As I already mentioned in one of my previous posts, I am starting a new project based on ASP.NET 2.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005. I had the chance to acquaint with these two and I can't hinder my astonishment and gratitude - really Microsoft has done great job with these. And to continue the conversion in the same direction, we are going to use Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) as our primary IDE along with its abundant features for project collaboration and control. Now I am going to give you a short overview of one the greatest features that VSTS has, and in my future posts I hope that I will give you more food for you soul :-)
Well, the feature I want to discuss now, is Code Analysis. Here is a short overview of what it actually is all about:
"Code analysis for managed code tool analyzes managed assemblies and reports information about the assemblies, such as violations of the programming and design rules set forth in the Microsoft .NET Framework Design Guidelines. "
Simple as that! Now, what it has to do with VSTS is that it is fully integrated into it and can be part of the build process, code check-in process and/or Team System build process.
The best way to understand this feature and see how powerful it is, I suggest playing with it. In order to enable Compile time Code analysis feature, just go your solution properties in VSTS, choose "Build" section and there select "Enable Code Analysis" checkbox. Then rebuild it and in the Output window you will see the results from the additional build step performed regarding code analysis.
What I personally found as very neat feature is the code analysis check-in feature - that is whenever you try to checkin source code in the team repository, your code will be verified whether it conforms to Microsoft guidelines for quality code. Here is a link, where you can find additional information about this feature (link).
I still don't know whether the set of rules for code analysis is extensible - if it is using FxCop underneath, I guess that will be as easy as a breeze.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Friday, February 10, 2006
Compiz Window Manager
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Microsoft E-Learning courses for ASP.NET 2.0 and SQL Server 2005
We are about to start a new project which will levarage ASP.NET 2.0 with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - ahhh, I am so thrilled! We all know that in terms of technologies, the aforementioned two can be classified as babies - hey the official release of Visual Studio 2005 was like 3 months ago.
My role within this team will be project manager - quite challenging becuase I have to find the optimum between the skills of the team members and the project specific goals and domain. In regards with technology, I am now at the phase where I am gathering different sources for education about ASP.NET 2.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
One very valuable resource, especially for those who have solid background with Microsoft .NET framework 1.0/1.1, is the online courses at Microsfot E-Learning (link). The courses there are separated into different sections, based on the different Microsoft products and the targeted audience (IT administrators, Software Developres, Advanced Developers, etc.). Here are the two sections that we will need:
What I don't like with this really very helpful service is that the courses which are not free, are available only for North America. See the excerpt below from here:
"Microsoft E-Learning products are currently available for purchase only within North America at this time. However, any content that is offered for free, or users who are redeeming a voucher or activation code, can access e-learning courses worldwide."
I am wondering - is it only a matter of billing control? If I am able to view the free content, then obviously there will be no problem to see the paid one. However, I guess that the billing system is not integrated with European's one, which may be the bottleneck with this. Or I could be wrong ...
My role within this team will be project manager - quite challenging becuase I have to find the optimum between the skills of the team members and the project specific goals and domain. In regards with technology, I am now at the phase where I am gathering different sources for education about ASP.NET 2.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
One very valuable resource, especially for those who have solid background with Microsoft .NET framework 1.0/1.1, is the online courses at Microsfot E-Learning (link). The courses there are separated into different sections, based on the different Microsoft products and the targeted audience (IT administrators, Software Developres, Advanced Developers, etc.). Here are the two sections that we will need:
- Visual Studio 2005 courses (link) - includes coures for Microsoft .NET 2.0, ASP.NET 2.0, Windows Forms
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 courses (link) - these courses are free until November 2006!!!!
What I don't like with this really very helpful service is that the courses which are not free, are available only for North America. See the excerpt below from here:
"Microsoft E-Learning products are currently available for purchase only within North America at this time. However, any content that is offered for free, or users who are redeeming a voucher or activation code, can access e-learning courses worldwide."
I am wondering - is it only a matter of billing control? If I am able to view the free content, then obviously there will be no problem to see the paid one. However, I guess that the billing system is not integrated with European's one, which may be the bottleneck with this. Or I could be wrong ...
Friday, February 03, 2006
Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2 Preview
The new and glamorous IE7 (beta 2) has been installed on my laptop successfully! I've heard a lot about it, but because it is a beta I thought that I didn't want to run into trouble. But, today I found lots of reviews of other peers who have already installed it and used for more than 30 days, and no one seems to have any major complains. Well, I said, why shouldn't I try it out?
To begin, you can download it from here. From there, you will prompted to download an installation, which is not that big - approx 11 MBs.
OK, and here are my first impressions. It is obvious that Microsoft is trying to get back into the Internet browsers space. Personally, I am using, IE6 but I am really not very delighted with it. I am "obliged" to use it, because I am used to store links from my local MSDN library, and in order to open them, I actually need IE. And honestly, this is the only reason not to forget about it. During my "free" surfing time (when I am not using MSDN library), I prefer Opera because of so many reasons like:
1. Has tab display
2. Has awesome bookmark features in terms of searching and maintenance.
3. Has the concept of sessions - thus you are able to store a given set of links under a given label, so that you can get back to this "topic" whenever you want.
4. Has integrated support for RSS
5. Has integrated support for NNTP
6. Has integrated mail access
Well, this list seems to be a long one for sure. With IE7, some of these wish-items have been fulfilled. For example, IE7 has tab display and supports RSS natively. It also has integrated search capability, which according to me is very useful. However, I respect the fact that on default they are using Google Search (not MSN Search), which shows that they are trying to follow customers preference (hey, we all know that Google Search is the most used search engine, respect!). Among these, I will say that the new design and outlook of IE is very very sexy, which for me as a user is also important.
However, I would have been far away more satisfied, if IE had had improved its bookmark capabilities. I personally have more than 5000 favorites, and believe me, it is really hard to search and navigate in IE. On the contrary, in Opera they have this very useful search, which digs into all directories of your favorites (not just in the root as it is in IE). But, hopefully, Microsoft will add it in the future - fingers crossed! :)
To begin, you can download it from here. From there, you will prompted to download an installation, which is not that big - approx 11 MBs.
OK, and here are my first impressions. It is obvious that Microsoft is trying to get back into the Internet browsers space. Personally, I am using, IE6 but I am really not very delighted with it. I am "obliged" to use it, because I am used to store links from my local MSDN library, and in order to open them, I actually need IE. And honestly, this is the only reason not to forget about it. During my "free" surfing time (when I am not using MSDN library), I prefer Opera because of so many reasons like:
1. Has tab display
2. Has awesome bookmark features in terms of searching and maintenance.
3. Has the concept of sessions - thus you are able to store a given set of links under a given label, so that you can get back to this "topic" whenever you want.
4. Has integrated support for RSS
5. Has integrated support for NNTP
6. Has integrated mail access
Well, this list seems to be a long one for sure. With IE7, some of these wish-items have been fulfilled. For example, IE7 has tab display and supports RSS natively. It also has integrated search capability, which according to me is very useful. However, I respect the fact that on default they are using Google Search (not MSN Search), which shows that they are trying to follow customers preference (hey, we all know that Google Search is the most used search engine, respect!). Among these, I will say that the new design and outlook of IE is very very sexy, which for me as a user is also important.
However, I would have been far away more satisfied, if IE had had improved its bookmark capabilities. I personally have more than 5000 favorites, and believe me, it is really hard to search and navigate in IE. On the contrary, in Opera they have this very useful search, which digs into all directories of your favorites (not just in the root as it is in IE). But, hopefully, Microsoft will add it in the future - fingers crossed! :)
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Web 2.0 and the future of Internet
It's been a while since the term "Web 2.0" began to emerge in technology articles and information sources. I am sure that you will meet it more and more in the future. In general, Web 2.0 referes to the "evolution of World Wide Web". There, the applicatoins will become more interactive and rich in functionality and thus get over the old perception that Web is more about static content. A good article about Web 2.0 was written by Tim O'Reilly and can be found here - take a look at it, it is really great.
Back to Web 2.0, the main focus is to design a new generation of services such as Microsoft Virtual Earth, Flickr, Orb and Digg ( and there are many many more). These are very, very strong examples, showing that the era of static Web documents is far far away. Actually, if you haven't already, I strongly recomment trying these out. With Virtual Earth you have a great map service at your finger tips and an amazing "Eagle Eye" view, which shows you a close view of a given terrain. You want to find a cafe in the local area - no probs, just search it there. Orb gives you the ability to stream TV and any kind of media from diverse locations. The last one, Digg, I find really amazing. People need information for in all kinds of topics, but sources are most important. Some of them are very biased, others - not reliable. Digg is trying to solve exactly this - each article has a "digg" index, which shows how many digg-ers liked and found it useful.
Back to Web 2.0, the main focus is to design a new generation of services such as Microsoft Virtual Earth, Flickr, Orb and Digg ( and there are many many more). These are very, very strong examples, showing that the era of static Web documents is far far away. Actually, if you haven't already, I strongly recomment trying these out. With Virtual Earth you have a great map service at your finger tips and an amazing "Eagle Eye" view, which shows you a close view of a given terrain. You want to find a cafe in the local area - no probs, just search it there. Orb gives you the ability to stream TV and any kind of media from diverse locations. The last one, Digg, I find really amazing. People need information for in all kinds of topics, but sources are most important. Some of them are very biased, others - not reliable. Digg is trying to solve exactly this - each article has a "digg" index, which shows how many digg-ers liked and found it useful.