Neat coding tricks with LINQ

Igor Ostrovsky has compiled a list of 7 tricks to simplify common coding tasks using LINQ.

The LINQ approach to converting sequences or collections is very elegant.

Here are 101 other samples

Uninstall SSRS if you are not using it.

I came across a good article over at SQL Server Central. I highly recommend signing up on their site if you haven't done so already. I am always finding good info over there...

Anyway, the article points out that you should really uninstall SSRS if you are not using it. Simply stopping and disabling the service does not fully prevent SSRS from attempting to validate it's encryption keys. I am not certain what problems this would cause other than filling up your event logs and needlessly utilizing you server's CPU cycles, but it is disconcerting that a service you assume is inactive in actuality still has live hooks into your server.

Visual Studio goes dark

I have been noticing a trend. Many developers are beginning to utilize darker color schemes in their VS IDE. I am not sure when or why this started. There are several posts floating around that contain some nice schemes. Most notibly is Tomas Restrepo's site.

Some of these darker schemes are nice, while others tend to remind me of the old 3270 emulators and CICS terminals. Its interesting to note that the IDE for Microsof Expression Blend makes nice use of black and gray.

I have adopted a scheme that I am really enjoying. Go grab it here...


*** UPDATE ***
I have since reverted back to a lighter color scheme. However I am not using the VS Default. Something about all the dark colors became irritating to me. Just personal preference I guess.

Silverlight 2.0 - Savior of the Internet or latest fad?

Recently I had the opportunity to build a control for SnagAJob.com in Silverlight 2.0. My first impression is...Wow!... This is going to change a lot of things.

I think it is important to mention that I am coming to Silverlight development late. I never played with the 1.0 or 1.1 releases. I never had to go through the early pains of discovery associated with the technology. (ahh...remember the early days of the AJAX Toolkit). First off, I want to give a big "hats-off" to the team over at Silverlight.Net. If you have not been to the site, you are definitely missing out. The Getting Started section is the perfect place to well.... get started. They also have a fabulous set of video tutorials and gallery samples (many with code) to get you up and running on Silverlight.

If you are new to Silverlight, developing in Silverlight 2.0 with managed code is very intuitive, especially if you have any prior experience with Windows Forms development. An easy way to think about the design paradigm is that of a Windows Form application running in the browser. BUT... it is so much more... It is Flash like in nature in that it runs as an embedded control in your page. You simply have to install the Silverlight runtime. Hopefully Microsoft will begin pushing out the runtime as part of it's Windows Update.

Could Silverlight be the death of AJAX? Silverlight is based upon a subset of WPF. The ability to develop web content using XAML will truly open up the Internet to a host of creative and visually stunning applications. The problem I see with AJAX is that it still requires the mixing of technologies. (HTML, JavaScript, Services). While Silverlight 2.0 doesn't completely eliminate the technology mash-up, I believe the unified development environment (XAML, Managed Code)that Silverlight 2.0 provides will super charge the development of visually attractive and highly interactive user experiences.

Could Silverlight be the death of ClickOnce? In some circumstances it might. It provides the end-user experience required by many applications that are currently written as Windows Forms applications and it's deployment scenario is possibly simpler than that of ClickOnce. To deploy a Silverlight application, you only need to copy the latest-n-greatest bundled version of your control (.xap file) up to your web server. Silverlight is cross-browser compliant, so the headaches of ClickOnce deployment for end-users running Firefox is avoided.

Silverlight is obviously not a silver-bullet. There are plenty of short comings that will need to be overcome, but I believe there are good things in store for this technology.

My friend and colleague Kevin Hazzard has been doing some great presentations and code camps lately on Silverlight. Check out his GotNet blog for some great reading.

Okay lets get started....

Well its about time I stared writing some of this stuff down...

I finally decided to start blogging about some of the cool and interesting things I have been up to in the past couple of years. For some background, I have been working in IT since 1994. I started out my career as a COBOL programmer using IMS and DB2. Around 1999 I transitioned into Network Administration (Windows NT, Novel, etc.) Finally I decided to get back into development. My heart wasn't in network administration. I always felt it was more fun to break things than to stop others from breaking things, so I worked my way back into application development. HTML, classic ASP, VBScript, etc. I have been doing .NET development for quite awhile now, however within the last 2-3 years I think things have been moving exponentially faster. Not only has there been seemingly exponential growth in the industry due to improvements in tool and technology, I believe I am hitting my personal stride in regards to software development. Coding has actually become fun again. Not that I didn't always enjoy writing code. I fondly remember sitting in front of an Apple IIe trying to create the next great game using BASIC. Today however I believe I am at a point where I can clearly see through the proverbial trees and I am getting a true look at the forest. Software development patterns emerge and system designs seem more intuitive. I don't profess to be an expert in anything, but I would like to think I could take a stab at most development challenges.

So, what will I be blogging about? Who knows? I will most likely try and post things that I find cool, interesting or innovative. Hang on...lets see where this goes.