T4 – The Insource Code Monkey

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T4 usually stays behind the scenes in Visual Studio, but if you find that you have a good reason to write similar code over and over again, or use a lot of copy and paste, then it could be that you have a specific use for T4. There are times when it can be useful for generating code templates but it is versatile to provide a solution for a number of programming headaches.… Read more
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jQuery Fast Food Cook Book

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Anyone in IT should be aware of jQuery. This free, open-source JavaScript library has become amost essential to anyone creating a web-based application. Nick Harrison explains, in as sucession of small examples, why it helps his productivity so much, and takes the grudgery out of creating dynamic web pages.… Read more
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Database Refactoring

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Although the methodology of refactoring code has been adopted enthusiastically, the same has not really been the case with databases. Nick argues that the reason could lie in the extent of the task of unpicking complex databases systems sufficiently to make them more efficient and effective; and this will only be ameliorated with better tools and planning to support the techniques. … Read more
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Some NHibernate Best-Practices

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NHibernate can help to build a project more quickly if the database it connects to is sound. Otherwise, there are bound to be problems, but they are not problems of NHibernate's making. Nick Harrison gives some advice, and suggests some 'best-practices' for using it, fresh from the reality of developing an application based on NHibernate. … Read more
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Under the ORM Hood: Revealing the SQL

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Your application code may look neat and clean, and you are using a sound Object-relational Mapper, but when you put the pedal to the metal, you're not getting the performance. The time has come to lift the hood and see what SQL is being generated by the ORM, and what part of your code is causing the bottlenecks. The effect can be spectacular.… Read more
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jQuery Goodness in a DotNet World

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jQuery is one of the most popular JavaScript frameworks. It shields the programmer from the idiosyncrasies in the way that each browser implements the language: it makes life easier by doing all the routine chores and takes the pain out of AJAX. It also introduces a 'Wow' factor to browser-based applications.… Read more
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Back to Basics: Converting a Web Page to a Web Form View

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ASP.NET developers can learn a lot from MVC practices. This article shows you how to structure a WebPage in an ASP.Net web application so that it is behaves like an MVC View, and suggests a number of ways to increase the quality, and portability, of ASP.NET applications by encapsulation, and separating the logic between the Presenter and View. … Read more
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Reflector Pro Cometh

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Reflector 6 is here. Nick Harrison is a long-time Reflector enthusiast, and has been responsible for writing an add-in. As he'd helped test the new version, Nick asked to review it for Simple-Talk. The team were anxious to know what he thought. They needn't have worried.… Read more
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.NET Reflector meets the CodeDom

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.NET Reflector was the first .NET tool to allow assemblies to be disassembled back into the high level language that produced them. Moreover, it has a plug-in architecture that allows you to disassemble to any language for which you have a plug-in, or are prepared to write one. Nick Harrison takes it one further step, and creates a plug-in that produces the CodeDom code needed to create the contents of the assembly. Nick explains, gently.… Read more
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