So you have just purchased your new laptop, and along with all the other software, it came pre-installed with Windows 7 Home Premium. Did you know that you can upgrade your version of Windows 7 without having to use a disk? As long as you have a valid upgrade license key, you are good to go.
You can purchase a Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade key too if needs be. To upgrade your system, it is advisable to download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor tool. You can get it from this download link. This will inspect your system and let you know if there are any compatibility issues.
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Default Web Site
With the release of Visual Studio 2010 came support to package up your ASP.NET Web Application. This also packages dependencies like the web.config, databases etc. An administrator can then import the created package via the Import Application option in IIS Manager. When I first read about this option, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. To access the Import Applications option, select the Default Web Site node under your server name.
The only problem was that the Import Application option was missing from the Actions pane in my IIS Manager.
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Today saw the All-In-One Code Framework Sample Browser updated to Version 4. I have to say, that I really love the look and feel of this latest version. Now while I know that there is a Sample Browser Visual Studio Extension for 2010, I feel that version 4 looks nicer and I wanted to have it available inside Visual Studio 2010. To enable this, follow these steps:
Step 1
From the Toolbar, select the Tools menu item.
Okay, you probably all know this, but somewhere someone doesn’t. And I thought it might be a nice article to post. Have you created a Windows Service with a Timer that isn’t working? The reason for this is because you probably added a Windows Forms Timer to your Service instead of a System Timer. So for future reference, this is what I did:
I just wanted to post a quick note here regarding a build error I got for the Log4Net Logging Service and Visual Studio 2010. I added the Log4Net DLL and some logging to my application, but on the Build, I received the following Warning:
The referenced assembly “log4net, Version=1.2.10.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=1b44e1d426115821, processorArchitecture=MSIL” could not be resolved because it has a dependency on “System.Web, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a” which is not in the currently targeted framework “.NETFramework,Version=v4.0,Profile=Client”. Please remove references to assemblies not in the targeted framework or consider retargeting your project
This simply means that the Log4Net DLL relies on some classes in System.Web and isn’t included in the current selection of your .NET Framework. This is because you can choose two types of .NET Framework 4. These are the Client Profile and the Full framework. When do I use NET4 Client Profile and when do I use NET4 Full Framework I hear you say? See here for an article.
Meanwhile, go to your Project Properties (Visual Studio Menu bar: Project ->[ProjectName] Properties…). You should see that the framework is selected to .NET Framework 4 Client Profile. Change this to the .NET Framework 4 and save. Rebuild your project and you’ll be good to go.
Trust but Verify
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This was the almost signature phrase adopted by Ronald Reagan. At the signing of the INF Treaty he used it again and his counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev responded: “You repeat that at every meeting,” to which Reagan answered “I like it.” Well in my mind, Ronald (who by the way, would have been 100 years old on the 6th of February 2011) had a point going there. How can we as developers adopt that mantra to our work?
Streams of Inspiration
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When do you know it all? You might be wondering what I mean by saying that, but is it possible to ever say that you know all there is to know about your chosen programming language? There are really some very good programmers out there. Guys and girls that dedicate their lives in the pursuit to knowing all there is to know about their language of choice. And when you come across one of these individuals, their grasp on that specific technology or topic is astounding. How do they do it, you wonder? They must know everything about XYZ.
Hello C# My Old Friend
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Simon & Garfunkel’s song title (Hello Darkness my old friend) reminds me of how I feel we should see the language we develop applications in. It should be a friend, not true? In other words, you should be very comfortable with your abilities developing in your language of choice. I’m a C# developer, and I love the language. I try to expand my understanding of it continually. In fact, you should never think that you know it all. Most importantly, you have to remember, that your pride must be left at the office door before starting your work day. There will always be another developer that knows more about a specific topic than you do. And you need to be big enough to take advice when given. But I don’t specifically want to talk about this.
Working from Home – The Pros and Cons
I have taken some time to write this next post, simply because I wanted to give it some thought. Working from home….. It sounds like a dream come true, right?
My company has their HQ in Johannesburg, and I have been working for one of their provincial branches from my home for the past 2 and a half years. The other day I was stunned that it had been so long. I then started thinking about the road I had traveled and how I have become accustomed to working alone.
First of all, some of the plus points are that I have so much more time with my family. I can also spend some quality time with my baby daughter during lunch hours. There is no morning commute through traffic to get to the office. The only commute that I am used to is down the hall to my office while grabbing a cup of coffee along the way. This commute also doesn’t cost me anything on fuel. But working from home does have a few proviso’s. There are a few things that are essential to any telecommuter.
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If you understand it, you can code it
In the 1989 movie, Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, his character (Ray) hears a voice whisper, “If you build it, he will come”. He sees a vision and promptly proceeds to turn his corn field into a baseball field. Well that takes a bit of determination and a lot of know-how. Ray knew how to grow corn (and believe me, farming is very, very hard work) but building baseball fields is a whole different story. What I am trying to say is the following; If you understand what you need to do, you will be able to do it. I am convinced that programmers should live by this mantra.
Often there is a total communication breakdown between the analyst and the programmer. That is because the analyst that wrote the functional requirements for the system speaks analyst. Most programmers speak geek. Don’t believe me? “So I need to create a class of type Sales Order that will enumerate the collection of order lines and execute a non-query to the database to insert the record for the linked Sales Order Header ID?” Sitting across the person that made this statement is a very nervous, wide-eyed analyst. Okay, so perhaps this isn’t the best of examples, but you get the idea.
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