Developers are always looking for ways to write better code more quickly.  In the presentation this month, Joe Walling will cover 3 tools by DevExpress that will help you do both.  The first tool, CodeRush which is a Visual Studio add-in, has functionality to help you visualize and navigate your code more efficiently and quickly. The code templates make the Visual Studio Snippets and Code Expansions look wimpy.

Next we’ll cover refactoring. In addition to discussing what refactoring is and some of the different refactorings, he will demonstrate several different refactorings using Refactor!Pro. We will discuss when and why you would use each refactoring.

Finally, we will cover XAF, Devexpress’s framework for application development. Joe will create an example application that will show you how easy it is to create a Winforms and a Webforms app using the framework.  You’ll be amazed at how much functionality you will get for so little work. During this part of the presentation, you will also see how easily you can swap out the type of backend database the application uses.

One of the examples will use VistaDB since the primary consideration for choosing a database for this particular application was that it was small and could be easily deployed. VistaDB fit those requirements. It has a small footprint and can be xcopy deployed.

Schedule

• 6:00 PM Pizza and networking
• 6:30 PM Announcements
• 6:45 PM Presentation
• 8:15 PM Prize drawings
• 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Prizes

Make sure to have your tip ready.

As well as a couple MS Press books and other small SWAG, JetBrains is providing a license for one of their products. The winner will have a choice of IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper, dotTrace, RubyMine or their forthcoming Ruby IDE. DevExpress is providing one license of CodeRush  and Refactor! Pro. In addition to these normal sponsors, VistaDB Software Inc has provided us with a personal license of VistaDB to give away this month.

Note that the pizza and meeting are free for anyone interested in .NET technologies. For a map to Greenville Technical College visit our site http://www.gspdevelopers.org/ContactUs/tabid/57/Default.aspx. To ensure that you don't get ticketed while you are at the meeting, be sure to put a parking pass on your dash. I have attached a parking pass in case you need one.

Upcoming Events

Raleigh Code Camp - Sep 19th

Carolinas Mega Code Camp - Oct 10th.

Free ASP.NET Pro Subscription

The publishers of ASP.NET Pro would like to send the magazine directly to you rather than bulk shipping them to me and having me distribute them.  If you would like to keep your free print subscription coming, go to http://www.tinyurl.com/KeepMyASPNETPRO and fill out the form.

The presentation 8/18/2009 will be given by Brian Hitney from Microsoft Corp.

Have you heard about Windows Azure but still have no idea what it is or how to get started?   In this presentation, we’ll take a look at what Windows Azure is from a developer’s perspective, and how you can leverage several Windows Azure features to help make scalable, cloud-based applications.   In addition to applications, we’ll also look at storing data in the cloud, using the new relational offering, SQL Azure.   Previously known as SQL Data Services, we’ll look at this new relational offering and how you can leverage this in your applications.

Brian Hitney is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft Corporation, covering North and South Carolina. He frequently delivers presentations and works with local community groups and customers on emerging technologies, .NET, and developer tools. Prior to his Developer Evangelist role, Brian worked as a software engineer on a Windows Vista team in Redmond, and before he joined Microsoft he helped build large scale e-commerce applications for various companies across the United States. Brian is based out of Greensboro, NC.

Schedule

• 6:00 PM Pizza and networking
• 6:30 PM Announcements
• 6:45 PM Presentation
• 8:15 PM Prize drawings
• 8:30 PM Wrap-up

Prizes

Make sure to have your tip ready for an enhanced opportunity at winning a prize.

As well as a couple MS Press books and other small SWAG, JetBrains is providing a license for one of their products. The winner will have a choice of IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper, dotTrace, RubyMine or their forthcoming Ruby IDE. DevExpress is providing one license of CodeRush  and Refactor! Pro.

Note that the pizza and meeting are free for anyone interested in .NET technologies. The pizza this month is being sponsored by Find Great People. For a map to Greenville Technical College visit our site http://www.gspdevelopers.org/ContactUs/tabid/57/Default.aspx. To ensure that you don't get ticketed while you are at the meeting, be sure to put a parking pass on your dash.

Upcoming Events

Atlanta Silverlight Firestarter - Aug 22nd in Atlanta, GA.

Southern Fried Roadshow, Fall 2009 Tour - Sep 2nd in Atlanta, GA.

Southern Fried Roadshow, Fall 2009 Tour - Sep 22nd in Charlotte, NC.

Raleigh Code Camp - Sep 19th

Carolinas Mega Code Camp - Oct 10th.

***Last minute Change***

Instead of the ASP.NET + jQuery presentation, Glen Gordon from Microsoft is goingto present on Building Connected Silverlight Applications.

Silverlight is a compelling platform for building visually engaging applications that run within a browser. Many sessions focus on building UI, but not too many address how to effectively interact with services, either on the web or within your organization, from Silverlight. In this session, we’ll examine how to consume a variety of services from Silverlight, like SOAP, REST and WCF. We’ll highlight tips & tricks for communicating securely and efficiently with services, as well as how to debug effectively.

We’ll also look at creating interesting mashups in Silverlight using the wide variety of services that are available on the web today.

Glen Gordon, Developer Evangelist, Microsoft

Glen Gordon is a Developer Evangelist with Microsoft. He presents to developer audiences around the country at user groups and conferences, and supports the developer communities in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Originally from New York, Glen Gordon earned a degree in applied psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied the learning process and how humans interact with computers. Glen joined Microsoft in 2003 and he has almost 20 years of experience as a software trainer and developer. Glen lives near Atlanta with his wife and three children, and his hobbies include playing the piano and all things Disney. Read Glen’s blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/glengordon or follow him on twitter @glengordon.

As well as a couple MS Press books and other small SWAG, JetBrains is providing a license for one of their products. The winner will have a choice of IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper, dotTrace, or RubyMine. DevExpress is providing one license of CodeRush  and Refactor! Pro.

 Note that the pizza and meeting are free for anyone interested in .NET technologies. The pizza this month is being sponsored by TekSystems. For a map to Greenville Technical College visit our site http://www.gspdevelopers.org/ContactUs/tabid/57/Default.aspx. To ensure that you don't get ticketed while you are at the meeting, be sure to put a parking pass on your dash.

Joe Walling will be presenting "Beyond Wages", an introductory level presentation that will show you ways to make money and build your reputation while holding down a day job. It will include setting your goals, things that you should take into consideration when planning projects, various techniques for making money, and how to market yourself or your product if you are interested in moonlighting as a consultant. We will also discuss how to determine what software to write and how to sell your software programs.

Schedule

6:00 PM Pizza and networking
6:30 PM Announcements
6:45 PM Beyond Wages
8:15 PM Prize drawings
8:30 PM Wrap-up
Prizes

Make sure to have your tip ready.

As well as a couple MS Press books and other small SWAG, JetBrainsJet is providing a license for one of their products. The winner will have a choice of IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper, dotTrace, or RubyMine. DevExpress is providing one license of CodeRush Refactor! Pro.

Note that the pizza and meeting are free for anyone interested in .NET technologies. For a map to Greenville Technical College visit our site http://www.gspdevelopers.org/ContactUs/tabid/57/Default.aspx. To ensure that you don't get ticketed while you are at the meeting, be sure to put a parking pass on your dash. I have attached a parking pass in case you need one.

The pizza this month is being sponsored by ICAP.

At our next meeting on Tuesday Nov 17th, Al Gonzalez and Rick Casebere will do mini presentations on publicly accessible web APIs. Find out how easy it is to access data and take advantage of the functionality provided by services such as Google maps, Yelp, Microsoft Live Search, and others from your .NET programs.

The pizza this month is being sponsored by the MDI Group.

Presentations:

1.  Balsamiq Mockups by Al Gonzales

Al Gonzales started the evening with a quick demo and provided some opinions on the desktop version of Balsamiq Mockups. The program can be used to create wireframes and prototypes. He also provided an intro into low fidelity prototypes and their benefits to the software development process.

2.Distributed Version Control Systems (DVCS) by Al Gonzales

Al introduced distributed VCS, including some history, and discussed the benefits and issues with using a DVCS. He then addressed how they compare to centralized VCS like CVS and Subversion.

You can download Al's presentation here.

3. Review of Logging Frameworks by Joe Walling

Logging, also called tracing, is the process of recording events and data structures as a user is using the program. The ability to analyze this audit trail can be invaluable in troubleshooting bugs or security breaches. Joe Walling discussed some of these best practices and provided a short review and his opinion of which logging frameworks would be best in different situations.

You can download Joe's presentation here.

Bio:
Al Gonzalez is a long time member of the guild who unfortunately has more tech interests than time (some blame Twitter).

Professionally, he is Co-Owner and Senior Software Developer of Progressive Software Solutions, Inc. A local custom software development company that concentrates on the Microsoft technology stack. The company is in its fifth year doing business in the Upstate.

Daniel Waldschmidt the Technology Evangelist and Joe Feser the Lead Developer of NCover gave the presentation on easy ways to understand and implement unit tests and how to use that information to write better code.  

Code quality is a topic that developers take personally.  Poorly written code affects their livelihood, their reputation, and the time they spend on creating new solutions that people enjoy using and are willing to pay for.  Taking a software product from idea to prototype to mass consumption is an amazing adrenaline- filled experience for a developer of any skill level.  And yet, this process is not without issues.  
 
Buggy code is expensive to fix and saps development momentum.  Developers hate to deal with it.  No good developer plans to write bad code. But very few developers plan to not write bad code.  A plan is absolutely necessary to achieve maximum code quality results – and it is not too hard to do.

You can find more info about nCover at http://www.ncover.com

March 17th, Justin James will present on the Parallel Extensions Library. The Parallel Extensions Library (PFx) is a new system from Microsoft that makes it much easier to make code run in parallel. This makes your code run a lot faster on modern hardware, with much less effort than is traditionally required. Justin will be covering the basics of PFx, how to use it, and where to use it. In addition, Justin will provide “real-world” use case information for this new technology.

Bio:
Justin James is an employee of Levit & James, Inc. in a multi-disciplinary role. He is also the lead blogger and host of TechRepublic’s “Programming and Development” blog.

• 6:00 PM Pizza and networking
• 6:30 PM Announcements
• 6:45 PM Presentations
• 8:15 PM Prize drawings
• 8:30 PM Wrap-up

The XML Datatype and Object Serialization
Chris Clark will be giving the first presentation at the next meeting of the GSP Developers' Guild on Tuesday Feb. 17th. This presentation will walk developers through a sample application that makes use of some of the new technologies in the .NET developer's toolbox including Linq-to-SQL, Linq-to-entities, and the xml data type in SQL Server 2005 and 2008. Throughout the application there is an emphasis on exploring object serialization. After seeing some of the serialization techniques in action, we will discuss some of their caveats and performance implications.

Bio:
Chris Clark is a .NET developer with Blackbaud in Charleston, SC. He works primarily in ASP.NET and Visual Basic, building online content management systems for the nonprofit world. He has four years of experience developing with Microsoft technologies and graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in Computer Science.

Debugging
Joe Walling will do a short presentation on debugging. As well as covering some philosophical aspects of "Bugs", this mini presentation will show some debugging tips and some general use of debugging tools in Visual Studio.

Note that the pizza and meeting are free for anyone interested in .NET technologies. The pizza and refreshments for this meeting are being provided by Blackbaud, a leading provider of software and related services specifically tailored to meet the needs of nonprofit organizations. 

On Jan 20th, 2009, Chris Eargle presented on "Introducing MS Build". In the .NET Framework 2.0, Microsoft included a build platform that is extensible and can be used outside of the Visual Studio IDE. This presentation covered the fundamental concepts in creating a custom build script, how to integrate it with other development tools, and how to extend it with 3^rd party and custom tasks. 

Bio:  Chris Eargle is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional – Visual C# and an independent consultant in the Columbia, SC metro area.  He is currently working as a software architect on the South Carolina Integrated Tax System with Revenue Solutions, Inc. Chris is the president of the Columbia Enterprise Developers Guild and is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in ASP.NET.

The refreshments were provided by Find Great People (FGP)

Prizes

As well as the normal selection of MS Press books and other small SWAG, JetBrains provided a license for one of their products. DevExpress is provided one license of CodeRush Refactor! Pro

CWE/SANS Top 25 Most Dangerous Programming Errors

How many of the things in this article are you doing? Many of these errors could be easily avoided. This article should get you thinking about all of the things you should be doing.

Managing Your Email Inbox

As you may have heard me mention before, I don't know how I could deal with the junk mail I get if I hadn't discovered Cloudmark.. Earlier today I was reading an article about managing information overload in Outlook and they mentioned ClearContext, Xobni, and Gist. While I am experimenting with Xobni, I have not tried the others.  Have you tried any of them?  I would be interested in hearing about your experience and which you would recommend.