How To


What's New in Visual Basic 2010

With the release of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4, it's time for Visual Basic developers to start leveraging the new capabilities of Visual Basic 2010.

Retrieving and Displaying a Single Object with dataView and WCF

Continuing his investigation of what works and doesn't work with the AJAX library and .NET 4, Peter Vogel continues to explore how to retrieve data from the client... and discovers that it can be very easily done.

Use Microsoft Word as a Report Writer from Silverlight 4

On VB columnist Joe Kunk shows you how to use the power of Silverlight 4 COM automation and local file system access to turn Microsoft Word into a report writer for Silverlight.

How-to Q&A: Is There an Easy Way to Create Value Converters in Silverlight?

Value converters are extremely powerful and are valuable in minimizing the code required directly in the UI and in providing reuse of conversion logic.

How-to Q&A: Can I Store History Information Locally for a Sandboxed Silverlight App?

Learn how you can store history information for the user on the local client PC in a sandboxed Silverlight 3 application.

How-to Q&A: How Do I Work Around a Silverlight "Catastrophic Failure" Message?

How to work around some of Silverlight's subtle gotchas.

Make Good Use of Code Maintenance

Patrick Steele illustrates useful techniques for modifying existing code while maintaining backward compatibility.

Calling Win32 API Functions in Visual Basic 2010

Sometimes your best option is to bypass the .NET Framework and make function calls to the native Win32 API.

Cloud Development in Visual Studio 2010

Visual Studio 2010 provides familiar tooling and resources for developers who want to put their applications up in the cloud. Here's how to do it.

How-To Q&A: How do I Display Data of Complex Bound Criteria in Horizontal Lists in Silverlight?

Kathleen Dollard shows how to display a list of complex bound criteria, including data, child data and photos for each item, in Silverlight.

How-To Q&A: How Can I Automate Code Without Resorting to Heavy Code-Generation Techniques?

Kathleen Dollard shows how to improve development using T4 code generation and in-line DSL as a localized development tool.

Exploring Directed Graph Markup Language in VS2010

VS2010 Architecture Explorer Edition includes DGML, a powerful, yet easy to use, tool for visualizing almost anything.

Useful Tactics for Paying Back Technical Debt

Every codebase contains some measure of technical debt -- code that is maddeningly hard to test and maintain. We outline some ideas for identifying and dealing with the high-interest debt in your code.

Using LINQ to Express Intent

Use LINQ outside of databases to make your code easier to read and maintain.

Adding WCF Services to Silverlight

Explore the nuances of using WCF Services with Silverlight, and learn troubleshooting tips for working with Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4.

Using Agile Techniques to Pay Back Technical Debt

Flawed code is a lot like financial debt. It drags you down and consumes resources that would otherwise go to profit-making ventures. Here's how to avoid getting caught in the technical debt trap.

Digging Deeper into Silverlight and MEF

Silverlight applications based on the Managed Extensibility Framework and generalized user interfaces don't require hand coding every screen.

The QueryExtender

Extend runtime sorting and filtering of data with ASP.NET 4's QueryExtender, which provides a single interface for DataSources.

Deleting with jQuery and Web Services

Peter continues to extend his jQuery/jTemplate case study by supporting deletes of multiple rows with a single mouse click.

Updating From the Client with jQuery

Peter continues to exploit jQuery in his client-side code to integrate an ASP.NET page with a WCF service -- this time to support updating data.

Defining Templates with jTemplate

A combination of client-side code, WCF services, and jQuery lets you retrieve data from your sever and display it to the user using Web Services and client-side code.

C#: Interface-Based Programming

Interfaces can make your applications easier to test and maintain.

Mastering Silverlight

Silverlight offers impressive talents and more than a few frustrations. From customizing your application UI to battling obscure bugs and error messages, this column helps with the transition to Silverlight tools.

Integrating jQuery, Web Services, AJAX and ASP.NET

The jQuery library makes it easier to create applications that execute in the browser. By leveraging existing ASP.NET technologies and merging them with jQuery, you can create faster, more responsive applications.

Types and Tuples in .NET 4

Visual Basic 10 introduces new generic tuple classes that can help you get more done with less -- if you're careful about it.

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