K Scott leads us in a discussion of LINQ, including:

1. What is it
2. How introducing LINQ to .NET changed the framework
3. LINQ Providers
4. LINQ to XML
5. LINQ to SQL – how it’s different from EF, tips and tricks, when to use it

Links:

• LINQpad
• 3rd Party LINQ providers list on OakLeaf Systems blog
• LINQ to Everything providers list on Charlie Calvert’s blog
• CLINQ (continuous LINQ)
• HTML Agility Pack
• Evolution of LINQ (MSDN Magazine article on LINQ’s history and impact on .NET)
• LINQ to SQL Debugger Visualizer
• Two LINQ to SQL Myths
• Rob’s Not So Lazy MVC Storefront
• Ian Cooper’s Architecting LINQ to SQL applications series
• Background Motion
• Linq2SQL designer refresh add-in

Also, Scott Koon was gone this week. We did our best to make sure you wouldn’t notice.

Download / Listen

Herding Code 10: LINQ

This week, we catch up with Rob Conery. Topics:

1. SubSonic 2.1
2. Where SubSonic fits in the Microsoft data access tools explosion
3. Why LINQ to SubSonic is so durn tricky
4. MVC Storefront – has it made Rob a TDD believer
5. What else is Rob up to at Microsoft

Links:

• Rob’s Blog
• SubSonic

Download / Listen:

Episode 9: Rob Conery on SubSonic, MVC Storefront, and the Silverlight Ninja Squad

This week, we discuss the use of virtual machines in software development. Topics:

1. Industry trends
2. VMware vs. Virtual PC (and other virtualization technologies)
3. Should you develop in a VM?
4. VM Tips and tricks

Links:

• Jeff (codinghorror) Atwood’s post on creating smaller virtual machines.
• Keeping clean and small virtual machines
• Invirtus vOptimizer
• Virtual Appliance Marketplace
• Internet Explorer Application Compatibility VPC Image
• Virtual PC Guy’s Weblog
• Virtualization.Info
• IETester

Download / Listen:

Herding Code 8: Virtual Machines

In this episode of Herding Code, we discuss the pro’s and con’s of building a startup on the Microsoft stack. We talk about a lot of issues:

1. Licensing cost
2. Availability and cost of developers
3. Development environments and tools
4. Relative costs of software vs. development time
5. Thoughts on whether Microsoft should ship Visual Studio Express with Windows
6. Those few companies who start on one stack and switch as they get larger
7. How, in the end, it all comes down to execution

Along the way, K. Scott regales us with the tale of his run-in with the FBI, flees the podcast, and finds a way to sneak back on the call. Shenanigans!

Herding Code 7: Why don’t startups run on Microsoft? (Download)

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