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Scott Guthrie, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice Presedent and all round .Net Guru is coming to Manchester, UK, later this month to talk about what’s new with Visual Studio 2010, ASP.Net 4.0, Silverlight 3 and upcoming improvements to the MVC Framework!

Seating for this event, entitled Guathon 2009,  is very limited and as such you can only join the wait list at the moment, but I have been lucky enough to secure a place at what promises to be a fantastic workshop.

The announcement on the event home page over at DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper also has a funny section of “things you might not know about Scott Gu”, such as;

When Scott Guthrie throws exceptions, it’s across the room.

All arrays Scott Guthrie declares are of infinite size, because Scott Guthrie knows no bounds.

Scott Guthrie doesn’t have disk latency because the hard drive knows to hurry the hell up.

Scott Guthrie writes code that optimizes itself.

Scott Guthrie can’t test for equality because he has no equal.

Scott Guthrie doesn’t need garbage collection because he doesn’t call .Dispose(), he calls .DropKick().

For the rest of this amusing list and more info on the event or to add yourself to the wait list, visit the event home page.

Technorati Tags: ASP.Net, ASP.NET MVC, scott gu, scott guthrie, silverlight 3, visual studio 2010

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Title: Professional Refactoring in C# and ASP.Net

Publisher: Wrox

Author: Danijel Arsenovski

Even the most experienced developers can sometimes be found sat staring at their monitor trying to decide which way to implement a solution. Asking a fellow developer for input will probably result in more avenues to consider as opposed to narrowing down the initial choice. But all things considered if the end result meets the user’s requirements does it really matter which design choice we make?

Well……yes. The code will still need to be maintained and updated; this can be time consuming if the code is unstructured or messy. However with some refactoring techniques to follow it’s possible to make the right decisions during design and implementation and this book contains the techniques to help you make those decisions.

Why did I read this book?

I’ve read a couple of books on the subject of refactoring, these where mainly concerned with the business logic layer side of applications so I was interested in what this book had to say about refactoring ASP.Net.

First Impressions

The book starts with a good introduction of refactoring including its benefits and also spends some time “Debunking Common Misconceptions” (one or two I’ve firsthand experience of trying to dismiss) and “Smells”. This isn’t a scratch and sniff section but a way of identifying code that is a candidate for refactoring. Throughout the book Smells will be introduced along with ways to detect them, which refactoring technique to use to eliminate them and the rational for removing them.

The Introduction chapter includes an index of the Smells as well as Refactorings and Object-Orientated Design Principles so they can be quickly found and referenced. I found this to be really useful as I was working my way through the book. 

What’s Covered

In the words of the book;

“This book covers the refactoring techniques that will enable you to become more efficient and productive. You will be able to use this information to respond to change and improve the design of existing code”.

In my opinion this book does indeed go a long way to achieving the above statement.

The book covers the following areas;

• Assembling a refactoring toolkit
• Techniques for performing unit testing 
• Tips on refactoring to patterns
• Using refactoring to upgrade legacy C# and ASP.Net code
• Using method extraction to eliminate duplicated code
• Making code more simple and easier to understand
• OO theory and design patterns
• Methods for using LINQ and C# 3.0 enhancements

What I Liked?

I enjoyed the chapters on “LINQ and Other C# 3.0 Enhancements” and “Refactoring ASP.NET Applications” which I found very insightful and will be using some of these techniques in the future.

Most of this book is, obviously, based around Refactoring Techniques and these chapters are very well presented with good code examples. I like the way that the Smells and Refactorings are emphasised throughout the chapters as this reinforces the point being made as well as making the sections easier to locate when you want to reference them.

Although I have read about refactoring before I did enjoy reading through these chapters which reinforced what I had previously read and having the examples in C# was a real advantage as this is the language that I currently develop with.

What Could Be Better?

I’m a big advocate of Test Driven Development (TDD) and I think that this methodology is key when refactoring. Always having a number of tests for the code that you are refactoring allows you the confidence to alter the code knowing that if your change was to impact an area you weren’t expecting this would be highlighted to you with a failed test. Although this is mentioned in this book I think that this should have been given more emphasis.

The Final Verdict

All in all this was a good and worthwhile read and although I would not recommend relying on simply this book for all areas of knowledge of this subject (i.e. TDD), I would certainly recommend the book to my peers.

Technorati Tags: ASP.Net, book review, C#, refactoring, wrox

Continue reading »]]> Title: ASP.NET MVC 1.0 Problem – Design – Solution

Publisher: Wrox

Authors: Nick Beradi, Al Katawazi, Marco Bellinaso

It seems that recently every man and his dog have been talking about ASP.Net MVC and the many advantages it brings along with it.  I have to admit that, up until now, I have not really looked into it a great deal, except for watching a couple of sessions at last years MSDN Roadshow.  Anyway, I decided that it was about time I found out more about ASP.Net MVC and see if it really was worth all of the hype.

Why did I read THIS book?

The reason I chose this book was two fold – firstly, it claimed to give you a good grounding in using ASP.Net MVC to those with experience of ASP.Net Web Development.  Secondly, in the books’ own words it provided “solid, workable solutions to real work problems” (I was dubious about this claim….many books I have read have claimed to do this and failed miserably with the first couple of chapters).

First Impressions

Right from the very first chapter it starts off on the correct foot, giving an overview of the application you will create as you work through the book, that application being The Beer House, which is available for download as a starter kit.  The main attraction of this application to me was that it contained many of the features I often implement in my own applications, such as forums, article management and user profile / membership management.  The idea of reading a book that directly relates to my real-world programming was a big pull for me.

Thankfully, this book certainly does not try and force MVC down your throat as a must-use solution, instead giving an honest opinion that, yes MVC is very useful in many situations, but that in other situations, classic ASP.Net Web Forms may still be the more logical option.  This is a refreshing change from some of the other more self-righteous books I have had the des-pleasure of sampling where they simply see their subject matter and related methods as the only way to go.

What’s Covered?

I don’t think I can put the content of the book in better words that the book itself, so here are those very words;

All of the above is covered in ample detail and I really did find this book extremely useful when relating the MVC implementation with my tradition Web Forms methods.

I especially liked the fact that attention was paid to the design of the application you create.  Coming from a web design background I am often astounded by the lack of attention paid to this area and it was pleasing to see a chapter dedicated to this for the non-design minded developer.

The other thing I loved about this book was that as well as ensuring every detail was covered off when developing each solution for the Beer House application, the authors have made a clear effort to highlight when something more may be needed in different circumstances and provided sample code and examples where needed.

Source Code Problems

Probably the only bad thing I have to say about this book were the problems I had when attempting to get the source code to compile once I had downloaded it from the Wrox web site.  I think the main problem was that the code on the site was possibly an old version with several other versions kicking around the internet.  I am unsure as to which was the correct up-to-date copy.

However, all that said, with some tinkering, I did manage to get it to compile and what a lovely application it is.

The Final Verdict

I found this book to be an extremely concise and focused journey through ASP.Net MVC and a perfect introduction to the subject and I would highly recommend it to anybody who is looking for a good grounding in the subject.

This was also my first read of a book from the Problem – Design – Solution series from Wrox, and if the other books in the series are in a similar style, then I look forward to reading more as the straight forward style with real-world connections suited me down to the ground.  

You can find this book for sale on Amazon or from the Wiley web site.

Technorati Tags: ASP.Net, ASP.NET MVC, book review, C#, wrox

Continue reading »]]> This is fresh from the typemock.com blog;

Unit Testing ASP.NET? ASP.NET unit testing has never been this easy.

Typemock is launching a new product for ASP.NET developers – the ASP.NET Bundle – and for the launch will be giving out FREE licenses to bloggers and their readers.

The ASP.NET Bundle is the ultimate ASP.NET unit testing solution, and offers both Typemock Isolator, a unit test tool and Ivonna, the Isolator add-on for ASP.NET unit testing, for a bargain price.

Typemock Isolator is a leading .NET unit testing tool (C# and VB.NET) for many ‘hard to test’ technologies such as SharePoint, ASP.NET, MVC, WCF, WPF, Silverlight and more. Note that for unit testing Silverlight there is an open source Isolator add-on called SilverUnit.

The first 60 bloggers who will blog this text in their blog and tell us about it, will get a Free Isolator ASP.NET Bundle license (Typemock Isolator + Ivonna). If you post this in an ASP.NET dedicated blog, you’ll get a license automatically (even if more than 60 submit) during the first week of this announcement.

Also 8 bloggers will get an additional 2 licenses (each) to give away to their readers / friends.

Go ahead, click the following link for more information on how to get your free license.

Technorati Tags: ASP.Net, typemock, unit testing

Continue reading »]]> Microsoft have just spoken about the new Windows Web Gallery at Mix09

Basically the Windows Web Gallery is a single web site that makes community apps available based on both ASP.Net and PHP.  The site is still in its early days, but already features well known apps such as DotNetNuke and WordPress.  There is also a submission system for you to have your own apps included as long as it meets the guidelines set out by MS (I haven’t read them yet).

The plus points are it should allow you to always ensure you have the latest versions of the apps and keep your eyes out for new material arriving on the scene.

Check out the Web Gallery now here.

Technorati Tags: ASP.Net, community apps, open source, php

Continue reading »]]> UPDATE: This post was originally written for the Beta version of Expression Web 2. However, the content still applies to the full version that has now been released.

By now you have probably heard that the beta of version 2 of Microsoft’s web design tool Expression Web has just been released.  I am a big fan of Expression Web, having used it from the beta of version 1, and like many people I have been eagerly awaiting the release of version 2.  So, was it worth the wait?

Lets break down some of the new and updated features in Expression Web 2;

 PHP Support

If you develop using PHP (which I don’t), then the new version of Expression Web certainly delivers alot for you!  The app now supports PHP intellisense and syntax highlighting, which will likely bring all the PHP developers who liked the look of Expression Web 1, but not the lack of PHP support, into the community. 

But thats not all.  Expression Web 2 now supports the previewing of PHP sites locally, without the need for a seperately installed web server.  I know how much that features helps me all the time when I’m using Expression for creating ASP.Net sites and no doubt this will be the same for PHP developers.

ASP.Net & AJAX Controls

One of the biggest gripes I had (and I wasn’t alone) with Expression Web 1 was the lack of AJAX support.  When Expression Web was originally released, I automatically assumed that the standard AJAX controls (update panel, update progress, script manager etc.) would be available. Not so. This meant that I along with countless other developers and designers had to partially create our pages in Expression and then switch to Visual Studio or Visual Web Developer to work with AJAX.  Then, once you had these controls in your page, you recieved errors in design view in Expression becuase it didnt support the controls.

Luckily, the Expression Web team listened to the feedback and they have fixed this one too, and there is now full support for the standard ASP.Net Ajax controls to simply drag and drop them into your page.

Also, with regards to ASP.Net controls, you can now include custom controls in your web site, as well as a couple of new ASP.Net data controls, namely the ListView and DataPager control for when you are working with .Net 3.5.

Silverlight 1.0, Windows Media & Flash

You can now drop your Silverlight 1.0 applications straight into your site using Expression Web 2. Further to this, there is now support to also embed Windows Media and Flash into your site as well as Flash preview in design view!

Photoshop Support

Another new feature, which I know I am going to end up using all the time, is the newly added support for importing from photoshop.  Expression Web 2 will import any PSD (Photoshop) file and convert it to an optimised image file format for your site.  Not only that, but it has in-built support for photoshop layers, allowing you to decide to show or hide particular layers from the psd file.  Finally, once you have your optimised image, you can go back and edit it in photoshop from with Expression and it will update your picture in your site accordingly.

In Summary

Good job Microsoft!

Above are just four of the main new features that are part of the new Expression Web 2 Beta, a couple of the others which I won’t go into now are;

• Improved FTP Publishing
• Enhanced CSS styling and validation
• Byte Order Mark Options (one of the little niggles with the first Expression Web was the lack of support for BOM, leading to encoding errors, especially with applications like WordPress).

If you want to try Expression Web 2 Beta (I would definantely recommend it), go and download the beta here.

I would also suggest checking out the Expression Web Team Blog for news and updates regarding the app.

Technorati Tags: AJAX, ASP.Net, Expression Web, Web Design