tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2008-08-07://53 2011-04-09T20:23:03Z Movable Type Pro 4.21-en tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2011://53.46111 2011-04-09T20:23:03Z 2011-04-09T20:23:03Z

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.43445 2010-11-29T21:15:07Z 2010-11-29T21:15:07Z

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.43290 2010-11-07T21:28:44Z 2010-11-07T21:28:44Z

Every C# developer knows how to work with value types like int, double, boolean, char, and DateTime. They're really useful, but they have one flaw: they can't be set to null. Luckily, C# and .NET give you a very useful tool to for this: nullable types. You can use a nullable type any place that you need a variable that can either have a value or be null. This seems like a simple thing, but it turns out to be a highly flexible tool that can help make your programs more robust. In this tutorial, I'll show you the basics of nullable types, and give you a quick example of a program that uses them to handle unpredictable user input.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com Every C# developer knows how to work with value types like int, double, boolean, char, and DateTime. They're really useful, but they have one flaw: they can't be set to null. Luckily, C# and .NET give you a very useful tool to for this: nullable types. You can use a nullable type any place that you need a variable that can either have a value or be null. This seems like a simple thing, but it turns out to be a highly flexible tool that can help make your programs more robust. In this tutorial, I'll show you the basics of nullable types, and give you a quick example of a program that uses them to handle unpredictable user input. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.43133 2010-10-16T14:21:23Z 2010-10-16T14:21:23Z

XML is one of the most popular formats for files and data streams that need to represent complex data. The .NET Framework gives you some really powerful tools for creating, loading, and saving XML files. And once you've got your hands on XML data, you can use LINQ to query anything from data that you created to an RSS feed. In this post, I'll show you two simple LINQ to XML tutorial style examples that highlight basic patterns that you can use to create or query XML data using LINQ to XML.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com XML is one of the most popular formats for files and data streams that need to represent complex data. The .NET Framework gives you some really powerful tools for creating, loading, and saving XML files. And once you've got your hands on XML data, you can use LINQ to query anything from data that you created to an RSS feed. In this post, I'll show you two simple LINQ to XML tutorial style examples that highlight basic patterns that you can use to create or query XML data using LINQ to XML. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.43016 2010-09-29T20:48:13Z 2010-09-29T20:48:13Z

What does it really mean for two objects to be equal? How can you tell if object #1 is equal to object #2? Do you compare all of their properties? What about private properties or fields? Is it possible for two objects to have exactly the same state, but to not be equal? It's more complex than it seems. In this post, I'll detangle some of those ideas, and show you how to use IEquatable, the Equals() and GetHashCode() methods, and overloading the == and =! operators so that you can compare objects in your own code.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com What does it really mean for two objects to be equal? How can you tell if object #1 is equal to object #2? Do you compare all of their properties? What about private properties or fields? Is it possible for two objects to have exactly the same state, but to not be equal? It's more complex than it seems. In this post, I'll detangle some of those ideas, and show you how to use IEquatable, the Equals() and GetHashCode() methods, and overloading the == and =! operators so that you can compare objects in your own code. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.43015 2010-09-25T14:44:04Z 2010-09-25T14:44:04Z

There are a lot of programmers who really don't like project management -- they toss all things project management related into the "pointy haired boss" category and try not to think about them again. But if you're a job-seeking programmer, or a programmer looking to move your career ahead, then there are a few really basic things that could do you really well on an interview.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com There are a lot of programmers who really don't like project management -- they toss all things project management related into the "pointy haired boss" category and try not to think about them again. But if you're a job-seeking programmer, or a programmer looking to move your career ahead, then there are a few really basic things that could do you really well on an interview. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.42899 2010-09-10T03:33:14Z 2010-09-10T03:33:14Z

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.42859 2010-09-03T21:43:25Z 2010-09-03T21:43:25Z

If you've ever used a library that has accurate MSDN-style API documentation, you know how useful it can be. There are lots of ways to create HTML documentation. But the easiest way that I've found is to use Sandcastle. It's an open source documentation generator from Microsoft that reads your assemblies (DLL or EXE files) and their XML Comments and automatically generates HTML documentation. Sandcastle is a very flexible tool, which means it's also a very complex tool. Luckily, there's a companion tool, Sandcastle Help File Builder, that makes it really easy to get up and running with Sandcastle in minutes.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com If you've ever used a library that has accurate MSDN-style API documentation, you know how useful it can be. There are lots of ways to create HTML documentation. But the easiest way that I've found is to use Sandcastle. It's an open source documentation generator from Microsoft that reads your assemblies (DLL or EXE files) and their XML Comments and automatically generates HTML documentation. Sandcastle is a very flexible tool, which means it's also a very complex tool. Luckily, there's a companion tool, Sandcastle Help File Builder, that makes it really easy to get up and running with Sandcastle in minutes. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.42009 2010-08-31T16:35:58Z 2010-08-31T16:35:58Z

In a recent post on Building Better Software, I wrote about why developers should care about project management. But I think it's worth making the opposite case: why project managers should care about development.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com In a recent post on Building Better Software, I wrote about why developers should care about project management. But I think it's worth making the opposite case: why project managers should care about development. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.41945 2010-08-22T21:01:11Z 2010-08-22T21:01:11Z

One of the first things a new C# developer learns is how to work with strings. We teach the basics of strings early on in Head First C#, and it's the same way with practically every other C# book I own. So it shouldn't be surprising that novice and intermediate C# developers feel like they've got a pretty good handle on strings. But strings are more interesting than they appear. One of the more interesting aspects of strings in C# and .NET is String.Intern, and understanding it can help make you a better C# developer. In this post, I'll go through a quick String.Intern tutorial to show you how it works.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com One of the first things a new C# developer learns is how to work with strings. We teach the basics of strings early on in Head First C#, and it's the same way with practically every other C# book I own. So it shouldn't be surprising that novice and intermediate C# developers feel like they've got a pretty good handle on strings. But strings are more interesting than they appear. One of the more interesting aspects of strings in C# and .NET is String.Intern, and understanding it can help make you a better C# developer. In this post, I'll go through a quick String.Intern tutorial to show you how it works. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.41884 2010-08-17T23:54:16Z 2010-08-17T23:54:16Z

I'm a sucker for an old-school text-mode console game. Text-mode games rendered their "graphics" by drawing text characters at different positions on the screen using 16 background and foreground colors. They're also easier than ever to build in C# and .NET, thanks to the System.Console class, which lets you position the cursor, do animation by moving blocks of the buffer, use colors and special characters, and handle input from the user. In this tutorial post, I'll walk you through all of the tools you need to create a retro MS-DOS style text-mode video game, including a complete game that you can build yourself.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com I'm a sucker for an old-school text-mode console game. Text-mode games rendered their "graphics" by drawing text characters at different positions on the screen using 16 background and foreground colors. They're also easier than ever to build in C# and .NET, thanks to the System.Console class, which lets you position the cursor, do animation by moving blocks of the buffer, use colors and special characters, and handle input from the user. In this tutorial post, I'll walk you through all of the tools you need to create a retro MS-DOS style text-mode video game, including a complete game that you can build yourself. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.41843 2010-08-08T16:55:46Z 2010-08-08T16:55:46Z

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.41834 2010-08-05T23:40:32Z 2010-08-05T23:40:32Z

One of the most powerful aspects of the C# programming language is its rich type system. But until you've got some experience building programs, it's difficult to appreciate it -- in fact, it can be a little baffling at first. But we want to give you at least a taste of how types work in C# and .NET. This tutorial helps get you started exploring the type system. In it, you'll create a console application that gives you an introduction to some of the tools you have at your disposal to work with types.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com One of the most powerful aspects of the C# programming language is its rich type system. But until you've got some experience building programs, it's difficult to appreciate it -- in fact, it can be a little baffling at first. But we want to give you at least a taste of how types work in C# and .NET. This tutorial helps get you started exploring the type system. In it, you'll create a console application that gives you an introduction to some of the tools you have at your disposal to work with types. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.40232 2010-07-12T16:03:20Z 2010-07-12T16:03:20Z

I recently had a reader e-mail me with a question about assemblies and namespaces because he had trouble on a job interview that asked a lot of interview questions about .NET assemblies. Luckily, I had a good answer for him that covered the .NET assembly basics: what an assembly is, how to create a class assembly DLL, how to use that assembly DLL in another program, how to use the Add References window in Visual Studio, and where Visual Studio gets its assemblies to list in that window. At the end of Head First C#, we have a section about it that also uses the IDE as a teaching tool to explore how assemblies work.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com I recently had a reader e-mail me with a question about assemblies and namespaces because he had trouble on a job interview that asked a lot of interview questions about .NET assemblies. Luckily, I had a good answer for him that covered the .NET assembly basics: what an assembly is, how to create a class assembly DLL, how to use that assembly DLL in another program, how to use the Add References window in Visual Studio, and where Visual Studio gets its assemblies to list in that window. At the end of Head First C#, we have a section about it that also uses the IDE as a teaching tool to explore how assemblies work. tag:broadcast.oreilly.com,2010://53.40076 2010-06-28T16:19:12Z 2010-06-28T16:19:12Z

Someone once told me that he could tell a form was built by a novice C# developer if it stopped responding when he pressed a button. I'm not 100% sure I agree, but I definitely think that an intermediate or advanced C# developer should be able to build a form that stays responsive even when the program is doing something CPU intensive. Luckily, C# and .NET give us a simple way to do that using the BackgroundWorker class. This post walks you through a simple BackgroundWorker example that shows you how to use it to let your form report progress while doing work in the background on another thread.

Andrew Stellman http://www.stellman-greene.com Someone once told me that he could tell a form was built by a novice C# developer if it stopped responding when he pressed a button. I'm not 100% sure I agree, but I definitely think that an intermediate or advanced C# developer should be able to build a form that stays responsive even when the program is doing something CPU intensive. Luckily, C# and .NET give us a simple way to do that using the BackgroundWorker class. This post walks you through a simple BackgroundWorker example that shows you how to use it to let your form report progress while doing work in the background on another thread.