Data Source Controls, Part 4: Caching   23 Nov 2005 22:47 GMT
This is the fourth article in a series on authoring data source controls. In this article, Nikhil describes how to incorporate caching into data access logic, enabling further performance gains, and improvements in end-user experience.
Source: MSDN

Building connected systems? Take this survey!   23 Nov 2005 19:11 GMT
The results from this survey will drive future guidance and product improvement decisions. Tell us about your requirements, constraints, challenges, and suggestions.
Source: MSDN

Creating Windows Starter Kits for Visual Studio 2005   23 Nov 2005 02:30 GMT
Microsoft has put renewed energy into its Starter Kits for Visual Studio 2005, but did you know you can create your own Starter Kit and export it to .vsi to share with others? Find out how to build a book search Starter Kit using the Amazon Web service.
Source: DevX

The VS.NET 2003 DateTimePicker Control's Default Value   23 Nov 2005 02:06 GMT
Learn various methods of dealing with the sometimes confusing VS.NET 2003 DateTimePicker control's default value.
Source: DevX

Dissecting the Validation Controls in ASP.NET 2.0   23 Nov 2005 00:00 GMT

One annoying task that most every developer has had to face in the past is form validation. Since forms are an integral part of dynamic, data-driven Web sites, it is essential that a user's query into a form fit the specified guidelines. For example, in a website like eBay where users are entering shipping and billing information, it is vital that the user enter credit card numbers, zip codes, email addresses, and other information in an acceptible format.

Prior to ASP.NET, form validation was a frustrating and tedious process. The page developer was responsible for creating the client-side and server-side logic for each and every validation check. ASP.NET version 1.0 helped end this tedium with a host of validation Web controls, making validation was as simple as adding the appropriate validation control to the web page and setting a few properties.

While validation controls in ASP.NET version 1.x greatly improved the developer's experience with adding page validation, they still lacked some important functionality. For one, the client-side script emitted by the validation controls used the JavaScript object document.all, which is an object that is not in the JavaScript standard and only supported by Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. This meant that browsers other than Internet Explorer could not enjoy the client-side benefits of the validation controls. Additionally, the validation controls could not be logically grouped, which proved irksome with pages divided up into different sections.

ASP.NET 2.0 doesn't add any new validation controls, but it does fix the validation control shortcomings in version 1.x, along with adding additional features. In this article we'll dissect the validation controls in version 2.0. Read on to learn more!

(This article does not cover the basics of ASP.NET's validation controls; for more information on that refer to Form Validation with ASP.NET - It Doesn't Get Any Easier! and User Input Validation in ASP.NET. For more on ASP.NET version 2.0, be sure to check out the ASP.NET 2.0 Article Index.)
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Source: 4GuysFromRolla

CodeSnip: Virtual Web Services Through Pattern Matching   23 Nov 2005 00:00 GMT
In this code snippet, Rajesh shows how we can make a static Web site into a virtual Web service. HTML pattern matching is used to implement this solution along with a WSDL file.
Source: AspAlliance

Working with Windows Workflow Foundation in ASP.NET   22 Nov 2005 18:51 GMT
Using Windows WF, you can create processor flow-based workflows and host them in any type of .NET application. ASP.NET developers face a unique set of issues that can benefit from workflows, such as maintaining state and page navigation.
Source: DevX

Fundamentals of Web Site Acceleration   22 Nov 2005 00:00 GMT
This paper outlines a common sense, cost-effective approach to lowering total cost of ownership and improving Web site and Web application performance according to two simple principles: send as little data as possible and send it as infrequently as possible. We will explore best practices that can be systematically employed in Web front-end source code and at the origin server in order to achieve performance improvements. These basic strategies, which all avoid expensive hardware solutions in favor of software and business process enhancements, include code optimization, cache control, and HTTP compression.
Source: AspAlliance

Windows Communication Foundation: Steroids for your Enterprise Service-Oriented Architecture   21 Nov 2005 00:00 GMT
Application designers and developers have been attempting to deliver loosely coupled services using technologies like ASMX, .NET Enterprise Services, MSMQ, and .NET remoting for roughly the past five years. These experiences have proven to be very challenging and there have been limitations found in each of the .NET programming techniques. Welcome Windows Communication Foundation (formerly “Indigo”). This technology stack from Microsoft claims to be the unified technology best positioned to help developers deliver to a service-oriented strategy. In this article I will briefly talk about the goals of a service-oriented architecture. Following that overview I will describe the feature set that has been delivered with Beta 1 of the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF). As we look at each feature I will talk about how it overcomes many of the limitations of the previously fragmented approaches. I will also discuss how these features help to reinforce the four primary service-oriented tenets.
Source: AspAlliance

VBUG 2005 Winter Conference - Reading, UK   17 Nov 2005 23:41 GMT
Drill into Visual Studio 2005 including areas such as ASP.net, SQL 2005, and Windows Client, while still learning about topics relavant to the Visual Studio 2003 developer. See you in Reading, UK on the 23rd and 24th of November.
Source: MSDN