Microsoft .NET Technology C#,ASP.NET 2.0,Express Editions 2005 Free Resources

C# Express edition 2005 strange error :: resolution

2006-08-20T17:08:00.000+05:30

Recently,I spent sleepless nights due to an unknown bug in visual C# Express edition 2005.It meant a huge loss to my development experience.I had to stop practicing C# for more than 12 days time.The menubar & toolbar controls were redundant,i.e the controls got multiplied on the GUI.The arrow keys(navigation elements) were not functioning either.I searched for a solution all over the internet but to no avail.I did all those I could and finally a reset command did the trick.

Resolution ::
Start-->Run-->type in cmd-->ok
Navigate to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE>vcsexpress.exe /setup

This should solve the mystery ;)

Practise .Net with .Net2TheMax

2006-05-05T00:48:00.000+05:30

I was busy upgrading myself with the next tide in .Net i.e,.Net 2.0!I fumbled across this useful site which guides you in developing your apps with the "Best Practises".The site belongs to two of the reknowned authors,Francesco and Marco(Wrox Pub.).They put up a live project "TheBeerHouse" alongwith code which abides by "The Best Practises".It will definitely help budding programmers like me in learning the nuances of the .Net technology!They also put up "The most complete best practise checklist for .Net developers" which will definitely help you fine-tune your code!!What are you waiting for,visit DotNet2theMax and cruise with the next Tide!!

Build your ASP.NET 2.0 website for Free

2006-03-18T22:42:00.000+05:30

Yeh,you heard it right!!A free asp.net 2.0 website in few minutes time.Its as easy as 1-2-3!!All you have to do is visit Microsoft Templates Site and pick out one of those ready made websites which might fit your needs!!Download it and install it in your system and launch the Visual Studio IDE (I used VWD express) and select "create new webiste(template)" and simple follow the welcome screen.Thats it,you are done!!Have a gr8 time shaping your site!!

Oops,did I say "free",hmmm yeh,then you might visit AspSpider for your free asp.net 2.0 account and upload your drafted website for the WWW to have a sneak peak preview!!Enjoyyy...

UPDATE::I worked with this stuff and found out a simpler solution!!All you have to do is:::
1)Signup with www.aspspider.net (free .net 2.0 webhost).
2)Check out and deploy the starter kits available there.
3)Now,the fix is that,you ned to set admin roles and users to log in to your website and edit your albums & the like.
4)For this,you need to download the files aspnetDB.mdf and aspnetDB.ldf on to your system,edit them using Visual Web Developer(VWD) express.
5)In VWD,go to "website"-->"asp.net configuration"-->"security"-->Edit user/Add user(much depends on how you wanted things to go)!!

Any comments are welcome regarding the same!!

Planzo (Ajaxified) and Frappr (Googlified)

2006-03-09T17:16:00.000+05:30

I bumped into two of the coolest sites today:: Planzo and Frappr.
Planzo is designed using Ajax technology,which is an online planner(da worlds' easiest online planner).It got much more to offer though!!The amazing speed at which the site updates is to be watched::such is the power of AJAX technology and its cleverly implemented in this site!!Check my Planzo out!!
Frappr also looked quite innovative to me.It is a clever implemetation of Google Local(maps) which hooks your friends all over the world by online depiction!!You got to check it out for a clearer picture!!Check my Frappr out for more info!!

C# 3.0 new language features

2006-03-02T15:49:00.000+05:30

We dint' even digest C# 2.0 features completely,yet the specifications for C# 3.0 were released at PDC 2005!!

In C# 3.0 there will be radical additions:
"select, from, where" keywords allowing to query from SQL, XML, collections, and more (Language integrated query (LINQ))

Object initialization :
Customer c = new Customer(); c.Name="James"; becomes Customer c = new Customer { Name="James" };

Lambda expressions :
listOfFoo.Where(delegate(Foo x) { return x.size>10;}) becomes listOfFoo.Where(x => x.size>10);

Local variable type inference:
var x = "hello"; is interchangeable with string x = "hello";

Anonymous types :
var x = new { Name = "James" }
Extension methods (adding methods to classes by including the this keyword in the first parameter)

Get more of C# 3.0 from Maliks' Article or from the makers itself!!

CAB:::A Smart Client Approach

2006-03-02T00:16:00.000+05:30

hey,do you know of the yummy Composite UI Applications Blocks(CAB) from Patterns and Practices,Microsoft??Well,they happen to be some pre defined code:::which follow da best efficient methods when it comes to good productive coding.Some of the components being Caching application block,login application block,Database application block to name a few.

Well,this CABs compatible with the latest release of Visual Studio make life pretty easy for the guys of developers genre.

"CAB is a guidance asset (an application block) based on .NET 2.0. It’s intended to provide proven practices to build complex UIs based on simpler “parts” (SmartParts as we call them, “WinParts” in other architectures). This is a recurrent pattern implemented in many well known examples."(extract from gotdotnet,PnP)

More on this upcoming project as I continue my journey exploring it......

ASP.NET 2.0 & VS 2005:::BUGS

2006-03-01T14:26:00.000+05:30

Well,only recently had we experienced the final release of Visual Studio 2005 and the Bugs are flowing in!!Yep,few bugs are already spotted by MS loyal users and are expecting a bug fix patch soon!!Visual studio 2005 is pretty slow for ASP.NET applications and that is annoying,aint' it??Well,it has its own share of pros and life gets pretty difficult going back to coding in VS.NET 2003(.NET 1.1).
Be sure to check the entire low downs of this much awaited release here.

What is AJAX all about?

2006-02-28T02:13:00.001+05:30

AJAX:::Asynchronous JavaScript And XML.I hear a lot about AJAX these days and am curious so as to what this technology is all about!!I never worked with AJAX before and am hoping to make my debut pretty soon.

It is a web development technique for creating web applications.The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire Web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This is meant to increase the Web page's interactivity, speed, and usability.

For more info,visit the Wikipedia.
Catch the creator of AJAX here.
Refer communityMX for a hands on experience.
For the latest news on AJAX,visit PHPmagazine.

Ill write more about this most happening technology as I get my hands on it!!Till then,jus figure out the basics!!

ASP.NET Page Life Cycle

2006-02-28T02:13:00.000+05:30

In an interview,I was asked to explain the life cycle of an ASP.NET page to which I couldnt' precisely answer.Lets check it out::

Solomon Shaffer explains this rather comprehensively @ 15seconds.com
Expect this question in .Net interviews!!

ASP.NET Development::Free Video Tutorials

2006-02-28T01:54:00.000+05:30

yah,reading books and practising programs/technology is passe'!!Welcome to the world of video tutorials:::which help u get on track with da subject at a gripping speed.I never thought that video tutorials are anything close to useful until I stumbled across MSDN videos for express editions 2005.Pretty complicated concepts such as OOP concepts in C# are dealt with such great ease that you will understand them in minutes!!
Anyways,lemme post the link where you can get your hands on these videos::
Video Downloads(Hi-Speed Servers)
I recommend you go through the basic videos posted earlier under Express Editions 2005 in this blog first.Just follow the author and create the web application explianed in detail.Then you can go with the videos mentioned in this topic.Hope you get along well with these videos!!

C# v/s VB Rivalries In Depth

2006-02-28T01:01:00.000+05:30

So,.Net is a cool technology allright,but which one should you choose before diving in-depth into .Net programming,be it windows or web?Well,I feel that it depends on the situation:::like,if you are a science graduate and have minimal or no programming knowledge at all,then VB can be your favorite cos' of the flexibilty in commands and the simplicity involved in the the programming logic.If you are one of those engineering grads who are exposed to "C and C++",well then you should opt for C# then!!

I hear many times that C# programmers are well paid comparitively,yep dats true to an extent,but owing to the comparision in speed(performance) at which they produce an output,I feel both go hand in hand cos' .Net is a platform independent technology,which means that any language can be used to program in .Net wherein all of them are to compiled to produce the native code finally,do you agree?

Well,C# is a case sensitive language;slight change in the case/syntax of the program and you are out for sleepless nights!!My explorations of the "who wins da battle amongst C# and VB" technologies,I came across two pretty well knit arguements::
C#-VB Rivalries
C#-VB Comparisions

Anyways,which ever technology you choose::
All I have to say is "Happy Coding"!!

.Net Support in the Indian SubContinent

2006-02-27T23:58:00.000+05:30

Hope you are cruisng on your .Net exploration!!Well,lemme chart out few of the groups that are dedicated to support .Net technology and Microsoft products in southern India.

Most of these groups need free membership and once you are a member,you have full access to Interview questions,.Net trouble shooting,SQL Server queries & problems and more importantly job help!!Check out the following list of dedicated sites::

Hydrabad DotNet UG
Bangalore DotNet UG
Mumbai DotNet UG
Hyderabad Student UG
MS BizTalk Server Stuff
Sql Server Support Forum

You might also be interested in few of my favorite blogs/sites::

EngineersPub
Krish's Blog
Kiran's Site
MVP Blog
NetLogged
AspSpider

More to follow....Happy Coding....

Absolutely Free ASP.NET 2.0 hosting

2006-02-27T23:31:00.000+05:30

yep,you heard it right!! http://aspspider.net hosts your free account for upto 30MB which also includes support sql server 2005 express edition!!check it out and sign-up befor its too late!!

Microsoft .Net Express Editions 2005

2006-02-27T21:29:00.000+05:30

Just wanted to bring forward the next tide in .Net;da .Net 2005 versions.yep,Visual studio 2005 edition costs a fortune allright,but same is not the case with Visual Studio Express editions which are completely free(for download till November 2006) and they can even be used to design commercial applications.They r targeted towards novices,students and hobbyists like you and me!!

They are comparatively smaller downloads and can be found here:: Visual Studio Express Edition 2005 Downloads

Well well,so did u think dat learning a brand new product out of da box is a bit too difficult,hmmm think again!!Lay ur hands on these completely free video based training found here::

Visual Web Developer
Visual C# 2005
Visual Basic 2005

Hey,these videos(and project resources) r pretty huge totalling to 860MB for Visual Web Developer and Visual C# editions.Nope,dont' despair:::I have gone to Reliance Webworld for this project and it costed me just 23 minutes for the entire download at a whooping 400+ KB/sec download speed(guys in U.S experience much better speeds,huh)!! Hmmm,there r more free goodies available if u register your product(Registration is also free) like Microsoft Press E-Books(worth reading),Free 1 month webhosting(.Net 2.0 webhosts) and many more.

Just try out the open source DotNetNuke project (more about it in my next blog). Finally,im pretty tired typing this long article n guess so r u reading all da way!!Hence visit this link and laud the Indian Cricket Team for its fielding efforts compared to Jhonty Rhodes standards at Streaming Google Video .