Programming Languages

New Book - Professional VB 2005 with .NET 3.0!

Bill Evjen — Tue, 29 May 2007 03:03:46 GMT

Another book! I and some friends just finished a new release of our Visual Basic book. This is another book I wrote with the wonderful Kent Sharkey! :) We really cleaned up this version of the book. This book came together quite well and shows not only the core of .NET 2.0 in depth - but it also covers the new ground of .NET 3.0. The .NET Framework 3.0 includes the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), the Windows Workflow Foundation (WF), and the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF).

The table of contents of the book is as follows - (the new chapters are in yellow):

1. Understanding the .NET Framework.

2. Visual Basic 2005 Core Basics.

3. Object Syntax Introduction.

4. Object-Oriented Programming.

5. The Common Language Runtime.

6. Localization.

7. Generics.

8. Namespaces.

9. Exception Handling and Debugging.

10. Data Access with ADO.NET 2.0.

11. Using XML in Visual Basic 2005.

12. Security in the .NET Framework 2.0.

13. Visual Studio 2005.

14. Working with SQL Server.

15. Windows Forms.

16. Windows Forms Advanced Features.

17. Windows Presentation Foundation.

18. Integrating WPF with Windows Forms.

19. Working with ASP.NET 2.0.

20. ASP.NET 2.0 Advanced Features.

21. Assemblies.

22. Deployment.

23. Working with Classic .COM.

24. Threading.

25. Windows Workflow Foundation.

26. XML Web Services.

27. Remoting.

28. Enterprise Services.

29. Network Programming.

30. Windows Communication Foundation.

31. Windows Services.

32. Visual Basic and the Internet.

Appendix A. The VB.NET Compiler.

Appendix B. VB.NET References.

Looking for top St. Louis .NET talent

Bill Evjen — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:51:00 GMT

Lipper/Reuters is looking for some top .NET talent to work on some C#/.NET 2.0 projects on my team. Interested in doing some fun and exciting work? Send me an email through the Contact section of this blog.

.NET Micro Framework

Bill Evjen — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 12:43:00 GMT

Java has always been good at getting its code down to the smallest of devices. .NET made attempts at entering this space a little while back when SPOT came out that allowed .NET developers to write code for some small devices such as some Microsoft watches. SPOT has gone away it seems but the work applied there has brought forth the new and upcoming .NET Micro Framework. This is a development environment that will allow for .NET development on a small device. The size of the framework will only be a few hundred kilobytes and this will allow for all kinds of applications. This will be fun to play with once I get my hands upon it.

Visual Studio "Orcas" October CTP Available

Bill Evjen — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 12:29:00 GMT

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C09B5A2D-EB6A-44B6-8BBD-3764A2FDA9CE&displaylang=en

The new CTP is available for the Orcas version of Visual Studio. This is the version which will allow for Windows Presentation Foundation development. I understand that the Windows Workflow Foundation and the Windows Communication Foundation pieces are not yet included and will come in a later version. This CTP includes what some of the items which will be in the post-.NET Framework 3.0 release. So this means that you will find LINQ capabilities in this release as well. Enjoy!

New WCF Documentation for the JUNE CTP Is Out

Bill Evjen — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 13:47:00 GMT

The new documentation has arrived. That will make it easier. I have two of the leading WCF books that were written right before the June CTP and they seem to already be out of date, so it is good to have some current docs.

http://wcf.netfx3.com/files/folders/product_team/entry3883.aspx

.NET Framework 3.0 - It's Not What People Think

Bill Evjen — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 10:21:00 GMT

On Somasegar's WebLog, there was a post about the name change from WinFx to the .NET Framework 3.0. There is also a clarifying post from Jason Zander's WebLog on the matter. This is an interesting move and something I am still trying to understand because as I start digging into what this really means, I don't think it is a great idea.

So, what is the deal? WinFx has simply been renamed to the .NET Framework 3.0 ... nothing more and that is the problem. When I install the .NET Framework 3.0, I was thinking that I would be installing a new version of the .NET Framework, but that is not the case. You are just installing the WinFx components such as WPF, WF, and WCF. These items require the .NET Framework 2.0 in order to run. This means that the “.NET Framework 3.0” requires the .NET Framework 2.0 in order to run - how against the model that has been established thus far is this?

The .NET Framework 3.0 will not include everything we thought the future .NET Framework 3.0 would include such as Linq, DLinq, all the new C# 3.0 features and more. The .NET Framework 3.0 will not require a new Visual Studio version as 1.1 and 2.0 did. The reason? Well, the new “.NET Framework 3.0” is not really a new version of the .NET Framework. It is a extra set of components that ride on top of the framework.

For these reasons, I am against the name change and think that this will make life more confusing. The reasons stated is that the .NET Framework brand is valuable and trusted. I agree here ..... but don't muck up the brand with this change. Keep things pure! The only advantage I see to this is we developer types can fool strict infrastructure guys with installing WinFx by saying it is just a new version of the .NET Framework - an upgrade to something that is already on the machine and nothing new.

.NET 2.0 WROX BOX!

Bill Evjen — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 17:43:00 GMT

This is cheap for right under $100. Wrox is releasing their “WROX BOX” on Amazon starting May 9th and it includes the following books and chapters:

Professional ASP.NET 2.0
Professional C# 2005
Professional .NET Framework 2.0
Professional .NET 2.0 Generics
CD-ROM with more than 700 pages of bonus chapters from 10 other .NET 2.0 and SQL Server™ 2005 Wrox books
DVD with 180-day trial version of Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005 Professional Edition

This is a top of the line collection of Wrox books. One of my favorite books that is always on my desk is the Professional .NET 2.0 Generics book. This is the best coverage of the new generics features in .NET that I have seen and it is explained very well. The other book I like is the .NET Framework 2.0 book. This is really for advanced users of .NET that really want to dig in deep with the framework. Enjoy! To purchase, click here!

Senior Windows Forms Tech Lead Needed!

Bill Evjen — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:11:00 GMT

Do you classify yourself as a Windows Forms developer? Do you have a stack of .NET books by your bedside? If so, I am looking for a senior Windows Forms tech lead (team of 8) for an important and exciting project with an outstanding company. Here are some points about the job:

Must be a US citizen or already have legal status to work in the US
Must be able to relocate to St. Louis.
Must be self-starting and enthusiastic
Must be capable of being a team leader over a multi-cultural group of developers (some of which are offshore)
Must be experienced and comfortable with the BCL
MUST be experienced with building enterprise level, online/offline capable Windows Forms apps
Experience in consuming web services

We will be using the .NET Framework 2.0 and C#.

Interested? Contact me either via the contact page of this blog (or at evjen at yahoo dot com if you are reading this via RSS). I will need your resume.

Somasegar Plans What is Next for Microsoft Developers

Bill Evjen — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:12:00 GMT

What is next now that Visual Studio has been released?

http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2005/11/08/490694.aspx

Microsoft Plans an Interim Release of VS called MQ

Bill Evjen — Thu, 10 Nov 2005 16:10:00 GMT

Microsoft is planning an interim release of Visual Studio between this release of “Whidbey” and the “Orcas” release. Slatted it seems for the summer of 2006 there will be a release “focused on quality”. Read about it here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/eric/archive/2005/11/04/489108.aspx