Software Development

Reading to be a better developer

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:02:00 GMT

From Hanselman:

In my new ongoing quest to read source code to be a better developer, I now present ... in an infinite number of a weekly series called "The Weekly Source Code."

My goal isn't quite as lofty as Mr. Hanselman's... my goal is to read and understand new source code every other week throughout the first half of 2008. I also doubt that my list will be infinite.

My initial list:

Microsoft Robotics Studio Service for Vex - this one is purely for fun. Well and I hope to learn something!
Paint.NET. You can get the source from SkyOrb.
NetTiers WinForms Layer
Keith Brown's Password Manager (PWM)
Coding4Fun Developer Kit 2008 Vol 1 (BETA) (Idea from Scott Hanselman)
LINQ to Amazon
AForge.NET by Andrew Kirillov
C#.NET del.icio.us API - I use the http://del.icio.us social bookmarking service and this is a C# API for that service. Simple, but fairly clean. I don't usually take the time to abstract thing this much, I'm a bit (a lot) more sloppy, and I'm always impressed when folks take the time.
The Weekly Source Code 9 - WideFinder Edition

First and foremost I'm looking for great WinForms source to read (of course there are exceptions on my list). Anyone have any great suggestions? Post them in the comments.

Windows Home Server

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:18:00 GMT

Is anyone else excited about Windows Home Server? I've signed up for the Code2Fame Challenge. Although I'm already way behind the curve. Apparently Ed Holloway has already written a killer add-in that can automatically uploads photos from your Windows Home Server to Flickr. Check it out --- PhotoSync.

I'm most curious about how it interacts with Vista Media Center and Vista Media Center Extenders (XBox 360s).

The Windows Home Server blog. Subscribed.

Coding Horror: Primary Keys: IDs versus GUIDs

Steve Bargelt — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:53:00 GMT

Good post with links to great resources. Considering that at work we are seriously considering replication we might need to know as much as possible about using GUIDs as PKs.

Long-time readers of this blog know that I have an inordinate fondness for GUIDs. Each globally unique ID is like a beautiful snowflake: every one a unique item waiting to be born.
Perhaps that's why I read with great interest recent accounts of people switching their database tables from traditional integer primary keys ...

Source: Coding Horror: Primary Keys: IDs versus GUIDs

CI Factory

Steve Bargelt — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:21:00 GMT

Wow. Having created a few CI systems in the past all I can say is that this looks awesome. I'll have to read up on it over the weekend to see if I can use it at home.

CI Factory is a canned Continuous Integration(CI) server and installation script. Adherence to a standard development workspace allows for this product to build most any project out of the box. It uses a plugin architecture. For more information on what it is and how it works see the introduction. If you are ready to get start using it download it and read the install document. You should be able to get a build server up and running in no time.

[via: jay.flowers - CI Factory]

Reflector 5 Released

Steve Bargelt — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 19:25:00 GMT

Scott Hanselman does a much better job than I ever could at enumerating the virtues of Reflector 5.

[via: Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Reflector 5 Released - World Domination Assured]

Reflector 5 is out, and it is good. Go get it immediately, or just run your current version and go Help | Check for Updates. ...

Reflector 5.0
Reflector 5.0 Add-Ins @ CodePlex
Reflector 5.0 New Features (PPT)

Customers Are Like Patients

Steve Bargelt — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:51:00 GMT

[via: Andrew Whitechapel and his post Customers Should Be Seen And Not Heard]

...you foster customers who don’t know what’s good for them, who waste time/money/resources on inappropriate uses of technology, and who then blame their parents/software vendors for problems they’ve brought on themselves. [read more here]

Anyone who has known me for more than a few hours has probably heard this but I'll say it again. I feel that technology customers should act more like patients visiting a doctor. I would like my customer to explain symptoms to me. I do not want my customer to tell me how to alleviate the symptoms.

Far too many times I'm had customers dictate solutions to me. I equate this to going to the emergency room with a side-ache and telling the doctor that you need an appendectomy, telling the surgeon where to cut, telling the surgeon to use a particular scalpel and telling the anesthesiologist what drugs and doses to to use.

As the drugs start to take effect, you relax, you fart, your side feels better and before you can say anything you lose consciousness. Yep, your side-ache was really just gas. Then you wake up with pain, a scar and a very large invoice. All of which could have been avoided had taken the time to tell the doctor your symptoms.

Tim Heuer: vista and office dev: creating preview handlers

Steve Bargelt — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:51:00 GMT

This is awesome... TimH creates an Office 2007 code attachment preview handler...

[via: Method ~of~ failed]

in outlook 2007, when you have an attachement in a mail message and click on the attachment file, you are presented with an option to preview this attachment directly in outlook...just like the preview pane for a normal message...
...a few handlers of my own. as a developer i frequently get code files sent as attachments. i generally have to open them up and look at them in visual studio or notepad2 for code highlighting, etc. well, with my new found knowledge i created a code preview handler. it will see .cs, .vb, .js and .sql files and enable a previewer to show them in code-highlighted formatting in the preview window of outlook 2007 or windows vista explorer.

VSTO: Custom Button Pictures

Steve Bargelt — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 15:35:00 GMT

Jeesh... this really should be easier.

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/ms268747(VS.80).aspx

1. Create a new class named ConvertImage. This class uses System.Forms.Axhost to convert an image file to an image type that can be applied to the menu item.

2. Add a method to convert the icon file into an Image file by adding it to an ImageList. This code sends the Image file to the ConvertImage.Convert method you created and then returns the file to the caller.

Abstraction warning from Ted Neward

Steve Bargelt — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 15:14:00 GMT

Awesome post from Ted Neward:

...warning that the Java community got itself into trouble (and continues to do so to this day, IMHO) by building abstraction layers on top of abstraction layers on top of abstraction layers, all in the name of "we might want or need to change something... someday". It was this very tendency that drove many developers to embrace YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It) from the agile/XP space, and remains a fiercely-debated subject. But what concerned me was the reactions of the other panelists, whose reaction, paraphrased, came off to me as, "We won't make that mistake--we're smarter than those Java guys."

Source: The Blog Ride - There, but for the grace of God (and the experiences of Java) go I

Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Coding4Fun Hardware Boneyard - Using the CueCat with .NET

Steve Bargelt — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 01:57:00 GMT

I hate to admit it but I actually own a CueCat. I might even try this project:

Summary: In this rogue installment of "Some Assembly Required" column, Scott Hanselman borrows Travis Illig's CueCat BarCode scanner and creates a plugin for Windows Live Writer than lets him blog more easily about books he's reading. We decode the bar code info, change UPCs into ISBNs, call Amazon's Web Service via REST and integrate with Windows Live Writer all in one article. Whew!

Source: Scott Hanselman's Computer Zen - Coding4Fun Hardware Boneyard - Using the CueCat with .NET