So after wasting about an hour and a half debugging why in the world I kept getting an invalid cast exception, I discovered a quirk in the way ASP.NET loads assemblies.  Apparently, the .NET framework loads everything in the \bin directory that even looks like a DLL.  For example, if you have a file called DLL_ the framework will load it...

I got a comment from a gentleman by the name of Anthony DeRosa asking for more details relating to how to load an assembly from a network location from my earlier post regarding the GAC.  So even though I found that this is addressed elsewhere when I googled for it what the heck another entry won't hurt anyone. Let's start...

So after my complaining about SharePoint documentation you might be wondering how to get some good SharePoint training.  Well the answer is pretty clear cut.  You get training from Barracuda.NET, a company run by Ted Pattison and Jason Masterman both former DevelopMentor guys. I've been going through their training now but...

So as I've stated before, my new role is partially focused on SharePoint.  Coming into this role, I had no experience with SharePoint and I really wanted to hit the ground running when I started my new position because a lot was expected out of me.  I quickly learned however that SharePoint documentation is scarce at best. ...

I finished reading Mythical Man Month (aka MMM) recently and quite honestly I was amazed at how a book that was originally published in 1975 can be so on target with so man aspects of software development.  Obviously not everything in the book is so pertinent however his foresight is amazing.  The MMM is in a...

Ever find yourself creating an input form in ASP.NET that required a lot of Controls to be validated?  Well, I have.  It's tedious.  You have to add at least one validator to each Control you wanted validated.  Apparently after discussing this with other people I've found that I'm not the only person who was wishing...

I finished training and started new position.  My official title is “SharePoint Developer” but I knew nothing about SharePoint coming into this job.  My boss therefore sent me this article to get my SharePoint knowledge to a working level.  I hightly recommend this article to anyone who needs to work with...

It's not everyday that I feel confident in my career decision.  Many days I question why I'm chose to be a programmer.  My family wanted me to be a doctor and on those days that I doubt my career choice I'm often wondering what stopped me from going to med school.  I was a Molecular Biology and Biochemistry major...

So as I mentioned before, I was reading The Practice of Programming.  I just finished the book today so I figured I'd give you guys some feedback of how I felt about the book. Unfortunately, I felt the book was a waste of time.  The Art of UNIX Programming I felt covered the topics in a much better and much more generic way...

I stopped reading the blogs and mail groups I subscribe to several months ago but now I'm back in gear.  I think the reason I stopped was because I felt overwhelmed.  I missed a couple of days of reading and found myself several hundred messages behind.  Not wanting to miss any exciting news, I tried reading more messages each day...

I recently finished reading a book called The Art of UNIX Programming (here for purchase, here for online reading) by Eric Raymond.  The book was provided to me by my employer so I thought I would be a good trainee and read it.  I had seen references to it before in places like JoelOnSoftware.com so it also had some good...

In every .NET programmer's life, he/she must come to terms with (at least one would hope) the Global Assembly Cache, aka the GAC.  Simply put, the GAC is place for strongly named .NET DLLs to be placed so that they may be shared across multiple applications.  This provides developers a way to place their DLL once on a machine and have...

Today I was made aware that Intel is amidst an initiative to create chips capable of interpreting Java byte-code in the same way a normal ship would interpret assembly.  Now I really don't know much about chips but upon hearing this I thought to myself "Wow... that's really going to make Java's performance skyrocket past .NET's."  I...

http://www.ftponline.com/weblogger/forum.aspx?ID=1&DATE=02/23/2004 Got the article through a great friend.  Don't know if he wants his name here so he'll remain nameless.  However, it is worth mentioning my friend's argument which is the strongest I've heard.  His arguments are: “What does that teach children? ...

While I ordinarily set AutoGenerateColumns = false on ASP.NET DataGrids, I finally found a pretty good use for them.  I had a result set that was coming back with a variable number of columns all of which need to be display.  I thought what a perfect use for the auto-generating columns but low and behold I discovered the...