How To


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

Lambda Properties: An Alternative to Subclassing?

This article will introduce you to the concept of exposing parts of your application logic as lambda properties. By making these properties read/write, you can plug in specific functionality with more control than subclassing.

New Migration Paths to the Microsoft Cloud

Will emerging developer tools and hybrid Platform as a Service features ramp up project and data deployments to Windows Azure?

Test Plans with Microsoft Test Manager 2010

Visual Studio 2010 brings testers and developers closer together and provides testers the tools they need to be able to do their job more effectively. We look at Test Plans in Microsoft Test Manager 2010 and discuss how they are used within the testing framework.

ASP.NET: Exploiting DataSources' Events

If you're using the ASP.NET DataSources, you may be missing an important part of their functionality: the power of their events. But sometimes the right event isn't on the DataSource.

Reactive Extensions: Just What the Doctor Ordered (Part 1)

The Reactive Extensions (Rx) Library is a set of extensions for the IObservable<T> and IObserver<T> interfaces that greatly simplifies the orchestration and composition of asynchronous functions and events.

Retrospective Meetings: Agile Learning from the Past

Aaron Bjork talks about the power of learning from the past and gives some insight into how to get the most out of your retrospectives in your Agile projects.

Build Consistent WP7 User Interfaces Using Resources

Nick Randolph walks through how to create and consume resources within your Windows Phone 7 application.

Clear Cross-Cutting Concerns with Aspect Oriented Programming in .NET

How to use the PostSharp AOP library to encapsulate cross-cutting concerns into efficient and re-usable modules.

From Unstructured to Structured Data with HTML 5

The emerging HTML 5 specification provides for structured documents that can support rich hierarchies and enable deep interoperability.

Windows Phone Layout Using Grid

Nick Randolph walks through how to use the Grid to layout your Windows Phone 7 application.

Visual Studio Solution Architecture for a WPF Application

Complex applications require careful architecting to reduce the amount of code movement between Visual Studio projects and the renaming of corresponding namespaces and folders.

Not Just a Designer: Code First in Entity Framework

Code First is a new development approach in the Entity Framework 4.1 stack that can simplify the understanding and maintenance of your domain model.

Performance Tips: Speed up Data Access

Faster performance in business applications comes down to reducing the "critical two" -- disk I/O and trips to the server. Doing that means doing a lot of things right, starting with your database design -- and tweaking your ADO.NET code helps, too.

Is Visual Studio LightSwitch the New Access?

The LightSwitch RAD platform generates apps with "no coding required." What's in it for you? .NET apps that are easier to maintain and extensions built on the Managed Extensibility Framework.

Silverlight Code: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

A developer's guide to unlocking the power of code reusability.

Make Objects Look Alike... and Tell Them Apart

Here's everything you need to know to simplify your code about how to make classes look alike and then, when you need to, tell them apart.

Deleting all Data from a SQL Server Database (Part 2)

In part 2 of a series, On VB columnist Joe Kunk provides a Visual Basic program to generate a SQL script that clears all the data from a SQL Server database.

Extending a C# Application Through a Scripted DLR Language

The DLR Hosting API allows a DLR language to be scripted from a CLR language such as C# and VB.NET, extending the functionality of an application through scripts coded in one of the many DLR supported languages.

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