10 Resources for Design-Challenged Programmers

By dhirschl | Published: August 29, 2010

When it comes to design, why do programmers tend to have difficulty in creating a simple and user-friendly user interface?

Perhaps because programmers are traditionally left-brained and more focused on logic, analytics, objectivity, etc. This type of thinking is encouraged in academics.

Designers are right-brained and focus on being intuitive, creative and subjective. This is the best kind of thinking when designing a user interface (UI) or user experience (UX).

Just because you tend to be a left-brained thinker, you cannot also have some qualities of a right-brained thinker. People typically resist change or want to break out of their comfort zone. If you are a programmer who wants to start to becoming more creative and a better designer, here is a list of 10 resources (web sites and books) to identify your current design faults and break you out of your comfort zone:

1. The 7 Signs Your UI was Created by a Programmer

The 7 Signs Your UI was Created by a Programmer

2. 8 Things Programmers Should Know About UI Design

8 Things Programmers Should Know About UI Design

3. Don’t Design Like a Programmer

Don’t Design Like a Programmer

4. This Is What Happens When You Let Developers Create UI

This Is What Happens When You Let Developers Create UI

5. Web Design for Programmers (via peachpit.com)

Web Design for Programmers

6. 8 Web Design Mistakes That Developers Make

8 Web Design Mistakes That Developers Make

7. Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design

Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design

8. User Interface Design for Programmers by Joel Spolsky

9. The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams

10. Web Design for Developers: A Programmer’s Guide to Design Tools and Techniques by Brian P. Hogan

Did you identify any design mistakes that you currently make as a programmer?

What are the next steps that you will take to move from left-brained to right-brained (or vice versa)?

Are there any other websites or books that you think should be included in this list?

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20 Great Quotes: Steve Jobs vs. Bill Gates

By dhirschl | Published: August 21, 2010

Speaking about your business and passions can often define you as a person. However, what you say can sometimes come back and bite you.

I previously wondered how Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would be portrayed if they made a move about them today (Pirates of Silicon Valley: Then and Now). What have these pioneers of the computing industry said in the past that has defined who they are today?

I compiled 10 of the best quotes from both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. See if you can guess who said what. Good Luck!

Steve Jobs Vs Bill Gates

Quote 1

You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 2

As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 3

DOS is ugly and interferes with users’ experience.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 4

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 5

I think it’s fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we’ve ever created. They’re tools of communication, they’re tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 6

If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 7

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 8

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 9

If I’d had some set idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 10

Life is not fair; get used to it.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 11

I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 12

So we went to Atari and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we’ll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we’ll come work for you.’ And they said, ‘No.’ So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, ‘Hey, we don’t need you. You haven’t got through college yet.’

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 13

Unfortunately, people are not rebelling against Microsoft. They don’t know any better.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 14

If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 15

We’ve got to put a lot of money into changing behavior.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 16

When you want to do your homework, fill out your tax return, or see all the choices for a trip you want to take, you need a full-size screen.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 17

Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 18

If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 MPG.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Bill Gates

Quote 19

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Quote 20

I’ve always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.

To display answer, highlight the space next to Answer:
Answer: Steve Jobs

Sources:

Photo courtesy of Joi Ito.

How did you do with guessing? Were there any quotes that surprised you? Is there a quote that you really enjoy that I didn’t include?

Please share below in the comments.

Update (08/26/2010): Modified answer to transparent text.

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A List of Coding Standard Websites

By dhirschl | Published: August 14, 2010

Do you adhere to a certain coding style or standard when programming in your language of choice? If you are not following an official coding standard or a standard set-forth by your place of employment – perhaps you should start.

Why follow a coding standard? Standardize coding practices allow code to be more easily read by other programmers. Just imagine if you inherited code that was labeled as follows:

string a;
string b;
int flag1;
int flag2;

This might look like the code you wrote when you wrote your first program. However, if you saw this coding style in a professional environment you might have a difficult time understanding the meaning behind the variable names.

Coding standards are not necessarily dictated by the creator of the language. Many have just evolved into standards among the programmers who use the language.

I have compiled this list of several coding standards and styles. If want to start adhering to coding standards, I suggest you start with the official standards (if available). Also, check with your organization to see if they have a coding standards document already created.

.NET (C#/VB.NET)

PHP

C/C++

Python

Java

Ruby

HTML/CSS/Javascript

Objective-C

If I left out your favorite programming language, check out the Coding Conventions for languages at wikipedia.

Do you know of any other coding standards resources that I should include in the list above? Please share in the comments.

6 Comments

Pirates of Silicon Valley: Then and Now

By dhirschl | Published: August 7, 2010

Technorati Claim Code: ZRMSFBXC9JWG

I am a huge fan of Pirates of Silicon Valley. It’s hard to believe that this came out over 11 years ago (June 20, 1999).

If you are not familiar with the movie, it is a history of how both Apple and Microsoft started as companies from doing business out of garage/dorm rooms to establishing themselves in Silicon Valley. To a lesser degree you see how companies like IBM and Xerox played as part as competitors.

Pirates of Silicon Valley

In the movie you get to see the following:

  • The origin of DOS
  • The origin of Mac OS
  • The rise and fall and rebirth of Apple
  • Apple Lisa
  • and more…

This movie ended by showing that Microsoft was the ultimate winner in the feud between Apple – by having Bill Gates introduce Steve Jobs on stage to announce a truce between companies.

So much has happened since this movie came out, particularly to Microsoft and Apple. What if this movie were to be re-made today? You could produce an entirely new movie based on these two companies just on the past 10 years alone. Here is what you might see:

Personal Music Players

The most obvious thing that you would see is the introduction of personal music players: iPods and Zunes. Just two years after this movie was released Apple redefined itself as a company with the release of the first iPod. Ever since, you have seen numerous companies produce their own version of the iPod – some were even created well before the iPod (See Diamond Rio PMP300). It took Microsoft five years to produce their own personal music player: Zune.

Diamond Rio

Remember Me?

Operating Systems

When this movie came out the primary operating system was Windows 98 and Mac OS 8. How many different operating systems have you gone through since?

Microsoft

  • Windows ME
  • Windows XP
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows 7

Apple

  • OS 9.0 – 9.2.2
  • OS X (10) Cheetah – OS X (10.6) Snow Leopard

Microsoft has had successes (Windows XP and Windows 7) and failures (Windows ME and Windows Vista). Like with the iPod, 2001 was an important year for Apple when it released the first version of OS X.

Other Players

When you think of the dominating tech companies, it’s no longer just between Microsoft and Apple. You also have giants such as Google.

You may see more competition between Google and Microsoft with Google and Bing:

  • Search Engine
  • Maps
  • News
  • Shopping
  • Advertising

A rivalry between Google and Microsoft is more apparent from the standpoint of the web. But how has Google influenced Apple?

We haven seen a preview of Google’s introduction into the Operating System market with Chromium OS.

Perhaps this is what will be Apple’s main competition in regards to Google.

Smart Phones

So what about Smart Phones?

Apple has clearly set the bar in both Smart Phone hardware and software with the iPhone. So where do Microsoft and Google stand?

We have already seen Google’s failed attempt to enter the Smart Phone hardware market: nexus one. However, in terms of software Android has had success on third-party phones:

  • Motorola Droid
  • HTC Droid Incredible
  • HTC EVO 4G
  • HTC Hero
  • HTC Droid Eris

Can we see Google attempt re-entry of the hardware market with the acquisition of one of these companies?

Microsoft has been in the Smart Phone software business for a while with Windows mobile; however, they have only recently attempted to enter the hardware market with Windows Phone 7.

Windows Phone 7

It seems like we hear the term “iPhone killer” everytime a new mobile device comes out, but everytime it fails to do so.

The Future

What will the spectrum of tech companies look like in the next 10 years? Will Google be the dominating company – where every product is successful? Or will another company emerge?

Other Views

Apple: The new/old Pirates of Silicon Valley?

Google Android phones vs. Apple iPhones, who is winning the wallets of consumers?

Apple vs Google vs Microsoft: Battle of the Titans

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How To View Inception Through Code

By dhirschl | Published: July 31, 2010

If you have not seen Inception yet, I highly recommend doing so before reading this post.

**** SPOILERS AHEAD ****

Inception Movie Poster

Inception combines the best elements of movies in the Simulism genre; such as Dark City, eXistenZ, The Thirteenth Floor and The Maxtrix Trilogy; and creates an original, thought provoking film.

Watching the film from the standpoint of a programmer, I could not help seeing the similarities between the plot devices and basic programming concepts.

The Kick

The Kick is the concept they use in the movie to return to a dream level above the existing one. For example, if you perceive that you are falling in a dream, you have a tendency to wake up.

The Kick can be portrayed in programming in several different ways:

Recursion

public bool Dream()
{
     kick = CheckForKick();
     if(kick) return true;
     return Dream();
}

* CheckForKick() implementation has been omitted.

In this recursion example, each call to function Dream() will call another sub-Dream – until the CheckForKick() function returns true, which can occur however many levels deep.

Exception Bubble

public bool Dream()
        {
            try
            {
                try
                {
                    try
                    {
                        throw new DreamException("Receive Kick");
                    }
                    catch(DreamException dx)
                    {
                        throw dx;
                    }
                }
                catch(DreamException dx)
                {
                    throw dx;
                }
            }
            catch(DreamException dx)
            {
                // Handle Kick thrown 3 levels deep.
                Console.WriteLine(dx.Message);
            }
        }

In this Exception example, an exception is thrown within a nested try block. Rather than handling the exception at that level, it’s bubbled up until is (hopefully) handled gracefully.

Stack

This can best be represented by the following infographic, which I reconstructed to be a stack. Here is the original source.

Inception Stack

A stack is one of the most fundamental data structures in computing. A stack operates in the following: items are added in a First-In, Last-Out (FIFO) manner. They are added via being “Pushed” onto the stack and removed via being “popped” from the Stack.

In the movie, each sub-dream is pushed onto the stack starting with reality. Our characters cannot return to a different dream level by popping the dream above off the stack.

Sedation

They use Sedation in the movie to prevent the dreamers from waking up any means other than “falling” on all dream levels above the first. At the first dream level, the only way to wake up is for the machine’s time to elapse.

Sedation in the movie can be explained through the use of Threading.

Threading

public void Inception()
{
     Machine mach = new Machine();
     Sedation sed = new Sedation();
     Thread machineThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(mach.Start());
     Thread sedationThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(sed.Sedate());
     try
     {
          sedationThread.Start();
          machineThread.Start();
          sedationThread.Join();
          machineThread.Join();
          ReturnToReality();
     }
     catch(Exception ex)
     {
          // Limbo ???
     }
}

* Machine implementation omitted. Sedation implementation below.

In this example, you can think of the sedation and starting the “dream machine” as being two separate threads – both induce unconsciousness, but in different ways.

The sedation occurs first as indicated by the sedationThread.Start(), followed by the machine start machineThread.Start(). The Sedation.Sedate() implementation may look like the following:

public void Sedate()
{
        Thread.Sleep(36000000); // 10 Hours
}

By calling join on the threads, the ReturnToReality() function will not get called until both the sedation wears off or the machine time elapses.

Limbo

Limbo is defined in the movie has a mental state where your mind doesn’t know if you are in reality or not. The only way out is to realize that Limbo is not reality.

I already hinted at how Limbo could be represented in code in the previous example – if there is an exception (i.e. death) during the running of the threads that does not allow them to complete. Also, Limbo could also be represented by the following:

Infinite Loop or Infinite Recursion

while(!IsAwareOfReality)
{
     CreateBuildings();
     CreateFromMemories();
     QuestionReality();
}

Most of the time that we are programming and find ourselves in an infinite loop, we are not aware of it until we start to question:

  • Why is this taking so long?
  • Why is my memory decreasing?
  • Why is my CPU pegged at 100%

Fortunately in programming there are ways to identify that we are in an infinite loop state.

If you are not aware of these conditions, you will stay there until your program runs out of memory or crashes (dies) or you realize you are in a loop (meet a condition) – by calling the QuestionReality() function.

Architect

Ellen Page

The last item I will mention is the role of Architect. In the movie, Ariadne (Ellen Page) is responsible for creating the dreamscapes. This shares similarities with Software Architecture. As a software architect you responsible for knowing the systems (the main characters in movie) that you work with and to create the best solutions (e.g. Never Ending Staircase) to new problems that need to be solved (Inception). Being able to see the world around you as objects with state and behavior is a useful skill for both understanding Object Oriented Design/Programming; and as a Software Architect.

I was surprised how many people shared similar thoughts with comparing the movie with programming. If you enjoyed my post, please read their perspectives:

11 Comments

5 Types of Comments to Avoid Making in Your Code

By dhirschl | Published: July 24, 2010

Have you ever been reviewing code and come across a comment that you deemed was unnecessary? Commenting your code is meant to improve the readability of your code and make it more understandable to someone other than the original developer.

I have identified 5 types of comments that really annoy me and the types of programmers who make them. I hope after reading this you won’t be one who falls into one of these categories. As a challenge, you can try to match up these comment programmers with the 5 types of programmers.

1. The Proud Programmer

public class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        string message = "Hello World!";  // 07/24/2010 Bob
        Console.WriteLine(message); // 07/24/2010 Bob
        message = "I am so proud of this code!"; // 07/24/2010 Bob
        Console.WriteLine(message); // 07/24/2010 Bob
    }
}

This programmer is so proud of his code that he feels the need to tag every line of code with his initials. Implementing a version control system (VCS) allows for accountability in code changes, but at first glance it won’t be so obvious who is responsible.

2. The Obsolete Programmer

public class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        /* This block of code is no longer needed
         * because we found out that Y2K was a hoax
         * and our systems did not roll over to 1/1/1900 */
        //DateTime today = DateTime.Today;
        //if (today == new DateTime(1900, 1, 1))
        //{
        //    today = today.AddYears(100);
        //    string message = "The date has been fixed for Y2K.";
        //    Console.WriteLine(message);
        //}
    }
}

If a piece of code is no longer used (i.e. Obsolete), delete it – don’t clutter your working code with several lines of unnecessary comments. Besides if you ever need to replicate this deleted code you have a version control system, so you can recover the code from an earlier revision.

3. The Obvious Programmer

public class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        /* This is a for loop that prints the
         * words "I Rule!" to the console screen
         * 1 million times, each on its own line. It
         * accomplishes this by starting at 0 and
         * incrementing by 1. If the value of the
         * counter equals 1 million the for loop
         * stops executing.*/
        for (int i = 0; i < 1000000; i++)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("I Rule!");
        }
    }
}

We all know how basic programming logic works – this is not “Introduction to Programming.” You don’t need to waste time explaining how the obvious works, and we’re glad you can explain how your code functions – but it’s a waste of space.

4. The Life Story Programmer

public class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
       /* I discussed with Jim from Sales over coffee
        * at the Starbucks on main street one day and he
        * told me that Sales Reps receive commission
        * based upon the following structure.
        * Friday: 25%
        * Wednesday: 15%
        * All Other Days: 5%
        * Did I mention that I ordered the Caramel Latte with
        * a double shot of Espresso?
       */
        double price = 5.00;
        double commissionRate;
        double commission;
        if (DateTime.Today.DayOfWeek == DayOfWeek.Friday)
        {
            commissionRate = .25;
        }
        else if (DateTime.Today.DayOfWeek == DayOfWeek.Wednesday)
        {
            commissionRate = .15;
        }
        else
        {
            commissionRate = .05;
        }
        commission = price * commissionRate;
    }
}

If you have to mention requirements in your comments, don’t mention people’s names. Jim from sales probably moved on from the company and most likely the programmers reading this won’t know who he is. Not to mention the fact that it everything else in the comment is irrelevant.

5. The Someday Programmer

public class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
       //TODO: I need to fix this someday – 07/24/1995 Bob
       /* I know this error message is hard coded and
        * I am relying on a Contains function, but
        * someday I will make this code print a
        * meaningful error message and exit gracefully.
        * I just don’t have the time right now.
       */
       string message = "An error has occurred";
       if(message.Contains("error"))
       {
           throw new Exception(message);
       }
    }
}

This type of comment is sort of a catch-all it combines all the other types. The TODO comment can be very useful when you are in the initial development stages of your project, but if this appears several years later in your production code – it can spell problems. If something needs to be fixed, fix it now and do not put it off until later.

If you are one who makes these types of comments or would like to learn best practices in comment usage, I recommend reading a book like Code Complete by Steve McConnell. This is one of the books that I recommend all programmers should own.

Or Perhaps you can learn how to stop commenting your code altogether.

Do you see any other unnecessary or annoying comments in your code? Please feel free to share.

55 Comments

ASP.NET – Access To Path is Denied

By dhirschl | Published: July 22, 2010

If your ASP.NET program is attempting to read, write and/or delete a fie it can display the error “Access to Path … is Denied”. If this is the case, the directory may have the incorrect security settings.

Here are the steps to add the correct the user security settings on Windows Server 2003:

1. Find the folder or file that you are trying to access.
2. Right-click the folder
3. Select Properties
4. Click the Security tab
5. Click the Add button

6. Enter the user: <SERVERNAME>\IIS_WPG
7. Click Check Names button

8. Click OK button
9. Verify user has correct permissions (Read/Write)

10. Click OK button

Other Windows operating systems (XP, Vista, 7) may require the user: <SERVERNAME>\ASPNET to be added.

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Do-It-Yourself Free XML Tool Suite

By dhirschl | Published: July 17, 2010

If you ever had to work with XML documents and XML schemas, it can be pretty challenging if you don’t have the right tools. If you are creating/modifying XML through code (e.g. XML Web Services), it can especially be difficult searching XML nodes or trying to create a validated XML document.

Personally, I believe that XMLSpy from Altova Software is one of the best tools available if you are going to be dealing with a lot of XML documents. However, this tool does come at a price. A few years ago, they used to offer a free community edition of their software – this has since been discontinued.

I’ve recently needed to create and modify some XML and was searching for some tools that fit the criteria:

  • Windows Based
  • Non-Trial Editions of Software
  • Free

I have come up with a list of three tools that perform a majority of the tasks in commercial products like XMLSpy and are a good alternative.

1. XML Notepad

XML Notepad 2007

XML notepad makes it easy to edit XML nodes without the need to edit the XML syntax directly. By attaching an XML Schema, your XML document is checked for validation as you input values.

Although this tool has not seen an update since 2007, it is still one of the better free XML editors with a simple, yet powerful interface.

2. XPath Visualizer

XPath Visualizer

If you’ve ever had the need to query XML to find specific nodes, XPath Visualizer provides a way to test XPath queries against an XML document. With the ability to include XML namespaces, the XPath expressions can easily be imported into code environments like Visual Studio.

3. XML Sample Generator

You have an XML Schema, but now you need to create an XML document based off this schema. If you don’t have a tool that helps you visualize a schema graphically, it can be a daunting task to traverse an XML Schema and create an XML document manually. Thanks to the XML Sample Generator, you can import your XML Schema and export a well-formed, validated, XML document.

XML Sample Generator provides a good starting point if you need to start from square one.

Do you have a free tool that you use? Please share in the comments.

1 Comment

SharePoint 2010 Development Resources

By dhirschl | Published: July 10, 2010

Implementing SharePoint 2010 is an idea that is being thrown around at my place of employment right now. As a developer, there seems to be some significant differences between WSS 3.0/MOSS 2007 and SharePoint 2010 (SharePoint 2010 Sandbox Environment) and I wanted to make sure that my skills were updated for the latest release of SharePoint.

For everyone who is already developing or those who will start, I put together this list of resources that are available.

Videos

There are a few hands-on videos if you are a visual learner.

Books

If you prefer to learn from a book, there are many more resources available for SharePoint 2010 than there were previously for WSS 3.0 or MOSS 2007.

Pro SharePoint 2010 Solution Development: Combining .NET, SharePoint, and Office

Ed Hild and Chad Wach

SharePoint 2010 as a Development Platform

Joerg Krause, Martin Daring, Christian Langhirt, Bernd Pehlke, Alexander Sterff

SharePoint 2010 Development with Visual Studio 2010

Eric Carter, Boris Scholl, Peter Jausovec

Beginning SharePoint 2010 Development

Steve Fox

Professional SharePoint 2010 Development

Tom Rizzo, Reza Alirezaei, Jeff Fried, Paul Swider, Scot Hillier, Kenneth Schaefer

1 Comment

My Experience at Orlando Code Camp 2010

By dhirschl | Published: April 9, 2010

This post is long overdue but I thought I would share my experiences with attending my first code camp: Orlando Code Camp 2010.

Code Camp is something that always interested me, I thought it would be cool to experience some of the bleeding-edge technology and also receive some “free” training in the process.

If you are not aware of what a Code Camp is, it is an event where developers volunteer their time to present on several different topics – typically related to Microsoft products and technology and is sponsored by local technology companies.

Here is a breakdown of each session I attended:

Session 1

What to Know About WF 4.0

Presented by: Bayer White

I have just introduced myself to Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) since I have been teaching myself Windows SharePoint Services – so I thought I would get some exposure to what’s new in WF 4.0.

Take Away: WF 4.0 is significantly different from it’s predecessors, but there are some features that make it more productive: activities. A lot of the information was a bit over my head for being a novice at WF; however, once I get a good understanding of WF 3.0, I will migrate my skills to WF 4.0.

Links:
www.humanworkflow.net
www.flowfocus.com

Session 2

Building a Data Warehouse Using Sql Server 2008

Presented by Wes Dumey

The topic of Building a Data Warehouse is not new to me. I have taken graduate-level classes on the subject and actually built a Data Warehouse for a hospital as a team project – back in the days of Sql Server 2000. However, since taking this class, I have not had much exposure to the topic and the tools from Microsoft have changed significantly.

In the week previous to Orlando Code Camp I had attended several webinars by Pragmatic Works on Business Intelligence, so a lot of the information was review.

Take Away: Wes shared some ‘best practices’ that his firm adopted, such as storing the extracts after each step of the ETL process to verify the data.

Links:
Durable Impact Consulting
www.dayofdata.com

Session 3

Developing OLAP Solutions with SASS 2008

Presented by: Adam Jorgensen

One of the webinar sessions I missed with Pragmatic Works, was this very same presentation with Adam. So it was a treat to see Adam present this in person and demo the BI tools in Sql Server 2008.

Take Away: Since I have not used Sql Server 2008 BI Tools or even Sql Server 2005 BI Tools for that matter, I think there was an assumption that the audience had prior exposure. Adam frequently referred to the differences between 2005 and 2008 and also shared his pet peeve of naming dimensions with underscores.

Links:
Pragmatic Works

Session 4

Getting Started with WPF

Presented by: Shervin Shakibi

I haven’t had much exposure to WPF, so I thought I would check out this session for beginners. The presenter Shervin Shakibi is very comical and made the session pretty enjoyable.

Take Away:
From what I understand about WPF, is that it add additional functionality to creating Windows Forms and is primarily driven by XAML. It is possible to create web apps using WPF, but Shervin suggested to use Silverlight for that purpose.

Links:
www.computerways.com

Session 5

Silverlight Viewer for Reporting Services

Presented by: Jeremy Groves

This had to be the most unproductive session that I attended. It seemed as if the presenter was there against his will – the session only lasted about 10 minutes.

Take Away:
Silverlight Viewer for Reporting Services is actually a product by Perpetuumsoft and this session was nothing more than a marketing presentation to buy their product.

Links:
www.perpetuumsoft.com

Session 5.5

Stream It! Live + HD + Silverlight

Presented by Kevin Rohling

Since I had some time to kill, I went to this session since it was the location for Session 6.

Take Away:
Kevin Rohling made note of a video (that I had never heard of before) that is available in the public domain: Big Buck Bunny.

Links:
www.perpetuumsoft.com

Session 6

Dissecting a Real-World Silverlight 4 Application

David Silverlight

I really wanted to see Silverlight development in action and I was provided this opportunity in David Silverlight’s session.

Note: I have to admit I once thought that Silverlight was named after him.

Take Away:
David presented a User Group Website Starter Kit software package that was developed using Silverlight, and is available to download via CodePlex.

Links:
Silverlight User Group Website Starter Kit
www.perpetuumsoft.com

Overall, I was exposed to a lot of new technology at Orlando Code Camp. I look forward to attending Tampa Code Camp later this year.

More Blogs about Orlando Code Camp:

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