With each revision, SharePoint becomes more a SQL Server Database application, with everything that implies for planning and deployment. There are advantages to this: SharePoint can make use of mirroring, data-compression and remote BLOB storage. It can employ advanced tools such as data file compression, and object-level restore. DBAs can employ familiar techniques to speed SharePoint applications. Bert explains the way that SharePoint and SQL Server interact. … Read more
How does one test the user-interface of a web application? Too often, the answer seems to be 'clumsily, slowly, and not very well'. The technology of automated, repeatable, testing of websites is still developing, but it exists; and Michael Sorens is here to describe an even better approach based on Selenium
… Read more
The most effective way to document .NET code so that others can understand it and use it, is to use XML Documentation and SandCastle. It isn't that easy. Michael Sorens produces the easy guide to the process that Microsoft never managed, and introduces several applications that help.… Read more
Quite often at Red Gate, we are some of our own most enthusiastic software-users. SmartAssembly is a case in point. In the words of the current IT cliché, 'we eat our own dogfood'. We sent Andrew Clarke to find out more....… Read more
When you are developing a database application that, by its very nature, suffers from I/O bottlenecks, you need to get a complete picture of how all the tiers of your application work together. By quickly determining whether the problem is code-related or part of a database process, you will be well on the way to getting a fix, especially if you can see immediately which stored procedure is taking too long to execute. Science Fiction? No. as Jeremy Jarrell found out when he discovered ANTS Performance Profiler 6.… Read more
Prototyping with Sketchflow transforms what was once a frustrating and time-consuming chore. With SketchFlow, WPF prototypes can be created and changed with amazing ease. SketchFlow is WPF's secret weapon. Well, it was secret until Michael Sorens produced this article. … Read more
You may have a twinge of doubt when your code passes all its unit tests. They might say that the code is OK, but if the code is definitely incorrect, will the unit tests fail? Mutation Testing is a relatively simple, but ingenious, way of checking that your tests will spot the fact that your code is malfunctioning. It is definitely something that every developer should be aware of. … Read more
If you are in the .NET Software business, you have a problem. .NET assemblies can be read, and debugged, by the purchaser with almost the same ease as if you'd distributed the source code. This isn't always what you wanted or intended, so you'll need an application such as Smart Assembly. Khawar explains the simple process of protecting your company's assets.… Read more
When Michael sets out to do something, there are no half-measures; So when he set out to learn WPF, we all stand to benefit from the thorough research that he put into the task. He wondered what utility applications could assist programming in WPF. Here are the fruits of all his work.… Read more
Almost all applications have to interface with components or modules written by somebody else, for which you don't have the source code. This is fine until things go wrong, but when you need to refactor your code and you keep getting strange exceptions, you'll start to wish you could place breakpoints in someone else's code and step through it. Now, of course, you can, as Geoffrey Braaf discovered.… Read more
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
A bit of string concatenation never hurt anybody, right? Think again. Carl Niedner has been designing software since 1983, and was shocked to find his latest and greatest creation suddenly plagued with long loading times. After trying ANTS Profiler, he discovered one tiny line of forgotten concept code was causing his pain.… Read more
Using ANTS Performance Profiler with SharePoint has, previously, been possible, but not easy. Version 5.2 of ANTS Performance Profiler changes all that, and Chris Allen has put together a straight-forward guide to profiling SharePoint, demonstrating just how much easier it has become.… Read more
While trying to get the information he needed out of various SQL, MySQL and Oracle environments, Michael finally got tired of endlessly flicking through reference manuals and having to work so hard just to formulate his queries. So he decided to build a cross-platform Query Template solution to make his life easier, and he even went as far as building a .NET control to be integrated into applications. He's been kind enough to share the control, and the theory behind it, with us.… Read more
Ty Anderson assumed that his cryptographic library was perfect until he tried it out with ANTS Performance Profiler. Within twenty minutes, eight and half of which were spent watching a video overview of ANTS Performance Profiler, he was able to make a ten percent performance improvement. Although his ego was slightly bruised by the experience , the fact that his code was even better soon restored his confidence.… Read more
We were recently taken to task by a reader who felt that the one place he'd expect to find a nice simple introduction to memory profiling with ANTS Memory Profiler™ 5 would be on Simple Talk. Memory profiling has an intimidating reputation, but fortunately Laila Lotfi came up with a simple introduction that even ordinary mortals could appreciate. … Read more
Developers of software that is used in the office need to be aware of what Games Developers are doing to make the learning of games intuitive. Games don't require you to read a manual or engage in training. Maybe Office software should inveigle the users into a gentle pedagogical experience so that they fully exploit the potential of the software without having to read screeds of instructions. The only question is how....… Read more
When a page in SharePoint takes 30 seconds to load, it is time for any developer to be concerned. There is much to be gained by taking the obvious steps of removing functionality that is not required, but at some point, you'll need to take a close look at the code to see what parts need optimizing. Shereen Qumsieh describes how she reduced loading time to less than a third of what it had been.
… Read more
You have a Data-Access Layer that is generating dynamic SQL, and you haven't the time to understand the implementation of the business layer. Something that is firing unexpected volumes of queries is slowing the code down. What do you do? You can now avoid having to hunt methodically for the cause from the queries up; you can now do it rapidly from the code down. Geoffrey Braaf explains...… Read more
Application Developers and designers often seem addicted to playing video games. Is this wasted time? Perhaps not, if they are quick to learn from the game that there must be no blind alleys in software, you must always provide a way of making progress, and that users of tools don't want to use software particularly, they need to get a job done.… Read more
