C#, VS Deployment and all geek talk : C#

My Faq on "hashtable lookups for struct types" is published at http://blogs.msdn.com/CSharpFaq

Vipul Patel — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:48:00 GMT

Check out

http://blogs.msdn.com/csharpfaq/archive/2006/03/20/556192.aspx

for a FAQ on Hashtable lookup for value types.

My articles on "Anonymous types" is up

Vipul Patel — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:54:00 GMT

Check out http://www.developer.com/net/csharp/article.php/3589916 for my article on "Anonymous Types", This cool new feature coming in C# 3.0 is surely going to go places.

Codeguru also contains the same article at http://www.codeguru.com/csharp/csharp/cs_misc/designtechniques/article.php/c11551/

Next stop, extension methods.

Guidelines on clean up code

Vipul Patel — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:14:00 GMT

Many a times, we use the catch block inside the try catch block for our clean up code.

Something like

try

{

// Do something

}

catch

{

// work failed, clean up code here
}

Rather than the above approach of using the catch block, it would be nicer to use the finally block, something like

bool workSuccessful = false;

try

{

// do some work

workSuccessful = true;

}

finally

{

if(!workSuccessfull)

{

// cleanup code here.

}

There is elegance in the latter method and I would certainly recommend that approach, if you cannot use "using". See below for details.

PS: Use this approach only if better alternatives are not available. One of the automatic cleanup approaches available with C# is the using construct.

Something like,

using (TextReader tr = new StreamReader("FileName"))

{

// do my work here.

}

The “using” construct automatically clean up the unmanaged resource (TextReader) once the block has completed execution.

In the event that you cannot use "using", the try-finally approach would be the best way.

When is a static constructor in C# called?

Vipul Patel — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 04:19:00 GMT

Confused about static constructors in C#, Read this post......(read more)

Visual Studio Service Pack WebSite

Vipul Patel — Thu, 09 Feb 2006 01:51:00 GMT

Visual Studio.NET Service Packs are due this year, but their site is up already (The site clearly mentions it is still in process)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/support/servicing/default.aspx

Visual Studio 2003 Service Pack 1 ships Q2, 2006

Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 ships Q3, 2006

.NET Tip - Getting logged in user name in ASP.NET web application

Vipul Patel — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 22:30:00 GMT

Frequently we desire to autopopulate some fields on our web form with the current logged in username and domain.

How to get that information?

Well, User.Identity.Name comes to the rescue.

Set the text property of the field to User.Identity.Name and it will show the logged-in username prefixed by the domain information

Visual Studio Tip of the day - Refactoring - Extracting method

Vipul Patel — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:39:00 GMT

You notice that you have a chuck of code which could easily be transitioned to a new function. How tdo you do that?

Again, Visual Studio Refactoring menu comes to the rescue.

Suppose you have the following code in your function

public void Myfunc()

{

Console.WriteLine("a");

Console.WriteLine("b");

Console.WriteLine("c");

// Do some processing here.

Console.WriteLine("a");

Console.WriteLine("b");

Console.WriteLine("c");

}

We realize that code containing Console.Writeline is replicated. Select one set of the Console.Writeline instructions and right click > Refactor > Extract Method...

Type the name of the new function you want to create containing the selected lines and Click OK.

A new method containing the selected lines is created. So your code will look like

public void Myfunc()

{

NewMethod();

// Do some processing here.

Console.WriteLine("a");

Console.WriteLine("b");

Console.WriteLine("c");

}

private static void NewMethod()

{

Console.WriteLine("a");

Console.WriteLine("b");

Console.WriteLine("c");

}

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl R + Ctrl M

Cavaet: You will have to delete the second set manually as currently VS editor is not smart enough to replace all the occurances of the selected lines. Maybe in the next version we can get that feature.

How to: Determining programmatically if DLL is registered

Vipul Patel — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:02:00 GMT

Here is a C# code snippet to determine if a particular DLL is registered or not.

[DllImport("kernel32")]

public extern static int LoadLibrary(string lpLibFileName);

[DllImport("kernel32")]

public extern static bool FreeLibrary(int hLibModule);

public bool IsDllRegistered(string DllName)

{

int libId = LoadLibrary(DllName);

if (libId>0) FreeLibrary(libId);

return (libId>0);

}

Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/asanto

Visual Studio 2005 - A Guided Tour

Vipul Patel — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 00:30:00 GMT

Want to learn more about Visual Studio 2005.

MSDN magazine folks have come up with a new issue dedicated solely to the new IDE.

Check it out online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/06/00/default.aspx

Enterprise Library for .NET Framework 2.0 released

Vipul Patel — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 00:25:00 GMT

Wohoo! Enterprise library for .NET Framework 2.0 has just been released.

More details at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/?url=/library/en-us/dnpag2/html/EntLib2.asp

Direct download link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5A14E870-406B-4F2A-B723-97BA84AE80B5&displaylang=en

FYI: System.Web.Mail is deprecated use System.Net.Mail

Vipul Patel — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:50:00 GMT

While we are on the topic of System.Web.Mail, it is important to note a new namespace in version 2.0 of the .NET Framework. There is a brand new namespace for sending mail via managed code, it is called System.Net.Mail. Have no fear, System.Web.Mail is still accessible in v2.0 but it is deprecated. (Which means v2.0 won't break your code but you should strongly consider using System.Net.Mail in new development.) The documentation for System.Web.Mail is updated to reflect this.

Absolute Beginner's Video Series to Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions

Vipul Patel — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:45:00 GMT

Do you have some students who want to learn Visual Basic .NET or C# on their own? Or perhaps you want to learn them as part of your own professional development. Well if so, Microsoft has a free series of lessons for absolute beginners. They look pretty good to me. I am sure that may others will find them useful as well.

Visual Basic Express - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/vb/learning/default.aspx

Visual C# Express - http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualcsharp/learning/default.aspx

Why Upgrade to Version 2.0 of the .Net Compact Framework?

Vipul Patel — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:41:00 GMT

Steven Pratschner, Program Manager, .NET Compact Framework, lists down reasons why one should upgrade ot the latest version of the .NET compact framework.

Highlights:

Applications run faster
Developers are more productive
Developers are more productive
Developing secure applications is much easier
Access to Data is faster and more scalable
Developers can build more sophisticated user interfaces
Platform stability and security continues to increase

Need more information? Check out his blog post at https://blogs.msdn.com/stevenpr/archive/2005/11/30/498481.aspx

Developer Blogs to watch out for

Vipul Patel — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 00:03:00 GMT

With a plethora of blogs floating on the internet, it is hard to find the blogs which make a difference. Below is a collection of blogs of authors whose books we have read and blogs of people who make the technology.

I spent some time to find out such information and post it so that it will be useful for people who want to hear (read) from the horse's mouth.

Below are the links of blogs of personalities whose blogs I find interesting to read:

Name	Covers	Blog Link	RSS	Atom
Charles Petzold (Windows programming guru)	Windows programming, C#, Indigo	http://www.charlespetzold.com	RSS
Don Box	Windows Architech (Microsoft)	http://www.pluralsight.com/blogs/dbox/default.aspx	RSS
Stanley Lippman	C++ guru	http://blogs.msdn.com/slippman/	RSS	Atom
Somasegar	Corporate VP, DevDiv, Microsoft	http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/default.aspx	RSS	Atom
Brad Abrams	CLR, .NET	http://blogs.msdn.com/brada/	RSS	Atom
Scott Hanselman	ASP.NET guru	http://www.hanselman.com/blog/	RSS	Atom
C# Faq	C#	http://blogs.msdn.com/csharpfaq/	RSS	Atom
Sahil Malik	ADO.NET	http://codebetter.com/blogs/sahil.malik/	RSS	Atom
Robert Scoble	Various Technology	http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/	RSS
Larry Osterman	Core technlogies	http://blogs.msdn.com/larryosterman/	RSS	Atom

There are many others whose blogs I read and I will be updating this site as soon as I get some time. If you feel that there is more to the list, please leave me a comment and I will check it out.

Who’s who in the list above:

Charles Petzold: The guru of Windows programming. Since Windows 3.1, he has been writing books on Windows programming. If anyone can talk on Windows programming, he can.

Don Box: The architect of the next version of Windows (Vista) and the geek (not Greek) mythology that shadows it can be answered by him and him only. When not confusing (enlightening) me on the future of Messages & designing the next generation of Windows, he takes time to write a blog and is quite humorous in his style.

Stanley Lippman: C++ guys should watch out for his blog

Somasegar: When the Corporate VP of Developer Division at Microsoft writes, the developers across the blog read, coz what he writes about affects their bread and butter. His is the blog to look out for happening in the Microsoft Developer Tools camp.

Brad Abrams: No one speaks of the CLR internals with as much clarity as the Lead Program Manager of CLR team at Microsoft.

Scott Hanselman: ASP.NET guys and .NET developers in general cannot afford to miss this blog. His post in the questions every .NET developer should know (link) should be familiar to anyone appearing for interviews for .NET positions.

C# FAQ: The C# team at Microsoft has a FAQ blog, which is updated by C# team and C# MVPS.

Sahil Malik: Kiss-ass attitude is what I like about his blog. His latest book Professional ADO.NET 2.0 is selling wonders. His language may be rough, but he gets his point across.

Robert Scoble: Think blog! Meet Robert Scoble. No, RSS does not stand for Robert Scoble Syndication, but this guys writes all about Microsoft, good and bad. Hats off to him.

Larry Osterman: His is a very geeky blog and he explains everything in detail.

Comments are very welcome and if my limited reading should be expanded, please mention who I missed in this list.

PS:.As I am writing this, I know Robert will scold me for not formatting it nicely. Sorry Robert, but I am a HTML dummy.

Express Editions of Visual Studio and SQL Server for free*

Vipul Patel — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 20:21:00 GMT

Yes, for a limited time (1 year), Visual Studio express editions are going to be free. SQL Server Express editions will be free always.

More details at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/

Start downloading folks.

Clarifications on the free offer at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/default.aspx#pricing

Complete FAQ at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/support/faq/default.aspx

And yes, you cannot develop V1.1 applications with VS2005 Express editions. :( tsk tsk

.NET Compact Framework v2 is ready for download

Vipul Patel — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 16:12:00 GMT

.NET Compact Framework v2 is now ready and available for download ! As of today we have the English end-user download and the Platform Builder QFE available. Remaining language downloads will be released in the new few weeks as we get the localized download pages completed.

.NET Compact Framework 2.0 End User Download
Component: .NET CF v2.0
Description: Integration of .NET Compact Framework v2.0 into Windows CE 5.0.

Windows CE 5.0 Platform Builder Update 051027_KB904260
Overview: The Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework 2.0 Redistributable includes everything you need to run applications built for both NET Compact Framework v1 and v2, including the Common Language Runtime and the .NET Compact Framework class library

Using intrinsic memory management with C#

Vipul Patel — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 20:56:00 GMT

Consider the following code snippet

// Declare the reader.
SqlDataReader reader = null;

// Use the reader here.
try
{
    // Create the reader.
    reader = new SqlDataReader(...);

    // Use the reader.
}
catch
{
}
finally
{
    // Check the reader for null. If it is not, then
    // dispose.
    if (reader != null)
    {
        // Dispose of it.
        ((IDisposable) reader).Dispose();
    }
}

Here, we are checking whether the reader is disposed or not. If not, we are disposing it explicitly. This is equivalent to being a good C# citizen and disposing off variables which are not required.

There is now a even better method of automatic memory management. The “using“ keyword.

Here is how it works.

SqlDataReader data;
using (data = command.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior.CloseConnection))
{
     while( data.Read() )

     {
         Console.WriteLine("Company Name " +
           data.GetString(data.GetOrdinal("CompanyName"));

      }
}    // automatically calls data.Dispose();

Here is the link to the MSDN page describing this behavior (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/csspec/html/vclrfcsharpspec_8_13.asp)

The beauty of this approach is that memory management becomes intrinsic. Hats off to the new keyword “using”.

How many threads does a typical managed process have when it just starts to run?

Vipul Patel — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 14:33:00 GMT

Source: Yun Jin's blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/yunjin

Answer: regardless how many threads the user creates, there are at least 3 threads for a common managed process after CLR starts up: a main thread which starts CLR and run user's Main method, CLR debugger helper thread which provides debugging service for interop debuggers like Visual Studio, and the finalizer thread which runs finalizers for unreachable objects. Depends on what the program does, CLR might create more threads to perform special tasks.

Sometimes it is important to know what "special" threads would be created in CLR so we could understand better the implicit impact of our managed programs. Here is a list of most common special threads:

1. Finalizer thread. The thread is to run finalizers for "dead" objects. This thread is created when GC heap is initialized during EE start up. In Rotor, the thread proc for the thread is GCHeap::FinalizerThreadStart in vm\gcee.cpp. Because GC is undeterministic and finalizers are executed in a separate thread, you can't predict when exactly an object will be finalized. Because there is only one thread to run all finalizers, if one finalizer is blocked, no other finalizers could run. So it is discouraged to take any lock in finalizer. Also see Maoni Stephens's blog for details about finalizer thread.

2. Debugger helper thread. As its name suggests, this thread helps interop debugger to get information of the managed process and to execute certain debugging operations. The thread is created when EE initializes debugger during start up. In Rotor, the thread proc for this thread is DebuggerRCThread::ThreadProcStatic (debug\ee\Rcthread.cpp). Also see Mike Stall's blog about impact of this helper thread?

3. Concurrent GC thread (doesn't exist in Rotor). As explained in Maoni and Chris Lyon's blog, concurrent GC is a special GC mode which allows garbage to be collected while managed threads are running simultaneously. To achieve this goal, CLR creates a thread to perform GC concurrently with user threads. The thread is only created when CLR decides to do a concurrent GC (even when concurrent GC mode is on, not every GC is concurrent, read Maoni's blog for details) and will be recycled when there are no concurrent GC work to do.

4. Server GC threads (doesn't exist in Rotor). Maoni and Chris also explained Server GC mode where on multi-process machine CLR creates one GC heap for each CPU and one thread to do GC for each heap. When Server GC mode is enabled, server GC threads will be created at EE start up time when GC heaps are initialized.

5. App Domain unload helper thread. In CLR V1.X, when a thread requests to unload an App Domain and the thread is in that App Domain itself, it needs to create a worker thread to do the unloading work. The worker thread will be dead once the target AD is unloaded. In Rotor, the thread starts with UnloadThreadWorker.ThreadStart (bcl\system\Appdomain.cs). In Whidbey, all AD unload work is performed in a special thread regardless whether the requesting thread is in the unloading domain. The helper thread is created when first non-default App Domain is created (default domain is never unloaded) and will stay alive since then. Also see Chris Brumme's blog about details of AD unload.

6. Threadpool threads. Depends on how a program use CLR threadpool, CLR might create threads of a varieties of types. There is only one thread for some thread type. For other types, number of threads is related to number of CPUs, the work load, and some user configurable settings. The thread types including wait threads (threads to perform asynchronized wait, could be more than one); worker threads (threads to execute user work item, could be more than one); Completion port threads (threads wait for completion port IO in Windows, could be more than one, doesn't exist in Rotor); Gate thread (thread help to monitor status of completion port threads and worker threads, only one); Timer thread (thread manages timer queue, only one).

Power Collections for .NET

Vipul Patel — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 20:17:00 GMT

Did you feel that a powerful Collection library for public domain was missing?

Well, its here now...

Check out http://www.wintellect.com/powercollections/

A brief description:

With .NET 2.0 comes the ability to implement what has been known in C++ as template classes. Generics are like C++ templates, only better. To learn more about generics, check out Jason Clark’s article in MSDN Magazine: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/03/09/NET/

Leading the development effort is Peter Golde, formerly a Lead Designer for the C# language. Peter is currently building the starting set of classes as well as incorporating ideas from the community into a set of collection classes to be made freely available to the public.

The specifications for the library are at http://www.wintellect.com/powercollections/spec.aspx.

Wintellect is inviting the developer community to give in their suggestions.....More at http://www.wintellect.com/powercollections/

VS 2005 all set to launch

Vipul Patel — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 15:08:00 GMT

Visual Studiuo 2005 is all set to launch in the week of Nov 7, 2005. This was announced in the keynote address at TechEd 2005.

Aoccrding to official reports on PressPass site of Microsoft,

On the second day of Microsoft^® Tech•Ed 2005, Microsoft Corp. continued to speak about the investments the company and industry partners are making across its products to ensure that IT organizations can effectively leverage the Microsoft platform and existing skill sets to maximize value, reduce cost and complexity, and ease the deployment of new applications. As part of the keynote address, Paul Flessner, senior vice president of Server Applications at Microsoft, showed the company’s continued momentum in preparation for the launch of SQL Server™ 2005, Visual Studio^® 2005 and BizTalk^® Server 2006, and announced that these products will be formally launched during the week of Nov. 7. This launch represents a significant milestone and demonstrates Microsoft’s commitment to delivering the next-generation platform for connected systems that provides unparalleled developer productivity, ability to effectively handle mission-critical applications and an infrastructure to provide better insight into business decisions.

Now that the dates are published, I just cant wait to get my hands dirty on the release versions, although I can already toying around with the betas.