For the love of Technology

Essential Studio For Windows Forms By Syncfusion

Essential Studio For Windows FormsEssential Studio – As a Software Developer, it is really difficult to make your application stand out from the rest. It needs a definite edge or left hook as it were to differentiate it.

It is especially hard if you are writing your own salary at the end of the day. Your applications need to be as flawless as possible while maintaining a level of user friendliness that can easily be experienced by users of all skill levels.

Now I know that there are many of you that are developing for the newer technologies such as Windows 8, or perhaps a mobile platform. But I know for a fact that there are many developers that need to get the job done in the shortest amount of time using the simplest methods available. The answer for many developers is Windows Forms. (more…)

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Windows 8 Tips Series – Content Rollup

windows 8 tips Series roll-upWindows 8 Tips Series has been a regular post on this blog for the past couple of months. I think it is time to close the series and provide a content roll-up of all the posts. With Windows 8.1 around the corner, I will probably cover that from now on.

I do have to say that Windows 8 is definitely a paradigm shift for many. Over the past couple of months I have heard some people commenting that they just can’t get used to it.

I am interested to see if the Windows 8.1 update will change that perception amongst the users. I personally feel that Windows 8 is a stellar Operating System and that it can only go from strength to strength with Microsoft driving it. Nevertheless, here is the complete Windows 8 Tips Series for your reading pleasure. As usual, comments are always welcome.

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Getting To Grips With StyleCop

stylecop code analysis how toStyleCop Code Analysis How-To is a nice read. At only 57 pages long, you can expect to work through the book in no time. I had the chance to check it out and I really enjoyed the read, not to mention learning a few things I didn’t know.

The book is aimed at .NET Developers that want to discover what StyleCop can do for them. Therefore it is written with .NET developers in mind.

The book is published by Packt which is also a bonus for me, because I really enjoy their style of formatting books they publish. As you can imagine, being only 57 pages in length, the price is also less than other titles in the Packt stable.

You can download sample chapters from the site and read reviews. For those that don’t know what StyleCop does, here is a quote from their CodePlex page. (more…)

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The Daily Six Pack: July 29, 2013

Ajax Control Toolkit release for July brings performance improvements to the fore. This July release of the Ajax Control Toolkit introduces Control Bundles. To take advantage of this and other performance features, you need to do two things. Create an AjaxControlToolkit.config file to list all the controls used on your site…

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Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 Expert Development Cookbook – Reviewed

Visual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 Expert Development CookbookVisual Studio 2012 and .NET 4.5 Expert Development Cookbook – Being a programmer, I love technology related books. (Any programmer that doesn’t read is flawed. Sorry, it’s a fact, you will never grow.) I try to read as often as I can. I enjoy reading on-line, easily digestible content and therefore the more concise an article is, the better.

But with books, I often find that I simply scan through them because the content is so long winded or doesn’t get to the juicy bits quickly enough. If it were a spy novel, sure… build suspense, but don’t do that in a tech book I’m reading.

I want the information presented in an easy manner that is easy to understand or explained well. I am probably the most fussy of readers out there. Nicky Scrooby is a journalist friend of mine and that girl reads a lot. I doubt that I would ever come close to her with the sheer volume of books she reads. But nevertheless, I do try get a healthy dose of tech via well written books. (more…)

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The Daily Six Pack: July 26, 2013

Secure Development is a challenge for any developer these days. It is something that few unfortunately ever think of. Luckily there are some techniques and tools developers can use to automate secure coding for Windows apps. This will help developers avoid shipping known exploits with your software release. Has Google given…

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