C# tip of the night

IList list = new ArrayList();
list.Add("the only item in my list");

for(int i = 0; i < list.Count; i++)
{
   Console.WriteLine(list[i].ToString()); //using the variable 'i' is goodness
   Console.WriteLine(list[1].ToString()); //erroneously using the number 1 instead of 'i' is not goodness
}

Revenge is sweet

sorry for the bad pun (title); it's late and the best i could do on short notice :)

I made it to Revenge of the Sith tonight; loved it. I'll definitly be going back to catch it once more in the theater! Maybe i'll hit the DLP showing in EP Center's AMC!

No spoilers here; just go see it!

jk

May 6, 2005

Happy seis de mayo! :)
jk

Running a mile in my shoes (literally)

Last night, I ran for the first time post ACL injury @ LTF. It was only 1 mile @ 5 mph (12/min mile), but it was a great start. I'm amost 3 months post-surgery; it is truly amazing what doctors can do!

Today’s words of wisdom: don’t tear your ACL!!

jk

FOXSports.com - MLB- Performance-enhancing contact lenses?

wow, this is one of the coolest thing i've seen a while! :)

jk

FOXSports.com - MLB- Performance-enhancing contact lenses?: " do not cause side effects and are not subject to suspensions. Known as performance-enhancing contact lenses, they were designed to help hitters pick up the seams on the ball better and to protect "

VS.NET 2005 Beta2 - WS proxy class generation!

I just got vs.net 2005 beta 2 installed (on a virtual PC image, thanks NI for the help!). I was very happy to see they've improved proxy class generation for web services - they actually generate private fields and public properties! for some reason, there is not a public constructor. good thing its a partial class so i can add my own :) :)

i can't wait to start playing w/ the beta as its the first time i've seen it since the PDC 2003 tech preview.... ;)

cheers
jk

Putting smack

Note: This post was taken from an advertisement for Odyessy putters http://www.steelmeetsfeel.com. I was not paid for this post (unfortunately), but I do own an Odyessy White Hot #2 putter (which I love). You're supposed to buy their putter to improve your game so you can hurl insults at your playing partners...(a good craftsman never blames his tools, right?)

Enjoy!
jk

------------------------
•I’ve had brushes with death that were closer than that.
•You know what the best joke in golf is? Your short game.
•You know what really helped me with my putting? Hitting the ball in the hole.
•You know what they call that type of putt in Scotland? Horrible.
•I hope you’re better at ordering drinks than you are at putting.
•The problem appears to be that you’re standing too close to your ball…after you hit it.
•You know what you’re doing wrong? Playing golf.
•In case I don’t remind you later, I like vodka martinis.
•One more putt and you get a free toaster.
•You walk around this green any more and you’re going to need hiking boots.
•Can you hand me some sunscreen? It looks like we’re gonna be here awhile.
•I must be dehydrated because I just hallucinated you missed that putt.
•After all that walking I bet you could use an energy bar.
•Should I cal 911? You look like you’re choking.
•You know what’s wrong with our putting? You’re not good.
•Nice touch, hammer.
•Come on, I’m running out of fingers here.
•You putt like I sing opera. Terribly.
•You know what the problem was there, don’t you? your ball didn’t go in the hole.

Insects and Entropy

A coworker (thanks PaulR!) sent this out the other day. As a person who seems to make things harder than they need to be, it is an excellent reminder. Enjoy the article :)
jk

It is done

MCSD .NET

Passed 70-229 (2nd try) w/ a 747. Not the best score, but I'm not taking it again :)

DL by any other name smells as sweet : was: Service Station: Contract-First Service Development -- MSDN Magazine, May 2005

Anyone remember IDL back from the good ol' COM/DCOM days? Even though I used to do a lot of VB (versions 3.0-6.0; I'm now recovering nicely thankyouverymuch), I always had interest in how IDL worked and had Mr. Box's Essential COM tome bookmarked at the page containing the the datatype compatibility between C++, VB (and scripting). The C++ "design IDL first" vs. the VB "code first and let VB generate the IDL goo" just added to the my-tool-is-better-than-your-tool issues.

I found Mr Skonnard's article: Service Station: Contract-First Service Development -- MSDN Magazine, May 2005 a very interesting in how, like many other things in technology, we're back to repeating ourselves in the web service world with WSDL First vs. Code first (the ASMX plumbing) displacing IDL vs. Code first.

Defining an abstraction via any Definition Language (IDL or WSDL) and coding to it seems much more like engineering/constructing something intentionally vs. just hacking the functionality out and refactoring it later. This can only improve the quality of the system, thereby making maintenance and extensibility better (and perhaps even possible)!

On our current project, we've been able to use contract first to help us go faster; by working together to define the WSDL, I was able to get the client side objects created and hooked up to the UI, while Mork and Neil started on the backend plumbing. Even though the standard vs.net tools around creating XML schema and WSDL are not high-productivity tools, we do ok w/ them and have hopes for a future where either we write our own version of wsdl.exe, or grab the source from wsdl.exe and refactor it into something that generates more useful proxy classes! :)

I'm looking forward to part two of Aaron's article!

Contract first baby! (think: Just win baby!)

jk