Apptitude Newsletter

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Respect yourself, protect yourself

By Kent Sharkey on 8/25/2008 3:46 PM

Like a lot of other people lately, I've been having a botnet play with my Web site. I decided to take a closer look at the attack, and how I can minimze its effect using the free tools LogParser and URLScan.

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Free chapters on ASP.NET MVC

By Kent Sharkey on 8/21/2008 2:00 PM

I have to admit that I really like the upcoming ASP.NET MVC ("It will ship in a month ending in -ber") Web framework. It's not as mature as the existing Webform model, but I like how it gives more control over the pages, and navigation of the site. Now, to prepare, Microsoft has negotiated five free chapters out of some of the upcoming books on ASP.NET MVC. Definitely worth taking a look at if you're planning (or developing) a site using that technology.

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Visual Studio 2008 SP1 ships

By Kent Sharkey on 8/13/2008 3:14 PM

By now, I'm sure you've heard that Service Pack 1 is out for Visual Studio 2008
        and the .NET Framework 3.5. The arrival of SP1 for a development tool is often a
        sign that it is the moment that it is safe to start working with the product; so
        if you've been holding off, it's time to take another look at 2008.

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A first looq at Linq

By Kent Sharkey on 7/23/2008 3:48 PM

I have to admit: I've been a little slow to have a close look at Linq. I blame this on two opinions I developed on first looking at it. However, I guess it's time to start looking at it.

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Want to show off?

By Kent Sharkey on 7/22/2008 2:09 PM

New Media Manitoba is holding their second DemoCamp next Tuesday (the 29th). Come to see great prototypes, or come to show your own.

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Upcoming ALT.NET Conference in Calgary

By Kent Sharkey on 7/1/2008 8:34 AM

Are you test-driven? Agile? Are you up on all the latest three letter acronyms (IoC, BDD, DRY)? Or are you just a curious sort who wants to know more about developing using these technologies? If so, you should strongly consider heading to the ALT.NET Canada event. It's not your normal developer event, as it's actually designed by the attendees in a model that has become known as "Open Spaces".

Whoever shows up is the right group. Whatever happens is the only thing that could have. Whenever it starts is the right time. When it's over, it's over.

The conference runs from August 15-17, 2008 in Calgary. Details at their Web site. I hope to see you there.

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Keep everything in one place: everywhere

By Kent Sharkey on 6/26/2008 2:57 PM

Give Microsoft a problem, and you'll soon find them developing multiple solutions. Take synchronization. We've already covered the Synchronization Services, but there are many other teams working on this problem. The Windows Live team have provided their answer, in the form of a Beta of Live Mesh.

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Put your database on a diet: SQL Compact Edition

By Kent Sharkey on 6/9/2008 3:26 PM

Just about every application you can imagine needs some way of storing data, thus the importance of tools like Access, Oracle and SQL Server. Lightweight applications can make use of a simple text or XML file, while larger, more complex applications need a full-fledged database. There are some applications that sit in the middle: too much data for a simple file, while you don't want to go through the effort of installing a service just to store some data. Enter the latest edition of SQL Server: Compact Edition.

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Is your data access code portable?

By Kent Sharkey on 5/27/2008 3:44 PM

While not every application needs some degree of database flexibility, the need to change your database does happen some times. You may be attempting to create a reusable data access framework that may be used to connect to multiple different databases in different applications, or you may have a change in plans, leading to the requirement of connecting to some new database (or database version). When that happens, do you:

Rewrite all your code from scratch
Go through your data access code, changing it as needed for the new database provider
Make a change in your configuration file and continue without code changes

Avoiding code changes is the ideal scenario, and there are two main ways you can achieve it in your code.

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ASP.NET MVC: Another way to create Web pages?

By Kent Sharkey on 5/14/2008 4:30 PM

The new ASP.NET MVC framework provides developers with an alternative to the traditional WebForm model. It enables developers to more easily create highly testable Web sites with clean URLs and structure.

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