How To


Windows Phone 7 Orientation Primer

Nick Randolph walks through how to define, change and work with orientation within your Windows Phone application.

Take Advantage of XML Comments (Part 2)

On VB columnist Joe Kunk continues his examination of XML comments by extending the XML comment vocabulary with additional default tags in Visual Basic and showing how to process the resulting XML file into API-style reference documentation using the SandCastle Help File Builder.

WCF: Creating Long-Running Services

Not all business operations finish in seconds. Using Windows Communication Foundation you can still create -- as a single project -- an application that supports business services that take hours (or days or weeks or months) to complete.

C# Questions Answered: Lambda, C# Traps, Unsafe Code

Patrick Steele responds to questions about Lambda properties, interface-based code, and unsubscribing from events, among others.

Visual Studio 2010 Lab Management

Visual Studio 2010 Lab Management provides a centralized way to create, manage and share environments in your domain-joined Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2010 development shop.

Tear-Off ToolStrips in Windows Forms

Starting with Microsoft Office, users have been able to double-click or drag a toolbar and have it become a floating window that can be moved or docked to the side of the application window. Here's how to implement a basic version of this behavior in C# Windows Forms applications.

Enable Coded Builds with PowerShell and psake

Open Source .NET columnist Ian Davis explores creating domain specific languages to run coded builds.

ASP.NET MVC: Improving Productivity with the WebGrid

The WebGrid will certainly make the developers who use it more productive. But is it missing the point of the ASP.NET MVC model?

Changing Page Layout Using Visual States

Nick Randolph walks through how to use visual states to dynamically change the layout of pages in your Windows Phone application.

Take Advantage of XML Comments (Part 1)

Use XML comments to generate IntelliSense and custom documentation for your applications. Part 1 of this two-part series explores using standard XML comments to document your code within Visual Studio.

Deploying Lists in SharePoint with Visual Studio 2010

Since the best tool for creating a list is SharePoint itself, why not take advantage of it when deploying a new list to your SharePoint solution? Visual Studio 2010 lets you do that.

Reactive Extensions: Just What the Doctor Ordered (Part 3)

In the final installment of this three-part series on Reactive Extensions for .NET, Eric Vogel shows how to put together all the pieces to create a working, reactive application.

Exploring XAML Markup Extensions

Learn about the often-overlooked XAML extensibility resource, and how you can make custom markup extensions of your own.

An Encrypted String Data Type for Visual Studio LightSwitch

Learn how to extend support for Microsoft C#-only BlankExtension/BizType projects to Visual Basic.

Levels of TFS Build Automation

Your team won't achieve automated build nirvana overnight. Here's how to break down the process and adopt the changes in the Microsoft build system.

Application Analytics: Why Is the Developer Always the Last to Know?

A look at how developers can use the integrated application analytics capabilities of Visual Studio 2010 to improve software quality.

Parallel Programming: The Path from Multicore to Manycore

Lots more cores are coming -- but don't panic. Look for abstract programming methods pioneered by the MIT Cilk project to span to the future to address task parallelism, data parallelism and safety for multicore and manycore development.

Test Cases and Test Suites with Microsoft Test Manager 2010

Mickey Gousset discusses test cases and test suites, and how they relate to test plans in Microsoft Test Manager 2010.

Acceptance Criteria: Get Everyone on the Same Page

Microsoft's Aaron Bjork explores how to use acceptance criteria to get everyone on your team running the same play.

Display Loading Progress Using Data Binding

Mobile Corner columnist Nick Randolph walks through how to use data binding to automatically display a progress bar when loading data in Windows Phone 7.

Reactive Extensions: Just What the Doctor Ordered (Part 2)

In Part 1, VSM columnist Eric Vogel covered the basics of the Reactive Extensions (Rx) library. In this installment he explores how to observe asynchronous methods, tasks and events, as well as how to compose observable sequences using LINQ.

Creating a Test Case with Microsoft Test Manager 2010

Inside TFS columnist Mickey Gousset delves into how to create a test case using Microsoft Test Manager 2010.

ASP.NET: Configuring WCF for REST with JSON

If you want to extend your ASP.NET application to include RESTful calls that return JSON results to JavaScript code in an AJAX page, here's how to manage your URLs to reduce errors, integrate with ASP.NET MVC, and pass objects from your browser to your server.

Automate Microsoft Excel with Visual Studio 2010

Enhancements in the .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010 make Office automation solutions easier than ever to write and deploy. Here's an Excel automation scenario that reflects solutions that I've seen requested by multiple clients.

Style Your Application with Windows Phone 7 System Resources

Nick Randolph walks through how to leverage the built-in system resources to style your application in line with the Windows Phone 7 Metro design language

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