How to avoid the end-to-end integration test problem with the Repository pattern.
- By Benjamin Day
- 09/01/2009
Optional and named parameters were added to the C# language for COM and Office interoperability, but these features are actually useful in a variety of ways.
Careful planning can help improve the manageability and quality of your next-generation Silverlight applications.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 09/01/2009
Exceptions are a way of life in the .NET world. You must follow the rules to make your classes easy to use for other developers. Conforming to the standards will make everyone's life easier.
64-bit-capable machines are everywhere. It's time you start thinking about 64-bit support as you develop your Visual Basic applications.
- By Bill McCarthy
- 07/01/2009
With a few tweaks, you can turn Visual Studio's basic unit-testing capabilities into a powerful and extensible tool for improving code quality.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 07/01/2009
Learn how to store and retrieve binary large objects in the cloud with Azure's RESTful Storage API.
- By Roger Jennings
- 07/01/2009
Covariance and contravariance are precise terms that describe which conversions are safe on parameters and return types. Learn practical definitions for those terms, what new constructs will be supported in C# 4.0 and how to live with the current limitations until Visual Studio 2010 is adopted by your organization.
Learn how to create and debug templates using Microsoft's T4 templating language.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 05/01/2009
The new DataForm control and enhanced support for data-driven applications make it possible for developers to deliver line-of-business applications to any user with a Silverlight-enabled Web browser.
There are multiple ways to solve every problem. Strive for code that communicates your intent and makes your meaning clear for every developer who uses it.
Visual Studio 2008 Extensions for SharePoint makes developing and testing Web Parts almost easy, provided you install it correctly.
Learn how to create powerful templates that can be called from both client- and server-side code.
- By Steele Price
- 04/01/2009
Learn how to free your application from dependencies and interchange implementations using Managed Extensibility Framework.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 04/01/2009
Learn how to display multiple pages in Silverlight and discover the tools and controls that ship with it; track down a bug in a case statement; and take advantage of helpful tips for trying to obtain a clean Code Analysis.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 03/01/2009
Taking a careful look at the capabilities the compiler gives to anonymous types provides an excellent tutorial on what you should consider when you create your types -- including whether they are classes or structs.
Iterators are a crucial part of modern programming, not least because they provide the basis for collection traversal using For Each loops. Language Integrated Query (LINQ) adds to the importance of iterators, as iterators are the source of IEnumerable(Of T) that forms the backbone of LINQ. Learn how to take advantage of them in your code with several different techniques for creating your own iterators in VB.
- By Bill McCarthy
- 02/01/2009
Lambda expressions are nothing more than convenient syntax for delegates. So why can't you use them where the Framework expects a delegate? And more importantly, what can you do about it?
Learn how Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) 4.0 changes everything you thought you knew about workflow. Also, learn why using string primary keys is a bad idea; find out where to get a data grid for Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF); overcome the annoying issue of files not loading at runtime; and copy files into the executable directory.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 01/01/2009
LINQ to SQL continues to be a top contender in the .NET object/relational mapping tool market despite Microsoft's promotion of the Entity Framework as one of the "Pillars of SQL Server 2008: Dynamic Development."
- By Roger Jennings
- 12/01/2008
VB and C# share many similarities, but also have a handful of significant differences; learn what you need to know to program effectively in VB as a C# programmer.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 12/01/2008
Chances are C# is not your first programming language. Here are several tips that can help you leverage C# better if you already know VB.NET.
Learn how LINQ, extension methods, and lambda functions can help you add a bit of distinction, simplicity, and robustness to your code.
- By Bill McCarthy
- 11/01/2008
Take control of casting exceptions, determine whether parent records have children in LINQ to SQL, and resolve cref references in XML comments.
- By Kathleen Dollard
- 11/01/2008
Mixing generics and functional programming simplifies writing some extensibility libraries tremendously. For example, combining these techniques makes it easy to create a generic Undo library.