DotNetKicks.com : Stories kicked by drugarce

Visual Studio Keyboard Shortcut Tip

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:31:31 GMT

Typing the Ctrl key and - (the minus key) returns you to the previous cursor location, be it in the same file or in a different, open file.

New ASP.NET Charting Control

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:31:03 GMT

From ScottGu's blog. Brand new, Free, ASP.NET 3.5 chart control. It looks very nice!

CSS Friendly Control Adapters -- Dead? : LeeDumond.com

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:42:12 GMT

It's now coming up on two years since the release of Microsoft's ASP.NET CSS Friendly Control Adapters. Remember them? Well, 1.0 is still the "official" production release, but at some point Microsoft handed over the keys and the whole shebang was moved to CodePlex, where it seems a lot of good ideas go to die.

Back to Basics: Generics

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:01:12 GMT

Introduction There are language features that are nothing more than syntactical sugar. For example, C#'s coalesce operator (??) is a short-handed and specialized if-else. Object initializers make it easier to set properties on a newly created objects. Some features though go beyond mere convenience and add real value. I know it seems like we constantly have to learn new things, while at the same time actually produce code to pay our bills. It can be hard to pick and choose what to learn and what can wait. Let me be straight up though: if you haven't mastered generics yet, you're starting to fall dangerously behind.

4 Steps To Ensure You're The Worst Developer Ever!

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:46:05 GMT

There are lots of articles about improving your skills as a developer. Everyone likes to talk about how to strengthen their skills and produce really good software. But, what if you want to be the worst developer ever? Nobody seems to want to share those secrets.

Learning how to turn an Anonymous object into a Dictionary

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:31:17 GMT

Learning how to turn an Anonymous object into a Dictionary via a short screencast

ASP.NET Connection Session Slides and Samples Posted

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 22:31:02 GMT

I've published my session slides and samples from the Fall 2008 ASP.NET Connections conference. The sessions include: jQuery and ASP.NET, WCF REST and JSON with ASP.NET and Dealing with Long Running Requests in ASP.NET.

Suspicious DNK Accounts

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:31:29 GMT

Conclusion There is an incentive for publishers that use DNK to setup phony accounts that will help get stories from certain domains on the front page. So guess what happens ... it would appear that a certain number of people are doing this.

Boy Scout Check-ins

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:16:02 GMT

How to leave your code campground cleaner than you found it.

Creating A Comma Delimited String

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:31:46 GMT

Creating a Comma Delimited String using the .NET frameworks CommaDelimitedStringCollection class.

Difference between NULL and DBNull

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:34:50 GMT

I have always misunderstood the difference between NULL and DBNULL until recently while I was working on ASP.NET web application, and was talking to a Webservice and I found an exception coming from one of the web methods inside the Webservice which is using the SqlCommand.ExecuteScalar() method.

For vs Foreach Performance (in .NET)

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:11:18 GMT

Timing the difference between a "for" loop and a more "modern" version using "foreach" and Enumerable.Range.

Looking for a Lot of .NET Code Samples - They Are Right Under Your Nos

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:16:11 GMT

You have a wealth of code samples on your computer, here is how to find them!!!! An Easter Egg from Microsoft.

Cleaning DBNull values in a DataTable

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:27:57 GMT

A simple way to clean DBNull values from a DataTable

Sending email with jQuery and a web service

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:16:04 GMT

This article show to use jQuery to interact with an asmx web service. Utilizing jQuery the contact form can be submitted without postback and the values passed via JSON to the web service. You learn how to ceate a new service and add the service reference as well coding the jQuery to pass the data

3 themes adapted for Blogengine.NET

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:46:03 GMT

3 wp themes: Notepad Chaos, FreshCitrus and Scruffy adapted for Blogengine.NET 1.4.5... more to come ;-)

If the .Net BCL is drywall, Extension Methods are spackle

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:46:49 GMT

I know many people get upset at the very idea of Extension Methods, but I already consider them to be an indispensable part of my programming toolkit. I'm seeing so many times where a quick extension method can make code be much more readable. Other times an extension method against even a core BCL type seems to fill in a natural hole in the official API's and knocks out a lot of duplication.

UK Software Consultant Nightmare: The IT Recruiting Agents

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:16:02 GMT

The definite guide to the tricks and tactics employed by some IT recruting agents that made the UK software consultant's recruting process a nightmare.

Custom jQuery Selector for ASP.NET WebForms

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:16:13 GMT

My quest for a better way to select ASP.NET auto-generated IDs with jQuery.

jQuery and Microsoft

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:01:02 GMT

ScottGu announce that Microsoft will be shipping jQuery with Visual Studio going forward. We will distribute the jQuery JavaScript library as-is, and will not be forking or changing the source from the main jQuery branch. The files will continue to use and ship under the existing jQuery MIT license.

Turn postcard photo into a stunning comment form using CSS

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:16:02 GMT

Comment forms allow visitors to leave their impressions about the content. Although the content is a king, general impression isn't negligible at all. Each element in a design can contribute to a better user experience. This applies to comment forms as well. This tutorial will teach you how to make a stunning comment form using an old postcard photo.

Tips & Tricks: Use DebuggerDisplayAttribute for easier debugging

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 08:01:02 GMT

When debugging, it's common to hover over an object to get a quick view of what its properties are. This is where DebuggerDisplayAttribute comes in. The format string looks similar to normal .NET format strings in that the values to replace are between curly braces, but instead of being told what to substitute the debugger treats these values as expressions and attempts to evaluate them using the current context.

Easy way to improve your image gallery using jQuery

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:16:02 GMT

Let's say you are browsing a CSS gallery and you want to check out some new and beautiful website designs. And you are of course interested in some details - for example, which category design belongs to, what's the rating or whatsoever. This information could be rendered below thumbnail, but there are other, more attractive ways of displaying additional data. In this article we'll see how to improve image gallery with a simple trick.

List of countries, cities, languages

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:31:03 GMT

You will find in the following links list of countries, cities, and their languages in CSV format, you can import into any database:

Render ASP.NET Control as String

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:16:02 GMT

Some simple tips and a handy extension method for rendering any ASP.NET control as a string, which can then be passed via a web service to an AJAX call.