Posted on

Herding Code 107: Apple Subscription fees, Nokia, Reflector, Mono, Watson, CardSpace, and IE9 RC

In this episode of Herding Code, the guys talk nonsense for over an hour.

  • Topic: The Apple Store 30% fee for App Subscriptions – who’s surprised, what apps will it affect, etc.
  • The conversation shifts to Kindle, and whether content focused apps can move to HTML only.
  • Topic: Windows Mobile deal with Nokia – will it help?
  • K Scott thinks it’s very late for both parties.
  • Jon doesn’t think there’s much loyalty in the smartphone market since people get a new phone every few years.
  • There’s some discussion about where this leaves the enterprise phone market. Kevin thinks that Microsoft should just have focused on the enterprise.
  • Topic: Reflector – was free, was going to be free forever, but now it’s not.
  • Kevin and K Scott talk about how bad it is from a community perspective.
  • Kevin wonders how many developers or updates are required to keep Reflector going?
  • Jon, K Scott, and Kevin talk about what they use Reflector for.
  • The guys talk about open source alternative – IL Spy, Cecil based disassemblers, JetBrains’s new decompiler.
  • Kevin and Jon talk about why a $35 cost is a bigger problem than it sounds like.
  • Topic: Mono 2.10 and Moonlight 4 Preview 1 released – what does it mean?!
  • Topic: Watson plays Jeopardy. Jon asks if it just called into Wolfram Alpha, and K Scott wonders if has a Sean Conery mode.
  • Topic: CardSpace 2.0 won’t be shipped. Nobody but Jon cares.
  • Scott K talks about the LastPass. Jon asks how that work on different computers, mobile, etc.
  • Topic: Internet Explorer 9 RC is out
  • Jon talks about how IE9RC works better with Visual Studio now.
  • Jon likes the simplified UI, but talks about a few of the annoyances he’s run into.
  • Jon and Kevin talk about the tab UI handling.
  • Jon talks about how some sites break on JavaScript
  • Scott K brings up the blog post from Mozilla asking if IE9 is a modern browser.
  • The guys talk about IE9 supported features, general HTML5 support across browsers, etc.
  • Kevin says that the biggest problem with IE is the slow ship cycle. Kevin and Scott K discuss the possibility of splitting out an enterprise browser.
  • Kevin talks about the GPU acceleration in IE9 and how he thinks it’s overblown.
  • Jon talks about the lack of XP support for IE9.
  • The guys talk about how they wish there was an IE6 standalone.

Show Links:

Download / Listen:

Herding Code 107: Apple Subscription fees, Nokia, Reflector, Mono, Watson, CardSpace, and IE9 RC

[audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0107-Apple-Subscription-fees-Nokia-Reflector-Mono-Watson-CardSpace-IE9-RC.mp3]

JetBrains code coverage tool for .NET apps and Silverlight, dotCover, will soon get an update with improved filtering, reporting, and presentation of unit test coverage results. Get a 30-day trial and a fair price at jetbrains.com/dotcover. By the way, buying dotCover entitles you for a full year of free upgrades.

Posted on

Herding Code 106: Mark Rendle on Simple.Data

In this episode of Herding Code, the guys speak with Mark Rendle about his Simple.Data and Fix projects.

  • The show begins with Mark’s Simple.Data elevator pitch in which he explains that Simple.Data is an ORM without the O, the R or the M.
  • Jon asks about Mark’s heavy use of dynamic types in the Simple.Data source. Mark talks about the Method Missing pattern in Ruby and how that translates to dynamic .NET programming in Simple.Data.
  • Jon and Mark dig deeper into the code and then they walkthrough project advancement from supporting basic CRUD functions to the recent addition of database transactions.
  • Mark shares Simple.Data’s current and future support for numerous relational and non-relational databases.
  • Jon and Mark talk about the use of MEF, rather than a full-blown IoC container, in Simple.Data.
  • Scott K and Mark discuss Simple.Data tests, their implementation and the TDD and FDD (Fear-driven development) which Mark took while developing his project.
  • Kevin asks if the heavy use of dynamics instigated the need to write more tests. Mark answers by sharing his views on why coders might prefer either static or dynamic typed languages.
  • Jon asks about Simple.Data adoption and code optimizations which might be required to support increased production use.
  • Mark digs into Reactive Extensions and how it’s used in Simple.Data.
  • Mark talks about the growing movement of simple web development projects and the tools/frameworks which support these efforts and, coincidently, answers @AaronOnTheWeb‘s Twitter-submitted question.
  • @CodeReflection asks about Simple.Data support for aggregates which prompts a discussion about where/how these operations should be handled.
  • @jacksonh asks about support for asynchronous operations.
  • The conversation switches to Mark’s involvement with OWIN and his Crack Fix project offers an ultra-lightweight web glue for .NET, written in C#..
  • K Scott notes Mark’s awesome gravitar choice Jerry Statler
  • Mark closes by mentioning his participation in DDD (DeveloperDeveloperDeveloper!), Skills Matter Cloud Evening, and then Cambridge NxtGenUG (Next Generation User Group).

Show Links:

Show notes compiled by Ben Griswold. Thanks!

Download / Listen:

Herding Code 106: Mark Rendle on Simple.Data

[audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0106-Mark-Rendle-on-Simple-Data.mp3]

Posted on

Herding Code 105: Brad Wilson on MVC 3

In this episode of Herding Code, the guys talk to ASP.NET team member and repeat guest Brad Wilson about what’s new in ASP.NET MVC 3, BDD-style testing with SpecFlow and WaitN, and the latest release of xUnit.net.

  • Jon begins the show by sharing Brad’s bio and then dives right in asking about ASP.NET MVC 3 Service Location.  Brad talks about DI and IoC, introduces the new feature and the implementation through such things as IDependencyResolver and Controller Activator. For the full story, you should check out Brad’s eleven part series on ASP.NET MVC 3 Service Location.
  • Scott K asks why the MVC team didn’t use MEF for dependency injection. Brad comments and brings up the prospect of using NuGet to install MEF support.
  • Scott K asks if MVC could ship as a NuGet package. The conversation shifts to how NuGet could allow MVC to further decouple it’s shipping schedule from that of Visual Studio and the .NET Framework.
  • Everyone (Well, almost everyone. Kevin’s being surprisingly quiet.) talks about jQuery plugins in the NuGet feed and how maintaining obsolete packages could get out of hand.
  • Jon asks about how the jQuery based unobtrusive validation system works in MVC 3 and asks if the ASP.NET Web Forms validation system could possibly take advantage of the new unobtrusive validation support.
  • Brad talks about the ASP.NET MVC development team and his role in developing ASP.NET MVC 3.
  • Jon runs through the big features which were shipped with MVC 3 – Razor, Service Location, NuGet, Unobtrusive Validation. Scott K mentions default templates are now using HTML5 doc types and Brad notes other MVC 3 features like Unobtrusive Ajax, Remote Validator, Json Model and Binding support.
  • Brad talks about extensibility for view engines in project templates and the new add view dialogue features.
  • Via Twitter, @gsogol asks if we will ever see fluent type configurations of filters, validations for controllers and classes.
  • Jon brings up the MVC 3 Futures library and asks Brad if it includes features which he wishes were rolled into the core MVC 3 bits. Brad explains the performance benefits of using the caching version of the model metadata provider system in the Futures library.
  • K Scott asks about feature requests for Display and Editor Templates and the guys talk about code based templates.
  • Jon talks about his favorable experience with Razor and mentions there’s a web form to razor converter available.
  • @gsogol asks if the ASP.NET MVC team looks at other MVC frameworks to "borrow" various ideas for a more productive experience.
  • The guys talk about Razor Web Helpers like Web.Grid, Web.Crypto and Web.Mail which are baked into System.Web compared to the Microsoft Web Helpers which include social media helpers for Twitter and Facebook and video embedding.
  • The guys talk about the bundle of awesomeness which MS released with WebMatrix, SQL Compact and IIS Express.
  • The guys discuss what MVC3 offers to make testing easier and how one might unit test their JavaScript.
  • Brad talks about his love for BDD-style testing with SpecFlow, he explains the Given-When-Then syntax and how TDD and high-level spec testing complement each other. Brad mentions he would likely make the Web Steps he shared at Agile Conference 2010 available online soon.
  • Brad talks about MVC3 support in xUnit 1.7 and explains how xUnit compares to other test frameworks.
  • The conversation shifts to Swedish death metal and the guys totally nerding out about diet and fitness.
  • Brad pimps his Advanced ASP.NET MVC 3 talk at MvcConf 2 (video now on demand), teases us about his What’s New in MVC 3 talk given at the P&P submit and mentions his January talk for the .NET Developers Association about, you guessed it, ASP.NET MVC 3.

Show Links:

Show notes compiled by Ben Griswold. Thanks!

Download / Listen:

Herding Code 105: Brad Wilson on MVC 3

[audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0105-Brad-Wilson-on-MVC-3.mp3]

Posted on

Herding Code 104: Rob Eisenberg on Caliburn Micro

You remember Rob Eisenberg from Herding Code Show #57 when he talked presentation patterns along with Jeremy Miller, Ward Bell and Glenn Block. Well, in this episode of Herding Code, the conversation continues as Rob talks with the guys about Caliburn.Micro, an opinionated MVVM framework for WPF, Silverlight and WP7.

  • Kevin kicks off this week’s show asking Rob to tell us about Caliburn.Micro – his opinionated MVVM framework for WPF, Silverlight and WP7. Rob talks about how actions, support for conventions, and presentation roles are implemented in his opinionated MVVM framework.
  • Rob explains how about Caliburn – his earlier framework built for WPF – has contributed its most important features to the easier-to-use, lighter Caliburn Micro.
  • Jon brings up extensibility and inquires about how one overrides functionality in Cabiburn Micro.
  • Kevin and Rob talk about view resolution and the difference between ViewModel-First and View-First development which are both offered in Caliburn Micro.
  • Kevin asks designer integration and the “blendability” of Caliburn Micro.
  • Rob explains the convention-based approach Caliburn Micro takes toward bindings and actions and the guys speak to the importance of diagnostic mechanisms when your coding is based on magic of convention.
  • Kevin asks if that were places where the WPF/Silverlight/WP7 frameworks limited what Caliburn Micro could implement due to lack of extensibility points.
  • Rob dives into IResult and Coroutines and how one can write asynchronous calls in a synchronous a manner with Caliburn Micro. Rob then answers how coroutines compare to the implementation coming in C# 5?
  • Kevin asks about window management screen conductor and roles.
  • The guys discuss their experience working with Silverlight and WPF.
  • Jon asks about community contributions to Caliburn Micro and brings up the social aspect of open source and Mercurial projects in particular.
  • The show gets its first question from the hotline from Rick who asks, “What does Caliburn do that MVVM Light Toolkit does not do?”
  • Rob touches upon the Pub/Sub and window management features offered in Caliburn Micro and also talks about IoC friendliness.
  • The guys talk about Rob’s elegant yet unorthodox approach to the service location in Caliburn Micro.
  • Rob offers a quick preview of what’s to come next in Caliburn Micro.
  • Rob notes that he’s submitted a talk for Mix11: “Build Your Own MVVM Framework with Html and JavaScript”
  • The guys discuss Knockout JS and its influence on Caliburn Micro.
  • The show wraps with Kevin (in Scott K’s absence) asking THE question: “Is Silverlight dead?” Tune in and find out the answer to that one…

    Show Links:

    Show notes compiled by Ben Griswold. Thanks!

    Download / Listen:

    Herding Code 104: Rob Eisenberg on Caliburn Micro

    [audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0104-Rob-Eisenberg-on-Caliburn-Micro.mp3]

    Posted on

    Herding Code 103: Seb Lambla on OpenEverything

    In this episode of Herding Code, the guys talk with “self-congratulatory, self-proclaimed, egotistical doofus” Sebastien Lambla about OpenRasta, OpenWrap and Open Web Interface for .NET (OWIN.)

    • K Scott kicks off the show asking Seb about his most popular OSS project – OpenRasta provides the 30 second elevator pitch and touches on his web framework which embraces HTTP through composition-based programming and facilitates the development of both JSON/XML services and webpage using the same fluent APIs.
    • K Scott asks Seb about OpenRasta Resources, Handlers and Codecs (oh my) and Seb outlines the four (yes, 4) main components of MVC, content negotiation and browser fun.
    • Scott K and Seb talk about the OpenRasta plug-in model and dig into pipeline contributors, operation interceptors and the full-flexibility of the OpenRasta composition framework.
    • Jon speaks of service location which are new to MVC3.
    • Jon asks Seb for his opinion on WCF Web APIs and how they compare to OpenRasta. 
    • The guys talk about the distinction between the Microsoft Web and WCF frameworks and consider the creation of web services through .ASMX vs WCF.
    • Seb explains Easy, Simple and Intuitive in the context of existing frameworks and APIs.
    • Kevin asks about resource-oriented thinking in the .NET community. Seb response with talk of the slow adoption of RESTful architecture and poor education offered by vendors.
    • K Scott asks Seb when/why he started becoming passionate about REST and Seb shares his and OpenRasta’s story.
    • Through the magic of Twitter, John Sheehan asks if there are any plans to develop a OpenRasta Client. Don’t worry – RestSharp is safe for now.
    • Kevin asks a second question! Does OpenRasta do anything with hypermedia? Seb speaks of generating links and advanced links and forms (i.e. Hypermedia Controls) in OpenRasta.
    • Before the conversation shifts to OpenWrap, Jon asks about Seb’s thoughts on OData and it not really being RESTful. Seb offers his option and notes his NDC presentation which brings light to all that is wrong with OData.
    • The conversation shifts to OpenWrap, a package management system for .NET. Seb provides a quick overview of the project and what it offers.
    • The guys discuss the release of NuGet and the collaboration (or not) with the Nu and OpenWrap folks during development.
    • The guys further talk about the various package management systems and the pros and cons around having more than one solution (with slightly different focuses) in the .NET space. Jon compares the situation to that of Entity Framework and NHibernate both coming to market. Seb talks about productivity.
    • Seb talks about dogfooding and building and deploying a package manager with the package manager.
    • Seb walks the guys through the typical workflow experience when using OpenWrap.
    • Seb explains what a symbol servers (specifically SymbolSource.org) offer and how it is to be integration with OpenWrap.
    • Seb provides an overview of OWIN (Open Web Interface for .NET) which defines a standard interface between .NET web servers and web applications.
    • The show wraps with Seb pimping his upcoming talks on OpenWrap and OpenRasta at QCon London.

    Show Links:

    Show notes compiled by Ben Griswold. Thanks!

    Download / Listen:

    Herding Code 103: Seb Lambla on OpenEverything

    [audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0103-Seb-Lambla-on-OpenEverything.mp3]