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C# ?? Operator
2007-11-28 19:24:00 C# 2.0 introduced the ?? or null coalescing operator. The ?? operator has two operands and can be used in an expression as follows: x = y ?? z; Share This More About: Operator
PC's and the Disabled: 20 Molehills that Become Mountains
2007-11-27 15:52:00 For the disabled PC user, every mouse click and keystroke can be a major effort or literal pain. So disabled users will often go to great lengths to automate repetitive tasks and minimize the steps required to perform each task. This includes the use of macros, voice recognition, mouse and keyboard utilities, and special hardware ... More About: Software , Mountains , Disabled , User Interface , Disabilities
Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5 Released
2007-11-26 17:23:00 Microsoft has released Visual Studio 2008 and .NET Framework v3.5. These upgrades enable .NET software developers to rapidly create more secure, manageable, and reliable applications and take advantage of new features found in Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007. Share This More About: Tools , Visual Basic , Released
Convert Between Synchronous and Asynchronous
2007-11-19 19:25:00 When a program calls a synchronous function, the program halts and waits for the function to finish executing. When a program calls an asynchronous function, the program does not wait and continues to execute while the asynchronous function executes in the background. By default, C# methods are synchronous. External functions that can take a long time to ... More About: Event , Tips , Threading , Convert , Thread
C# Stable Sort
2007-11-05 16:56:00 A sort is stable if the original order of equal elements is preserved. An unstable sort does not guarantee that equal elements will appear in their original order after sorting. The Sort methods used by the .NET collections are unstable. These sort methods, which include System.Array.Sort and System.Collections.Generic.List<T> ;.Sort, use the Quick Sort algorithm, which is relatively fast but in ... More About: Tips
Print-on-Demand: Exciting but Bumpy New Road
2007-10-31 15:18:00 Though by profession I am a software developer, like most developers I am also a voracious software consumer. My job requires me to use many different software tools, and I also use software to automate and manage many aspects of my personal life. So naturally when it came time to produce a photo book for my parents' ... More About: Software , Personal , Print , Road , Print on Demand
Microsoft to Share .NET Framework Code
2007-10-08 16:15:00 Microsoft has announced that it will release the source code for the .NET Framework with .NET version 3.5 later this year. Microsoft will release the code under its Reference License. This is essentially "read-only mode," meaning that you can view the source code for reference and debugging, but you cannot modify or distribute the code. This ... More About: Microsoft , Open Source , Visual Studio , Code , Share
The Rise and Fall of Visual Basic
2007-10-04 17:03:00 Great empires often fall from within. The death knell for Visual Basic is premature, but it's true that VB has deviated from its original vision as an "Application Construction Kit" for the masses and has lost significant market share as a result. Tim Anderson summed it up best: It sounds like perfection. Microsoft had perhaps the largest number ... More About: Software , Bill Gates , Development
Property Delegates with Anonymous Methods
2007-09-28 17:39:00 No programming language is perfect. In spite of the many strengths of C#, there are still a few gaping holes, including generics variance and property delegates. A delegate is a reference to a method. Unfortunately, C# currently does not support property delegates, in other words, a reference to a property. But there are a few workarounds, one ... More About: Property , Methods , Delegates , Anonymous , Method
Convert Between Generic IEnumerable
2007-09-20 23:43:00 Generics in .NET 2.0 provides the ability to create strongly-typed collections in C#. Unfortunately, C# currently does not support generics variance, which would allow inheritance of generic types. For example, consider a list of strings and a list of objects: List<string> strings = new List<string>(); strings.Add( "hello" ); strings.Add( "goodbye" ); List<object> objects = new List<object>(); objects.AddRange( strings ); The final line ... More About: Tips , Convert , Generic , Generics , Ween
SecureString: Safe from Forensics, but not Surveillance
2007-08-08 14:51:00 The SecureString class is new in the System.Security namespace with the .NET v2.0 upgrade. SecureString keeps sensitive data encrypted in memory so that it cannot be easily stolen. SecureString plug s a specific security hole but does not guard against all threats while securing information in applications. More About: Encryption , Surveillance , Tips , Forensics
Programmer's Nightmare: Cubital Tunnel Syndrome
2007-08-03 01:14:00 No programmers were harmed during development of this article. (Not true… my cubital hurts like mad today!) A programming career is supposed to offer advantages such as longevity and limited physical risk. Unlike an athlete or blue-collar worker whose livelihood depends on physical ability and can be cut short by injury or aging, most programmers should ... More About: Personal , Nightmare , Development , Syndrome , Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Padding: Like a Rectangle, but Not
2007-07-27 00:20:00 The .NET 2.0 upgrade included many minor improvements that are easily overlooked. One such improvement is Padding , a handy structure in the System.Windows.Forms namespace that you may find useful for representing offsets, margins or padding in the user interface. More About: Graphics , Tips , Rectangle , Like
Simplify Delegates with Inferences
2007-07-25 15:21:00 Delegates can be tricky to understand. Think of a delegate as a reference to a method. More About: Delegates , Ferenc
C# Count Items in an Enum
2007-07-23 22:23:00 You can count the number of constants defined in a C# enumeration with the static Enum.GetNames method. This returns an Array containing the names of the constants defined in the enumeration. You can then check the Array's Length property. (more…) More About: Items , Count , ENUM
What is .NET?
2007-07-20 17:21:00 I was having lunch recently with a colleague when he asked, "Are you still messing around with that .NET stuff?" I could tell by the tone of his voice that he?like many computer users?still viewed .NET with suspicion. And perhaps with good reason. Purposefully kept separate from the Windows operating system, the 22MB Microsoft .NET Framework is an ... More About: Visual Studio , Bill Gates
In C#, a string is a String
2007-07-19 15:45:00 C# includes a number of pre-defined "built-in" data types. Each built-in data type is represented by a class in the System namespace that inherits from the base System.Object class. For example, an integer is represented by the System.Int32 class, and a string is represented by the System.String class. C# defines an alias keyword for each built-in type. ... More About: Tips , Tring
C# String Tips
2007-07-18 19:15:00 The .NET string class is quite comprehensive, yet some common string functions are missing or not entirely obvious. This article provides quick tips on using .NET strings. More About: Tips , String , Tring
ASCII Table
2007-07-16 17:02:00 Did you know? You can type ASCII characters into any application. Press and hold the Left-Alt key, then using the numeric keypad, type the four-digit decimal number for the ASCII character you want, then release the Left-Alt key. For example, to type è, press and hold Left-Alt, then type 0232 on the numeric keypad. When ... More About: Tips , Table , Ascii
Truncate File Path with Ellipsis
2007-07-16 16:39:00 The Microsoft .NET Framework is quite comprehensive, but occasionally an obvious function slips through the cracks and you have to use InteropServices to access the Windows API. One such obvious miss is the ability to truncate a file path. If you are drawing text and know the font and desired output size, you can use the ... More About: Tips , File , Cate , Path
Determine the .NET Versions on which an Application is Compiled and Running
2007-07-12 03:52:00 The version of .NET against which you compile an application or assembly may not be the same version of .NET on which the application is currently running. A .NET application should always be able to run on the same or newer version of .NET against which it was compiled. This is because .NET is backward compatible. ... More About: Running , Tips , Reflection , Application , Version
Determine Installed .NET Versions from a Web Page
2007-07-11 18:59:00 You can use the following JavaScript code in a web page to determine which versions of .NET are installed on a client PC: More About: Tips , Page , Version , Term
Change Font Style
2007-07-05 15:02:00 Changing a font style is a bit easier than changing its size, as there is a Font constructor that accepts a font and style as arguments. For example, to bold a label's font: More About: Graphics , Tips , Change , Style
Change Font Size
2007-07-05 14:58:00 An inspection of the Font class will reveal that every public property is read-only. This means to change a font's size, you need to create a new Font object with all the same properties of your current font but with the new size. Here is a handy method to do just that: More About: Graphics , Tips , Change , Size
Hide Form from Alt+Tab
2007-06-29 14:35:00 When you show a .NET Form , by default the form will appear in the Windows Start bar and in the list of open windows shown when the user presses Alt+Tab. More About: Tips , Hide
.NET Assembly FAQ - Part 4 - Global Assembly Cache
2007-06-28 18:36:00 This multi-part article answers common questions about assemblies, the basic building blocks of .NET applications. This Part 4 covers shared assemblies and the Global Assembly Cache . More About: Reflection
List Drives and Volumes from .NET
2007-06-25 18:28:00 The .NET Framework v2.0 did a nice job filling many holes in the System.IO namespace, especially when it comes to managing the file system. One such addition is the Drive Info class, which enables you to determine what drives are available, their type, capacity and available free space. More About: Tips , List , Volumes
Determine if a Loaded .NET Assembly is Signed
2007-06-25 16:51:00 A .NET assembly is "signed" if the developer compiled the assembly with the private key of a digital signature. When the system later loads the assembly, it verifies the assembly with the corresponding public key. Occasionally you may need to determine whether an assembly you have loaded has been signed. More About: Assembly , Tips , Signed , Reflection , Term
Lighten and Darken Colors in .NET
2007-06-22 18:50:00 There is a very handy .NET class called ControlPaint in the System .Windows.Forms namespace that enables you to draw your own controls and control elements using the standard Windows style and theme. Buried in this rich class are four methods that enable you to lighten and darken colors: More About: Graphics , Color , Tips , Colors
C# GetPixel and SetPixel
More articles from this author:2007-06-20 19:32:00 It's hard to believe the comprehensive .NET framework would omit such obvious functions as GetPixel and SetPixel from its Drawing library. Fortunately, we can access the GDI functions using Interop, as shown below. Notice the conversion required between the COLORREF integer used by the GDI methods and the Color structure used by our static ... More About: Graphics , Tips 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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