ASP.NET MVC Release Candidate

The ASP.NET MVC team released their Release Candidate product last Tuesday.  The team is still tracking well to their 1.0 release later this month.

You can download the RC version from the ASP.NET MVC web site.

On a semi-related note, there is also a MEAP (Manning Early Access Program) update for the ASP.NET MVC in Action including a handful of new chapters.  Currently the first 11 of 14 are available.

jQuery to Ship With VS2010!

In a move to improve its tool set, Microsoft announced that the next version of its development flagship, Visual Studio, version 2010 will include the jQuery Javascript library.

Rich Internet Applications (RIA’s) represent a growing proportion of our custom software development. Using such libraries as jQuery or Prototype we are able to deliver rich client-side functionality that is cross-browser compatible with greater ease than ever before.

With this announcement, it is clear that Microsoft understands the trend and is looking for opportunities to capitalize on it.

For us as developers, VS2010 will allow us to build even better, more robust web applications that can run on a multitude of browsers and operating systems.

Gotta love it! Go BG!

Oh, T-SQL, take me away!

Ok, so I have this project that I’m working on with a complex security requirement.  I’ve built the data layer using NetTiers as a C# library.  All of the necessary methods have been exposed as a user-friendly API via a VB.NET client library.

Problem #1, my library is required to make WAY too many calls to the database as the security process works its way through the layers of permissions (business rule permissions).  How do we reduce these database calls?

Answer #1, implement my database calls as native SQL functions.

Hmm, what would be involved in essentially converting my VB.NET functions as T-SQL functions?  Surprisingly not much.  Once you get past the fact that every line needs to be re-coded, the work really isn’t all that bad.  It’s an effort that will pay off in dividends in terms of speed and efficiency.

Now, if I can do something about that large session parameter class we’re using.

Holy MVC Batman! It’s Codeingiter!

What have I been up to?  I’ve been looking into some MVC (model-view-controller) frameworks.  Of course, Ruby on Rails is the top dog in the MVC areana and yes, RoR is excellant.  But what about MVC in a non-Ruby environment?

Well, first there was CakePHP, and then ASP.NET MVC (a promissing MVC framework for ASP.NET).  But, then there was Codeigniter!  A small, compact framework based on PHP.

What makes this framework unique?  Not only is it compact, but it’s also very flexible.  It allows the developer to implement the MVC pattern without locking them in a rigid pattern, enforced by code.  I like this because it allows me to generally code to the pattern, but easily make exceptions where it makes sense.

Looking for Silverlight Books?

So am I.  I decided to at a look at some well known software development publishers to see what they have available for Silverlight books.

Apress has five titles listed for Silverlight, but as of this blog posting, all are “NOT YET PUBLISHED”.  It doesn’t look like they are offering a Silverlight 1.0 book as most titles reference specifically Silverlight 1.1.  I like Apress books and I highly recommend their “Pro” series.  I am a little disappointed in their lack of a decent Silverlight 1.0 book.

O’Reilly has three titles that are currently in print, all three at an introductory (or essentials) level.  Their “Getting Started with Silverlight” began shipping back in April 2007.  There are not many reviews listed with this title, but the average rating is five stars out of six.

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