Tag Archives: VB.NET

Happy Birthday To Microsoft .NET

Posted by Steven Swafford on July 6, 2010

It is hard to believe but .NET is turning 10 years old on July 11, 2010. I recall my first look at .NET 1.0 many years back and I must say Microsoft has done very well with this framework over the years and I am excited to see what will come in the near future. I also wanted to take a moment to address Scott “ScottGu” Guthrie. Scott was instrumental in the development of the .NET framework and he know is the corporate vice president of Microsoft’s .NET developer platform and he never ceases to amaze me when it comes to interaction with the development community. I seem to recall years back someone believed that Microsoft was successful in cloning Scott, but the claim was never confirmed.

Here is what Paul Maritz, group vice president of the Platforms Group at Microsoft had to say on that historical day back in July 2000.

Delivering this software to developers today is an important milestone in helping developers build next-generation Internet software and services. By creating a unified platform where devices and services cooperate with each other, Microsoft is unleashing a new wave of developer opportunity and creativity that will help developers reach a new level of power and simplicity.

I am not clear exactly when the .NET framework was initially started however, you may find it interesting the early code name was Next Generation Windows Services (NGWS).

  • Version 1.0, February 2, 2002
  • Version 1.1, April 24, 2003
  • Version 2.0, October 7, 2005
  • Version 3.0, October 6, 2006
  • Version 3.5, October 19, 2007
  • Version 4.0, April 12, 2010

In the event you’re not a Microsoft developer and if you have ever considered giving this framework a look then you should look at the following products.

In closing, I just wanted to wish Microsoft a happy birthday when it comes to the .NET framework and I am patiently waiting to see what the next version brings to the game. For those that may be interested I ran across a couple of offers that may perk your interest.

  1. Microsoft 70-305 Developing and Implementing Web Apps with VB .NET and VS .NET SE Special Edition Practice Exam: Free Microsoft 70-305 Developing and Implementing Web Apps with VB .NET and Visual Studio .NET
  2. 70-680 Windows 7 Configuring Exam Prep Special Edition: Candidates for this exam operate in computing environments that use Microsoft Windows 7 as a desktop operating system in an enterprise environment. Candidates should have at least one year of experience in the IT field, as well as experience implementing and administering any Windows client operating system in a networked environment.

The Microsoft Community Roundup

Posted by Steven Swafford on May 24, 2010

If you’re a Microsoft end user no matter if it is as a developer, consumer, or administrator then you may find this interesting. Are you looking for resources that can increase you knowledge or looking to find an answer to a question that you may have? If so, I will present a number of resources that you may or may not be aware of. While each resource may deal with a specific topic others may pertain to Microsoft products in general.

I work as a software engineer therefore my interest mainly resides within the area of development, but I will make every effort to add other topics as well. Should you have a suggestion, please contact me and I will get it added or leave a comment. It has been my experience that many experts in the field of Microsoft technologies are more than willing to help others. Remember, a community is a place to learn and interface with your peers.

Windows

Visual Studio .NET

Silverlight

SharePoint

MSDN

Office

Patterns and Practices

General Blogs and Communities

There you have it! Should you know of something I missed, please contact me or leave a comment.

Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0

Posted by Steven Swafford on April 22, 2010

April 2010 is just jammed packed with Microsoft releasing products to maintenance (RTM) and joining the ranks of SharePoint 2010, Office 2010, Visual Studio .NET 2010 is the Enterprise Library 5.0. While it has been a number of years since I last used this library I am beginning to think that I need to revisit this product. I recall years back that I was please with earlier version and I can now only imagine how far this library has progressed and how much time it can save me.

Microsoft Enterprise Library 5.0 contains the following application blocks:

  • Caching Application Block: Developers can use this application block to incorporate a cache in their applications. Pluggable cache providers and persistent backing stores are supported.
  • Cryptography Application Block: Developers can use this application block to incorporate hashing and symmetric encryption in their applications.
  • Data Access Application Block: Developers can use this application block to incorporate standard database functionality in their applications, including both synchronous and asynchronous data access and returning data in a range of formats.
  • Exception Handling Application Block: Developers and policy makers can use this application block to create a consistent strategy for processing exceptions that occur throughout the architectural layers of enterprise applications.
  • Logging Application Block: Developers can use this application block to include logging functionality for a wide range of logging targets in their applications. This release further improves logging performance.
  • Policy Injection Application Block: Powered by the Interception mechanism built in Unity, this application block can be used to implement interception policies to streamline the implementation of common features, such as logging, caching, exception handling, and validation, across a system.
  • Security Application Block: Developers can use this application block to incorporate authorization and security caching functionality in their applications.
  • Unity Application Block: Developers can use this application block as a lightweight and extensible dependency injection container with support for constructor, property, and method call injection, as well as instance and type interception.
  • Validation Application Block: Developers can use this application block to create validation rules for business objects that can be used across different layers of their applications.

I went back to code that I had archived from years back to revisit the Data Access Block. Consider the following examples:

private void btnUseDataReader_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Database db = DatabaseFactory.CreateDatabase();
IDataReader reader = db.ExecuteReader(CommandType.Text, "SELECT TOP 10 * FROM Products ORDER BY ProductName");

dgProducts.DataSource = reader;
dgProducts.DataBind();
}

private void btnUseDataSet_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
Database db = DatabaseFactory.CreateDatabase();
DataSet ds = db.ExecuteDataSet(db.GetSqlStringCommandWrapper("SELECT TOP 10 * FROM Products ORDER BY ProductName"));

dgProducts.DataSource = ds;
dgProducts.DataBind();
}

private void categories_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
dgSalesByCategory.DataSource = DatabaseFactory.CreateDatabase().ExecuteReader("SalesByCategory", categories.SelectedValue, "1998");
dgSalesByCategory.DataBind();
}

A cool feature of 5.0 is the Enterprise Library Configuration Application Block Console which is the graphical interface to the library. This user interface is both user friendly as far as use and provides a quick look a the various blocks in terms as how they are used.

Upon revisiting the example above my question to you is this? Do you utilize the Enterprise Library on a daily basis? If so, in your own words how much time do you feel it saves during the development phase versus writing your own code?

Visual Studio 2010 Released To Maintenance

Posted by Steven Swafford on April 12, 2010

Today Microsoft has released Visual Studio 2010 to maintenance which probably means if you’re anything like me you are downloading your copy from MSDN as we speak. Don’t even get me started on the download speeds or interruptions with the file transfer manager but this is to be expected on day one. Even as I sit in Auburn, Alabama Wishing I Was At The Visual Studio 2010 Launch Event this week, it simply was not to be. Thank goodness for Twitter (#VS2010) and Microsoft, I almost feel like I am at the event, almost. Microsoft also announced that Silverlight 4.0 will go RTM later this week so you may want to keep an eye out for this product as well.

Before I go into detail on this release, I want to point you to a number of wallpapers you can download and a Windows 7 Theme to show your pride on Microsoft reaching this milestone. As well if you are considering making the move to Visual Studio 2010 and .NET 4.0 then you may be interested in the draft preview of Moving to Visual Studio 2010 eBook.

The book is not a language primer, a language reference, or a single technology book. It’s a book that will help professional developers move from previous versions of Visual Studio (starting with 2003 and on up). It will cover the features of Visual Studio 2010 through an application. It will go through a lot of the exciting new language features and new versions of the most popular technologies without putting the emphasis on the technologies themselves. It will instead put the emphasis on how you would get to those new tools and features from Visual Studio 2010.

I have always been an early adopter of many software products and this especially holds true for the Visual Studio IDE and .NET framework. Before you begin making an argument of why it is bad to jump in head first, I ask you to first think about the positive aspects of early adoption. It is always easy to state the negative without considering the positive. In fact, I am considering putting together a presentation for my management leaning of course to early adoption. I am sure I will experience a number of questions and concerns as any good manager should voice. Where do you stand? Will you consider early adoption and if so why?

Visual Studio 2010 Editions

It is important to understand the various editions and the functionality that they provide. While you most likely may be able to make due with the Professional edition you may find that you need to purchase other editions based up you needs. Microsoft has put together a product comparison to assist you in this decision making process (see the image below). If you are just beginning down the path of .NET development, Learn ASP.NET is an excellent resource and have well over 750 video and may with source code.

visual studio 2010 editions

Downloads

In my opinion Microsoft has always done a great job over recent years in providing training kits, free software downloads, and community support. The news of Visual Studio 2010 is no different! Here are a list of resources to get you started:

Well as you can see a great deal of downloads are out there and there is plenty to keep you busy. If you are jumping to Visual Studio 2010 why not leave a comment about you like and dislikes? Good luck and happy coding!

Professional Developer Conference (PDC) 2009

Posted by Steven Swafford on November 17, 2009

Unfortunately I was not able to attend PDC2009 but I am keeping track with friends that I know who were as well I am keeping tabs on the speakers such as Scott Hanselman and Scott Davis,  via Twitter.

Here are a number of topics that I find interesting and possibly you will also:

  1. Reactive Extions for .NET (Rx)
  2. ASP.NET MVC Beta 2
  3. Windows Server AppFabric
  4. Windows Azure Tools and SDK
  5. Visual Studio .NET Functional Testing
  6. Open Data Protocol (OData)

Be sure to visit Channel 9 and PDC2009 (which is streaming live) for further breaking news and for you folks in LA, keep the tweets a flowing.

Update 18-NOV

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