Faster Factory I was demonstrating a neat use of lambdas in conjunction with a dictionary to create a concise and quick factory pattern. Since then I've found some other really nice uses for lambdas and stumbled across some other LINQ related goodness. In this post, I'm going to demonstrate a way to use Lambdas in place of reflection for reading and writing values at runtime and run some performance numbers by you.

Eliminate Nulls

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:50:18 GMT

I realize that Microsoft, under pressure from a lot of developers who wanted to further bastardize null, introduced nullable value types in the 2.0 version of the framework. But I think I can make a rock-solid argument for why 1) nulls are not intended to drive business or programmatic logic and 2) should only be allowed in code or database on the rarest of occasion.

WCF SvcUtil Proxy Generation Issues

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:57:22 GMT

We recently ran into a bug that occurs in WCF's SvcUtil where the proxy generation can run amok and generate proxies for every datatype referenced in the service.

WCF Service Factory Pattern - The Problem

Fri, 23 May 2008 12:19:56 GMT

I've yet to find a way around WSDL's inability to support generics. If this doesn't sound like a problem to you, either you know something I don't (please educate me) or you've yet to run into the right situation where you're writing a common service bus that multiple applications will be using for their persistence and access layer.

Cutting Through The Hype - What You Should Know About SharePoint

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:11:36 GMT

I had always dreaded working with SharePoint, now that I'm elbow-deep in SharePoint, I figured I'd try to give an objective write-up about it for those who don't know much about it but would like to know more.

To Kill A Project: Part I - Timelines

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:31:20 GMT

In my experience there are common behaviors, paradigms, attitudes and fallacies which permeate the management of IT projects that are directly responsible for the obscene rate of project failure. In the first part I'm going to talk about how unrealistic timelines will ensure failure.

Frans Bouma Is Right About The .Net Source Release (Mostly)

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:53:09 GMT

Ok, so I got a little cranky and wrote Microsoft Releases .Net Framework Source ... and Receives Criticism. I did a stupid thing, over-generalized and assumed that all criticism Microsoft had received to that point would be the same mindless drivel about how everything they do is chock-full of pure evil....

Microsoft Releases .Net Framework Source ... and Receives Criticism

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:16:02 GMT

So if you're up on Microsoft or .Net, you've probably heard by now that Microsoft is going to release the source to the .Net Framework. I see this as a positive step and think it can only help .Net developers not just support, but understand what they're working with. Anyone curious enough about .Net has been decompiling .Net source via Reflector for quite a while now (I know I have).

Design Dilemma - To LINQ Or Not To LINQ?

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 03:51:03 GMT

I'm trying to decide whether or not to extend LINQ to address the need for dynamic query support in Nvigorate. I go over the criteria for my decisions, look at what other frameworks have been doing and talk about my difficulty implementing IQueryable.

ASP.Net Design Tip #1 - Separation of Logic and Presentation

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 03:08:49 GMT

While I don't consider myself an ASP.Net guru by any stretch, I was recently asked if I'd help ITT round out content on ASP.Net best/worst practice. So, I hope this first post isn't too elementary (or repetitive), but I feel that it can always stand being reiterated. Good design practice dictates that one should always seperate presentation from logic, and ASP.Net is no different.

Design Dilemma - Using AOP to Track Object State

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:52:20 GMT

In this follow-up to my previous dilemma, I explain, in greater detail, the pros and cons to using AOP for object state tracking. I also explain the difference between runtime and compile time weaving and discuss the "guts" of each. If you're new to AOP or interested, you should give this a once-over.

Design Dilemma - How To Track Object State

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:01:52 GMT

I want Nvigorate to do "seamless" object state tracking. In other words, I want Nvigorate to auto-wire POCOs so that when property values change, it flags them as dirty so the next time you do a batch-update, Nvigorate already has the list of objects to persist. And, I want this without the user writing a single line of code.

The Ubiquitous Bastardization of ORM

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:19:14 GMT

The more third party and open source ORM (object relation mapping) "solutions" I look at, the more disgusted and down-hearted I become. You may think, "What's this guy's problem? He doesn't have to use ORM tools he doesn't like." Well, while that's technically true, because of popularized ORM tools that completely miss the mark, there's large part of the developer community making messes and approaching problems the wrong way.

Developing .Net 1.1 Applications In Visual Studio 2005 - Roadblocks

Fri, 18 May 2007 11:28:48 GMT

In the primer I tried to present enough foundational information so that we can jump into the next bit without further delay. But before I can go into the how-to, I need to take a step back and cover the two major caveats with this endeavor: COM interop and 2005 Designers.

Developing .Net 1.1 Applications in Visual Studio 2005 - Primer

Fri, 11 May 2007 02:23:59 GMT

If you're current environment is split between the .Net 1.1 and 2.0 frameworks, you've probably wished that you could just move everything in 1.1 to 2.0 and be done with it. While that's partly because of the obvious advantages 2.0 has over 1.1, the 2005 Visual Studio IDE is much nicer than its predecessor. It just so happens that there's a way to support the 1.1 framework within 2005 projects.

A Look At Windows Vista - Is It For You?

Wed, 02 May 2007 06:18:59 GMT

To be perfectly honest, I don't know how unbiased a review you'll ever find regarding Vista. As a developer who's career has been based primarily around Microsoft solutions, but who values Linux and open source initiatives, I'm going to try and "keep it real" so you can get a good idea of what you may or may not be missing if you pass on Vista.

Building A Vista Ready Box

Wed, 02 May 2007 06:17:47 GMT

If you're interested in knowing what hardware I based my Vista evaluation on, here are the specs on my primary machine that I'm running the Vista Ultimate 64 bit version on. I put this list together to make it clear that I based my evaluation of Vista on a substantial box. The links, prices and price comparisons are to help DIY-ers and people thinking about hardware upgrades or new PCs a point of reference.