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.

Sql Server 2005 blocking quiz

Vipul Patel — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 20:52:00 GMT

Check out http://blogs.msdn.com/psheill/archive/2006/02/20/535614.aspx for a fantastic quiz on SQL Server 2005 blocking and verify if you have got your fundamentals right.

Good job, psheill.

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

Visual Studio 2005 Shipped

Vipul Patel — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 21:43:00 GMT

Soma (Corporate VP , Developer Division, Microsoft) mentions in his blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2005/10/27/485665.aspx) that Visual Studio 2005, SQL server 2005 and Biztalk Server 2006 are ready for the market and have shipped.

MSDN subscribers can download from MSDN site.

The product will be launched world-wide on Nov 7, 2005 at San Francisco, California, USA.

C#, VS Deployment and all geek talk : SQL2005

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

Sql Server 2005 blocking quiz

Developer Blogs to watch out for

Express Editions of Visual Studio and SQL Server for free*

Visual Studio 2005 Shipped