Posted by Chris Brandsma on Oct 29, 2009 in
Dotnet |
View Original Article AutoMapper is one those tools tools that seems to be gaining in popularity lately, generating a lot of talk on the web and at user groups. Seemed like a good idea to talk with its creator, Jimmy Bogard, and get the run-down on it.
In this code case we have Elegant Coders Chris Brandsma and Richard Cirerol (listen as Chris completely stumbles over Rich’s last name), and we are joined by Cory Isakson. For those of you outside of Bosie, Cory is a local usergroup leader, Code Camp presenter, and .net junky. We keep trying to get Cory to blog, but so far he is resisting our calls.
Get the show here
Tags: AutoMapper, CodeCast
Posted by K. Scott Allen on Oct 29, 2009 in
Dotnet |
View Original Article Everyone who talks about ASP.NET MVC gets asked the question:
Should I use MVC or Web Forms?
There’s been quite a bit of debate on this topic, but in a couple years I don’t think it will matter.
10 Types Of Developers
… those who can count in binary, and those who don’t care.
The IT developer who doesn’t read blogs and works 8 hours a day in a Microsoft shop is either portrayed as a hero who produces business value, or vilified as a duct-taping Mortimer who produces a mess. The truth is somewhere in the middle, and the fact is that developers like this look at MVC versus Web Forms and see this:
… which is why so many people ask the question. There is no clear distinction. Most developers don’t have a passion for TDD or composite UIs – they just want to get the day’s batch transactions through the firewall and into a spreadsheet for the business folks. “I see two web frameworks. I can use either. Just tell me which one is best!!”.
Meanwhile…
Platforms versus Frameworks
There was a big SharePoint conference last week, and SharePoint is clearly positioning itself for global feature domination.
- Office integration? Check.
- End user customization? Check.
- Visual Studio designer? Check.
- REST and ATOM feeds from anywhere? Check.
- Administration interface with reporting and logging? Check.Check. Check.
- Build for Internet and Intranet? Check and check.
- Connect to any data source? Check.
- Enterprise level authentication and authorization? Check.
- Silverlight? Check.
- Workflows? Check.
- Anything else you can think of? Check.
When you stack up SharePoint versus MVC or Web Forms, then everyone can see a contrast. One is a small framework to build on. The other is a giant platform that moves tons of data across the corporate landscape.
The SharePoint platform is an out-of-the-box-do-everything solution you tweak and augment for a particular environment. Some developers think this is great. Some developers think this is scary. At least the contrast makes for an easy decisions.
There Really Are 10 Types Of Developers
… those who like frameworks, and those who like platforms.
Developers who like platforms will want to use SharePoint. Install it. Customize it. Then watch end users collaborate in spreadsheets on numbers from Analysis Services.
Developers who like frameworks will want to use MVC. It’s light. It’s extensible. It leaves them in complete control.
Web Forms is caught in the middle. The abstraction is too heavy for framework lovers. At the same time, it’s not an out-of-the-box solution despite all the drag-n-drop data controls and pre-configured providers. It’s vulnerable to both sides and both SharePoint and MVC have momentum and excitement.
The question in the next decade won’t be: “MVC or Web Forms?”.
The question will be: “MVC or SharePoint?”
But nobody will ask the question, because the answer is easier to figure out.
Posted by Andrew Trice on Oct 29, 2009 in
Flex |
View Original Article
I read today that a new version of Unity, a 3D Platform for the web, was released yesterday. It is full of new features, but most importantly, it is now free.
Tags: 3d, Blogs, free, News & Events, unity
Posted by W3Avenue Team on Oct 29, 2009 in
Database,
Javascript,
MySql,
PHP |
View Original Article UserCake is a simple user management system developed in PHP that provides you a foundation to build user applications without all the hassle. It is object oriented, cleanly written, well commented, formatted and documented for easy customization.
UserCake requires PHP5, MySQL or MySQLi to work. UserCake does not have a admin backend, it is merely a foundation to start building your application. It uses phpBB’s DBAL or Database Abstraction layer to support multiple DBMS.
Features
- Login
- Register
- Lost password
- Update password
- Update user details
- Email templates
- SHA1 security + Salt / Hash
- Account activation
- User groups
Developed by Adam Davis; UserCake is available under Creative Commons – Attribution 3.0 Unported License. You can find further information & download on UserCake Website.
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Tags: Adam Davis, CC License, Software
Posted by Jan Van Ryswyck on Oct 29, 2009 in
Dotnet |
View Original Article Mark Nijhof is going to enlighten us all with his DDD/CQRS sample application. You can read all about it at the E-VAN blog.
Tags: E-VAN
Posted by David Starr on Oct 29, 2009 in
Dotnet |
View Original Article My wife, Eleanor, runs a small side business making some extraordinary things with needles, thread, and cloth. She makes quilts, dresses, stuffed animals, clothes, and reupholsters furniture to round it off. She’s been honing her skills, trying new things, and improving her craftsmanship for many years. She’s very good and has some faithful clients.
Recently, it occurred to me to ask her a seemingly innocuous question:
When a client asks you to make something you’ve never made before, what do you tell them it will cost?
“First of all,” she replied, “every single job is something I’ve never done before.”
Boom. I think we’re on familiar ground here.
I wrote some questions for her to answer in an email and this post shows her responses. Her answers appear in italics.
I find this a fascinating discussion of project estimation and craftsmanship.
What do you do when the client doesn’t know what they want?
There are two kinds of clients that fit into that category:
- Those who have some sort of unqualified vision and hazy idea of what they want, but lack the vocabulary and expertise to complete their thoughts
- Those who want something different from what they have, and don’t really care much beyond that.
Customer #1 is the most work of the two. They deserve and require time, since they are paying me for my services. It takes time sitting with these clients, talking through concepts, drawing things on paper, asking questions and offering ideas trying to get to the core of what they want, what they actually need and what’s physically possible. I have found that it takes a high level of skill to create something that is perfect to someone else.
Customer # 2 doesn’t happen often, but is a lot of fun! These are the rare clients that enable my inner artist to flourish and shine, with no constraints or outside demands. These are the clients want something new and shiny, but don’t have a huge list of demands. They want some sort of element of surprise.
Problems ensue when I think I’ve got a #2 and didn’t ask enough question to realize I was dealing with a #1.
How do you charge your clients?
Certain jobs have a set fee. These are tasks I’ve done for 20 years; I know how long they take, I could do them in my sleep, and they’re the same regardless of the client. On the incredibly rare occasion one of these jobs isn’t what it appeared to be, my bad and I eat the cost (and I’ll pay more attention next time!).
Other jobs, the custom jobs, are harder to price out. Now that I have a larger body of work, I have a better idea of how long things take. If it’s something I’ve never done, I estimate my time in my head, and then (because I’m always overly optimistic in my estimation) I double that to come up with my estimated total of time. Then I factor in what my time is worth per hour.
I also have to know what other professionals are charging for similar services, as it’s tough to get clients if I’m charging twice what everyone else wants for the same service.
Do you tell them up front what a job will cost?
If it’s not a custom job, I always tell my clients the cost up front. I may adjust the cost of a task between clients, but I don’t change the price after I’ve quoted on non-custom jobs.
Pricing custom jobs is a lot harder. I run my formula: estimated time, doubled, multiplied by an hourly rate. And I offer that as an estimate. I explain to my customer that it is an estimate to the best of my abilities, and that the price could fluctuate up or down. I’ve learned that I don’t want the clients who aren’t willing to work within this structure; these tend to be the people who really, really want custom work and really, really don’t want to pay custom prices.
What do you do when it takes longer than you thought?
I’ve found that the bigger the project, the more willing the customer is to accommodate an extended deadline. At the first sign of missing a deadline, I call the customer. It helps a lot, at this point, to be able to show my customer what I have actually accomplish already.
Also, if it’s something I’ve never done before, I tell the client that I’ve never done a job exactly like that one, and my time estimate is only an estimate.
On a long or complex project, when do you consult with the client to guide your decisions?
If it’s a client #2, I don’t usually consult with them once I’ve started the project. If I’ve come to a point where things veer wildly in opposite directions, I may have the client stop by to choose option A or B. Usually, with customer #2, I do it how I want to do it.
Custom jobs for a client #1 elicit a lot of phone calls. I like to check with the customer at each phase when I’m not completely sure what they’d choose; a 2 minute phone call takes a lot less time than picking 150 staples out of someone’s wingback chair. I have never had a customer be irritated with me for making sure I was meeting their needs.
Tags: Agile, Craftsmanship
Posted by Mehul Harry (Developer Express) on Oct 29, 2009 in
ASP.Net,
Dotnet |
View Original Article Let’s get right to the good news. The CSS Sprites technique has been added to some of the major ASP.NET controls in the DXperience 2009 volume 3 release!
You might be asking yourself, what is a CSS Sprite? It’s a CSS technique to combine several smaller images into one image and gain performance. As web design guru, Chris Coyier
[1] puts it:
The name might be a little misleading, because sprites aren’t little images like you might be picturing, a sprite is actually one big image. Have you ever seen the CSS technique where the “on” and “off” states of a button are contained within the same image and are activated by shifting the background-position? Think of CSS Sprites as an extension of that technique. The difference is that instead of just two or three images being combined into one, you can combine an unlimited number of images into one.
Using the CSS Sprite technique has the effect of reducing the amount of requests sent to the web server: one big image requested instead of many many small images. And less requests on your web server means 2 things:
- There’s less to send over the wire.
- Pages load faster!
How fast?
We tested the performance using the 512kps speed settings in Fiddler. Just to be sure that we’re targeting a common speed that users might have if their visiting your website from home.
The result? If one of the ASP.NET controls contains a lot of images, for example the ASPxHtmlEditor, then the CSS Sprites approach gives you a staggering improvement of about 1.5 to 2 times for a page with the ASPxHtmlEditor.
Your Feedback Is Appreciated
This post has a lot of information to digest so fire away if you've got more questions.
References:
[1] CSS Sprites: What They Are, Why They’re Cool, and How To Use Them by Chris Coyier
DXperience? What's That?
DXperience is the .NET developer's secret weapon. Get full access to a complete suite of professional components that let you instantly drop in new features, designer styles and fast performance for your applications. Try a fully-functional version of DXperience for free now: http://www.devexpress.com/Downloads/NET/
Posted by Silverlight Team on Oct 29, 2009 in
Pega Systems,
Silver Light |
View Original Article Our World Live (OWL), a music marketing and broadcasting company, is partnering with Billboard.com to bring music fans a new internet concert series .
Billboardlive.com utilizes OWL's state-of-the-art technology, powered by Microsoft Silverlight to provide fans with five-camera angles, where the viewer becomes the director for the ultimate interactive viewing experience. Instead of being confined to traditional static concert footage, fans will have the ability for the first time ever to view the concert from five different angles of their choosing. In addition to the larger, full-screen view, fans will see four smaller screens at the bottom of their computer. They can replace the main image at any time with any of those views for a different experience with just the click of their mouse. Each show will also highlight a specific Billboard chart of the week. At the same time they can Twitter and send live messages to their Facebook friends directly from the concert 5 camera player.
Superstars Alicia Keys, R. Kelly, Usher and David Archuleta Among Top Artists Slated to Perform as Part of Billboardlive.com's Stellar Lineup;
R.Kelly Live Concert From Nokia in Dallas at 8 PM CT October 29 http://live.billboard.com/Concert/View/200205
Tags: Announcement, Application Packaging, Beautiful Examples, ria, Silverlight, Virtualization
Posted by Callum Chapman on Oct 29, 2009 in
Design & Graphics |
View Original Article 
Textures have become more popular and been put to greater use in recent years. They’re not limited to Web design either; textures of all kinds are used in print design, illustration, traditional art, TV commercials… you name it! Texture is one of the best ways to add depth to your design, whether it’s subtle noise on a clean vector illustration or a lot of grunginess throughout a layout.
Over the last weeks we collected numerous examples of beautiful textured Web designs to inspire you, followed by a small collection of links to help you get started in using textures in your own designs.
If you like this post, you may be interested in reading some of our other texture-related articles:
Textured Web Designs
Loukotka
FT Designer
Cole & Weber
Jason Julien
Trinity Irish Pub
The Klog
Alex Coleman
Bergedorf
Big Cartel
Stuck in Customs
Bill C. English
Boerne Wild West Day
Brown Blog Films
Chouteaus Landing
Ctrl+N Diseño Gráfico
Cubeclub Chemnitz
Danny Diablo
Demain Jarrete
DH Cards
Dibtych
Douglas Menezes
Eliseos
Fudge
5 Pieces
Glocal Ventures
Handcrafted CSS
Inner Metro Green
Introzo
53 Mondays
Island Photobooth
Mutant Labs
Legwork Studio
Le Web Défi
Lilly Stable
Love Freelancing
Mark Forrester
Markup & Style
Martin Anderle
Matt Salik
Merge Web
Meson Projekt Blog
Morphix
Mother Earth Brewing
New to York
Orange Label
Pampaneo
Piz’za-za
River City Church
Roar 4 Milk
Saddleback Leather
Stack Overflow
Story Pixel
Sushi and Robots
Texture Lovers
Tony Chester
Yodaa
What Is Blik
Yellow Bird Project
Thunder Fuel
THS
Texture Downloads
Texture Tutorials
About the Author
Callum Chapman is a freelance designer from UK. When he isn’t designing for clients, he writes at Circlebox Blog (as well as many others in the community), makes free downloadable high-resolution textures and retweets design-related articles.
(al)
© Callum Chapman for Smashing Magazine, 2009. |
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Post tags: showcases, textures
Tags: Design Showcase, showcases, Textures
Posted by Al on Oct 29, 2009 in
Dotnet |
View Original Article I have been receiving a few emails about my old post how to fix the javascript error Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManagerParserErrorException on ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX 1.0. Looks like google maybe is not looking in those old post anymore for people to find it, so I reposted for your convenience. Hope that helps now, or maybe is a problem with Graffiti CMS. I'm planning to move the blog to something better and more optimized by search engines.
Original post from 2007
Most annoying issue with MS ASP.NET 2.0 Ajax 1.0 is the error Sys.WebForms.PageRequestManagerParserErrorException that will crash the web app. I found a great article from Eilon Liptonhttp://weblogs.asp.net/leftslipper/archive/2007/02/26/sys-webforms-pagerequestmanagerparsererrorexception-what-it-is-and-how-to-avoid-it.aspxto help you avoid the error.
You will encounter this issue when mixing callbacks and postbacks, as callbacks do not use Response.Write and there is not complete Requests to the server.
This is a bug on the MS ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX 1.0, is not that you are doing something wrong, the framework cannot handle the request validation and the exception is thrown. I found that you can catch the exception using the Script manager; information about it here: http://alpascual.com/blog/al/archive/2007/03/26/Code-Snip-_2200_Customizing-ScriptManager_2200_-to-detect-errors.aspx
Or better yet, you can disable the error by disabling the request validation. On top of the webform add: enableEventValidation="false"
Original Post can be found here:
http://alpascual.com/blog/how-to-fix-sys-webforms-pagerequestmanagerparsererrorexception-in-ajax/
Tags: Blog
