DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by JamesNK

Json.NET 3.5 Beta 2 - JSON schema validation

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:29:45 GMT

The big new feature in Json.NET 3.5 Beta 2 is JSON schema validation. JSON Schema is a specification for defining the structure of JSON. Think of it as XML Schema for JSON except it is actually readable.

Oxitis - Acute or chronic anxiety toward sharing code online.

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:31:15 GMT

It was going to get defined sooner or later...

Build Server Rules

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 05:40:24 GMT

Breaking the build server is Serious Business. Fortunately there are a set of rules that have been put together by a group of wise and thoughtful men to encourage good build server practice. And beer.

The Mindscape documentation process

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:56:12 GMT

A walk through how a commercial software vendor generates the help documentation for their products.

Preventing Double Form Posts

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:01:09 GMT

Most posts on this topic focus on disabling the submit button that causes the post. This works fine when you only have one submit control. But, if you have multiple buttons and/or link buttons that can cause a post and want to avoid potential conflicts if a user clicks a second submit control before the first one has been processed then this is really simply approach.

Debate: Do We Really Need Three Layer Architecture?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:46:09 GMT

How many of you changed your database vendor (i.e. Sql Server, Access) after developing an application? How many of your data entities include business logic? I could say, less than 10% in both cases for my case. I found the similar statistics for my other known developers. I guess this is true for less that 10% of the developers around the world.

LINQ Farm: Covariance and Contravariance in C# 4.0

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:31:02 GMT

This post is designed to help you begin to understand a new feature in the next version of Visual Studio that involves covariant and contravariant support for delegates and interfaces. Eric Lippert's series of posts on this subject are definitely the definitive reference at this time. I'm writing this overview of the subject simply as an appendix to his explanation, and as quick reference for folks who want to get up to speed on this technology.

Silverlight Toolkit Released on CodePlex!

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:46:07 GMT

The Silverlight Toolkit is a collection of Silverlight controls, components and utilities made available outside the normal Silverlight release cycle. It adds new functionality quickly for designers and developers, and provides the community an efficient way to help shape product development by contributing ideas and bug reports. This first release includes full source code, unit tests, samples and documentation for 12 new controls covering charting, styling, layout, and user input.

Json.NET 3.5 Beta 1 - Big performance gains, Compact Framework support

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:46:04 GMT

New in this beta release of Json.NET 3.5 are big performance improvements (400%), Compact Framework support and lots more.

Speeding up ASP.NET with the Runtime Page Optimizer

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:31:08 GMT

An great new tool to automatically optimize your ASP.NET website.

ASP.NET MVC and Json.NET

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:31:02 GMT

Bringing Json.NET to ASP.NET MVC

LightSpeed 2.1 Released - includes new search API

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:01:02 GMT

LightSpeed 2.1, the performance minded object relational mapping framework, is fresh from the oven with new features like database independent full text search capabilities using Lucene.Net, Visual Studio integrated designer enhancements and a bundle of other new features.

ASP.net MVC goes Beta

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:31:05 GMT

Hot on the heels of Silverlight, MVC is out of preview and into Beta today.

Anders Hejlsberg: The future of programming languages

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 21:31:02 GMT

In this video Anders Hejlsberg takes a look at the future of programming languages and sees the trends; declarative, dynamic and concurrent. As the chief designer of the C# programming language and a key participant in the development of the .NET Framework Anders Hejlsberg has a lot to say about this development - not just as a wish but also as something that can be realized.

Some Thoughts on Oslo

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:31:10 GMT

The concept of modelling software in an abstract manner to ease the process of creating the real thing has been around for a while. And in all that time it's never really taken off in the mainstream. So it's pretty exciting to hear Microsoft has decided to give it a go - Microsoft have always been clever when it comes to examining the landscape, taking out the best bits, and building something that stands out from the rest. Let's hope they learn the lessons of others and produce something that's really different.

CodePlex launches support for TortoiseSVN

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:01:03 GMT

No longer do you need to host SvnBridge yourself, or use the Team Foundation Client or the CodePlex client. Now you can use your favorite SVN client and connect directly to your repository!

Supporting Leaderless Projects

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:25:47 GMT

Are you a junior developer working alone? Are you part of a team with no Development Team Lead (DTL)? Do you feel neglected, unloved and with nowhere to turn? Then this article is for you and your manager.

Subversion Support Comes to CodePlex. Sorta'

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:01:02 GMT

A little publicized feature lets you use Subversion to access project hosted on CodePlex - without the need to run SvnBridge locally!

JSON.NET DataTable Serializer

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:57:47 GMT

I've been thinking about replacing the JSON serializer in my internal codebase for some time and finally put a little effort into allowing JSON.NET from James Newton King to be plugged into my Ajax framework as a replaceable engine.

CopySourceAsHtml Addin for Visual Studio 2005/2008

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:39:55 GMT

CopySourceAsHtml (CSAH) is a free Visual Studio Add-In created by Colin Coller that turns Visual Studio code - with its indentation, color coding, and line numbers - into corresponding HTML with a few points and clicks of the mouse. This Add-In is great for pasting code samples into blogs and online articles.

Json.NET 3.0 Released

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:46:02 GMT

The latest version of Json.NET brings lots of new features including Silverlight support.

Lutz Reflector now owned by Red Gate

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:01:05 GMT

Lutz Reflector, the free .NET disassembler every developer developer should have, has been purchased by Red Gate software. Red Gate has stated they will continue to provide the tool for free.

A Serious Challenge for Open Source?

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:46:02 GMT

. . . what Mindscape has done is really quite impressive. To evaluate, accept, and incorporate feedback that quickly into the product and to have the installer ready that afternoon is impressive - for anyone.

Free Visual Studio File Explorer Add-in

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:31:03 GMT

The Visual Studio File Explorer Add-in (sexy name we know, but hey, it's self documenting) is a free Tool Window add-in for VS 2008 that provides a Windows Explorer style file system view. It's particularly useful for performing routine file system tasks without the need to "context switch" away from Visual Studio, which can be time-consuming over the course of days and weeks. It is shell-enabled so extensions like TortoiseSVN work too.

Documenting Coding Standards - Less is More

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:31:11 GMT

A colleague and I were recently invited to provide feedback on a client's coding standards and were sent a 60+ page document to review. In preparation for the meeting I diligently started to go through each section providing comments and suggestions as I went. But after about page 30 my concentration began to wane and my comments grew more and more sparse. The moral of this story... If someone that's being paid to review your coding standards is struggling to get through them then you can bet your bottom dollar your development team won't be reading them either. This post reflects on the things to consider when documenting your company's standards.