A Word from the "Wise": Don't Use Exceptions
A while back, I went to a local .NET event which had a number of presentations given on a variety of topics. I attended an intermediate-level talk presented by an out-of-town MVP that was entitled...
View ArticleHi, My Name is Alex, and I am a Resource Waster
Oleg "XML MVP" Tkachenko nailed it. I'm a "resource waster" and proud of it.I think the time has come where we can actually afford to trade off performance for maintainability. Although many...
View ArticleWhat Exactly Is An Exceptional Circumstance, Anyway?
I think that there's a general consensus out there that Exceptions should be limited to exceptional circumstances. But being that "exceptional" is a rather subjective adjective, there's a bit of a gray...
View ArticleCommunityServer: Custom Homepage With Thread Listing
In this Community Server tip, I'll describe how to make a quick & easy home page that displays posts from one or more forums on one page.. If you're concerned that new visitors to your community...
View ArticleProductivity++
Thought I'd share my review of James Avery's latest book ...If you spend a fair amount of time writing code in Visual Studio.NET, then Visual Studio Hacks will definitely improve your productivity in...
View ArticleThe "Steve Rule" Proved True Again
Yesterday on The Daily WTF, I mentioned something I called the Steve Rule: in a random sample of programmers, there will be more named Steve then there will be females. What's ironic is that I didn't...
View ArticleComputer Programmer Inflation
I was thinking the other day about the changes over the years in what we call people who write computer programs. Back in the day, we called these folks computer programmers. A rather fitting title,...
View ArticleComicality Inflation
My post the other day (Computer Programmer Inflation) got me thinking of another type of inflation that I've observed over the years: Comicality Inflation. Like other types of inflation, it's not as...
View ArticleDNA, XP, SOA, ESB, ETC Are Dead; FAD is the Future
I've come across a truly revolutionary software development methodology called Front Ahead Design (FAD). Essentially, it's a fundamental paradigm shift over "traditional" and "neo" ways of building...
View ArticlePounding A Nail: Old Shoe or Glass Bottle?
"A client has asked me to build and install a custom shelving system. I'm at the point where I need to nail it, but I'm not sure what to use to pound the nails in. Should I use an old shoe or a glass...
View Article"What's the Point of [SQL Server] User-Defined Types?"
I'm asked that question every now and then from other developers who've played around in SQL Server Enterprise Manager and noticed the "User Defined Data Types" tab under their database. UDT seem a bit...
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"When Should I Use SQL-Server CLR User Definied Types (UDT)?"
No one has asked me that question just yet, but with the release of SQL Server 2005 just around the corner, I'm sure a handful of people will. Unlike regular User Defined Types, CLR UDTs are a new...
View ArticleMySQL 5.0: Still A "Toy" RDBMS
"Ha," an email from a colleague started, "I think you can finally admit that MySQL is ready to compete with the big boys!" I rolled my eyes and let out a skeptical "uh huh." His email continued, "Check...
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Gettin' Down in Detroit: The 2005 Launch Party
I saw that Jason Mauss wrote about his experience at the San Fransisco 2005 Launch Party, so I thought I'd share my experience at the Detroit venue. Because it wasn't the "real" Launch Party, we didn't...
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Express Agent for SQL Server Express: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, and Mail
UPDATE: My appologies, but with the advent of relatively inexpensive commercial solutions avaiable, I've decided to suspend this project indefinitely. If I do need a solution for myself, I may take it...
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Holy Crap: I'm an Official MVP for MS Paint
There are few emails that one will receive in his lifetime that will render him completely speechless. This past weekend, I received one such email. Its subject read Congratulations on your MVP Award!I...
View ArticleStop Using Enterprise Manager! (Use DDL Instead)
Of all the tools that ship with SQL Server, Enterprise Manager is by far the most feature-packed and widely-used. Nearly every SQL Server developer is familiar with Enterprise Manager. They are...
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Coghead: Web Applications for Dummies by Dummies
There's been a buzz going around about a new web startup called Coghead. Heralded by Business 2.0 as one of the "innovations that could reorder entire industries," Coghead is lead by former Red Hat...
View ArticleA Workaround For VirtualPath Weirdness With Custom VirtualPathProviders
[[ Meta-blogging: as you may have noticed from the name/description change (and of course, this article) I’ve decided to shift the focus of this blog back to the “front lines” of Microsoft/.NET...
View ArticleScriptOnly - The Opposite of a NOSCRIPT
Despite all of the advances in client-side scripting, the wonderful JavaScript libraries like Prototype and Scriptaculous, and the ease of writing AJAXy code in ASP.NET, there’s still one aspect of...
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