Programming

Software development links, blogs, and articles

WPF Tutorial

Jun 10

With Visual Studio 2010 out, it's high time to learn WPF programming!

Mega Update - Part 2

May 10

In the last entry, I gave an overview of the large software update I delivered to a client, an update that should've been done incrementally over a period of several months. From database schema changes, to swapping out a reporting engine, to switching from ANSI to Unicode, I really bit off more than I could chew at once. But it's now working well and I'm once again sleeping at night!

This portion of the story deals with the database changes that were made, both the structure and the character set.

Mega Update - Part 1

Apr 08

I recently gave a client a major update to their custom application. Actually, "major" doesn't even do it justice. It was more like "mega major" and I don't think I'll take the approach I did ever again. But I wanted to move their code to the latest compilers and to support the latest operating systems. I also needed to change some low-level database constructs. Why all this? Because I'm a best-practices sort of guy.

Here's what I had to start:

Get the Application Data path for the current OS

Jun 18

If you need to find out what the application data path is for your Windows application, you can call a Windows API function to find out: SHGetSpecialFolderPath.

GUI Scripting with Zenity

Jul 13

"One advantage to using Linux is that there is a plethora of powerful commands available on the command-line; however, many users prefer not to use the CLI or are intimidated by it.

The "Years of Experience" Myth

Mar 09

Here's an excerpt from an excellent blog entry from "Coding Horror."

Visual Studio

Nov 04

Microsoft Visual Studio is the .NET development tool of choice for a vast majority of programmers world-wide. It has all the tools and resources to build the latest .NET applications and web sites you need.

What determines a "senior" developer?

Jun 14

"In many industries, a senior level position is based mostly on the length of time that person has been working and maybe a standardized test or two.

Balance of Views

Jun 06

There are people who live and breath Microsoft and preach Microsoft and poo-poo any open source project. Then there's another group of people that believe Microsoft is the anti-Christ and loudly proclaim they have been freed by converting their entire desktop to Linux and all things open source.

Introduction to Demeter and it's laws

Oct 07

If you hang around any of the object-oriented mailing lists, chat groups, or Usenet newgroups, you'll notice that the name "Demeter" keeps popping up every few months or so on a regular basis. Usually it is in the form of a question asking "What is Demeter?" or "What is the Law of Demeter? Other times it is used in passing as an obscure reference (which usually prompts the earlier questions just stated).

YANGI

Oct 07

YouArentGonnaNeedIt is an ExtremeProgramming practice which states: "Always implement things when you actually need them, never when you just foresee that you need them."

Test-Driven Development

Oct 07

Techniques for Successful Evolutionary/Agile Database Development

Test-driven development (TDD) is an evolutionary approach to development which combines refactoring and test-first development where you write a test before you write just enough production code to fulfill that test.

Performance Tidbits

Oct 07

Rico Mariani blogs at MSDN.

Versioning, Virtual, and Override

Oct 07

Anders Hejlsberg, the lead C# architect, talks with Bruce Eckel and Bill Venners about why C# instance methods are non-virtual by default and why programmers must explicitly indicate an override.

September, 2003

Seven deadly sins of programming

Oct 07

A set of blog entries by a C# programmer named, Eric Gunnerson. Here's an excerpt to serve as an introduction:

Some people have remarked that all of these are judgement calls, and really more a matter of aesthetics than actual sins....

An Unbiased View on the Benefits of Multiple Monitors

Aug 26

"After multiple monitors were introduced:

  • Productivity in lines of code per day increased 10%.
  • Defect levels decreased by 26%."

--Written November, 2003

Mutliple Monitors and Productivity

Aug 26

"This is really a no-brainer for any developer who values his or her time. Now more than ever, since:

  1. Most mainstream, inexpensive video cards tend to come with two VGA ports (aka "dual head") standard.

Common Ports

Aug 19

The difinitive list of ports given out by IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Ports managed by this organization include "Well Known Ports" 0 through 1023 (such as SMTP port 25, and HTTP p

Bill Gates Webcasts

Aug 19

Webcasts, written transcripts, and PowerPoint slides of recent speeches by Bill Gates, Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect.

Does Visual Studio Rot the Mind?

Aug 19

IntelliSense is a technology that is inevitable. If Microsoft hadn’t done it, somebody else would have. Human beings have never been inclined to refrain from pursuing certain technologies because they may have unfortunate repercussions.

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