Doug Rhoten over at CVNUG just sent me a link to the LINQ project.  The LINQ project extends C# and VB.NET wih  native language syntax for queries.  There are some excellent resources on the page along with code tutorials. Native language syntax for queries is something I've missed since my xBase days. ...

I keep running into an interesting condition with an EMC NAS device.  Part of our web front-end reads and writes files to an external EMC NAS device shared among the clustered web servers.  When using a Samba-based NAS device, we configure IIS to run under a username / password that also exists on the NAS device.  We then...

I've been training for my blackbelt for the past 9 months and took the test this past Saturday. After a few hours of doing every move I've learned since my white belt, I squared off for 5 two-minutes rounds against blackbelts who were fully rested.  I have to say I'm releived to get it done. I was scheduled to take the test back in...

I will be speaking tonight on Test Driven Development at the Chippewa Valley .Net User's Group in Eau Claire at 5:00. I hope to see you there. -Steve

As I'm looking at coordinating shared binary and code components across multiple applications,  I came across an excerpt from the book "Software Configuration Management Startegies and IBM Rational ClearCase: A Practical Introduction".  There is some useful information in the article that applies to code sharing (as opposed to binary...

As I'm looking at coordinating shared binary and code components across multiple applications,  I came across an excerpt from the book "Software Configuration Management Startegies and IBM Rational ClearCase: A Practical Introduction".  There is some useful information in the article that applies to code sharing (as opposed to binary...

The "Blogging my way to the PDC" contest is ending on Friday and the winner is being announced on Monday.  If you haven't written one yet, please do so and make sure it's worse than mine :) Please go to my entry and click on the fancy red PDC banner to vote my entry.  And while you're at it, check out and vote for the other CodeBetter...

The "Blogging my way to the PDC" contest is ending on Friday and the winner is being announced on Monday.  If you haven't written one yet, please do so and make sure it's worse than mine :) Please go to my entry and click on the fancy red PDC banner to vote my entry.  And while you're at it, check out and vote for the other CodeBetter...

I've been taking a closer look at Team System and what this means for day-to-day team operations.  More specifically, I'm interested in how project tasks are managed. I originally posted the point that Team System is too expensive and is just another Rational competitor.  I now believe those two conclusions are wrong.  After...

I've been taking a closer look at Team System and what this means for day-to-day team operations.  More specifically, I'm interested in how project tasks are managed. I originally posted the point that Team System is too expensive and is just another Rational competitor.  I now believe those two conclusions are wrong.  After...

Here's a thought I just had - Microsoft Project is to Software Project Management as UML is to Code UML is not architecture nor is it code design.  UML is a static picture that describes intent at a given point in time. These diagrams may have significant value at certain points in time and zero value at other points.  The final code...

Here's a thought I just had - Microsoft Project is to Software Project Management as UML is to Code UML is not architecture nor is it code design.  UML is a static picture that describes intent at a given point in time. These diagrams may have significant value at certain points in time and zero value at other points.  The final code...

I previously blogged about a set must-read garbage collection articles and issues around directly calling GC.Collect().  Thanks to Raymond Lewellen who recently pointed me to the Maoni blog, and now I definitely need to update this list.  These entries are phenomonal and it's too bad that Maoni hasn't blogged in a while. ...

I was spending some time over at David Anderson's AgileManagement.net site. First, check out his interview with Robert Scoble.  David discusses the background of his influences from Eli Goldratt and W. E. Deming and how these are being molded into Microsoft Team System. He talks to some detail on managing the development process...

I was reading Jeremy Miller's post on Code Smells and another classic .Net code smell occurred to me.  (I have to say I love the term 'Code Smell' - I use it all the time now. Thanks Jeremy.) The most insidious .Net coding smell I've run across is: GC.Collect() If you search your application and find this call, stop everything you are...