http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/this is the .NET Home rss feed19 November 2008.Net ToolsChris MasseyJason Haley is well-known for the resources he's provided to developers who wish to extend Reflector's usefulness by writing Add-ins, so we decided to sit him down for a chat.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/encouraging-.net-reflector-add-ins/19 November 2008.Net ToolsAndrew Clarke.NET Reflector by itself is great, but it really comes into its own with the help of some add-ins. Here we provide you with an introduction to the Add-ins, explain briefly what they do, and encourage you to write your own in order to get .NET Reflector to work the way you want it to!http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/using-.net-reflector-add-ins/17 November 2008.Net FrameworkGayani DevapriyaGayani gives an introduction to Dynamic Data Templates in ASP.NET 3.5 and explains how one can save a great deal of time and effort when building data-driven web sites by using them http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/dynamic-data-templates-in-asp.net-3.5/17 November 2008.Net ToolsJason CreaseIf you are new to using .NET Reflector, or you are wondering whether it would be useful to you, you'll appreciate Jason Crease's quick run through of the basic functionality. This is also available as a video. http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/first-steps-with-.net-reflector/10 November 2008.Net ToolsRichard MorrisAfter a while, successful applications can get set in their ways. Bart Read and Andrew Hunter decided to go for a much more radical approach when given the task of bringing ANTS Profiler up to date, and, almost accidentally, they reinvented the way we do Performance Profiling.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/ants-profiler-and-the-un-rest-cure/22 October 2008.Net ToolsAndrew ClarkeNobody could accuse .NET Reflector of being over-documented. The information is around, but has never, up until now, been pulled together into one place. We decided to try to make a start.! http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/.net-reflector-soup-to-nuts/22 October 2008PerformanceViet Yen NguyenMany computer systems nowadays have their ‘correctness’ checked using sample testing, but this isn't enough where failure can lead to catastrophe. Model Checking techniques are far better because they explore all scenarios and verify whether responses meet expectations in each instance. Now there is publicly available .NET Model Checker that introduces a new way for .NET developers to test their systemshttp://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/performance/optimising-a-high-performance-computing-tool/22 September 2008.Net FrameworkChris MasseyWe're very aware that some of the brightest NET programmers want to use ANTS 4, but are on tight budgets. Have no fear, as we have ten copies to give away to those who can illuminate the dark mysteries of the NET Framework.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/mysteries-of-the-net-framework-the-challenge/11 September 2008.Net FrameworkRobert ChipperfieldIf you are adept in puzzling over the cryptic messages in your stack trace, when a .NET exception is thrown, you may be surprised when they start talking complete nonsense. Is it really possible that two threads could build the stack trace on the same exception object at the same time?http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/exceptionally-mysterious/18 August 2008.Net ToolsStephen ChambersIf you are developing a software product, you'll know that the sooner you can get feedback from the users, the better. But, what sort of feedback, which users, and how? If your users have to test your software within their own development environment and workplace, you are presented with a challenge. Stephen explains a practical solutionhttp://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/software-tool-design-remote-user-testing/06 August 2008.Net ToolsStephen ChambersDevelopers can get so used to relying on computers for everything that they can forget how useful it can be in the design process to elicit and refine ideas whilst working in groups, using a sketchbook, pencils and crayons. Sometimes we all need a jolt to force us to take a different approach to solving software design problems.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/software-tool-design-design-by-sketching/30 July 2008.Net FrameworkAmirthalingam PrasannaThe ADO.Net Data Services framework enables you to provide data services to Web applications that are simple to integrate with them. The data services use URIs to point to pieces of data, and use standards such as JSON and XML to transfer that data. ADO.NET Data Services uses the Entity Framework,  which allows an easy translation from a Database layer based on Stored procedures, to an object-orientated Application layer. It all seems surprisingly sensible. Prasanna explains all, as usual.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/creating-service-orientated-data-access-layers/21 July 2008.Net ToolsStephen ChambersTo understand the full extent of the requirements of your users when you are redesigning a software tool, you have to talk to them, and observe how they are currently using the package. For this sort of research, there is no established rule-book, but there certainly are pitfalls and rewards. Stephen Chambers offers his advice and tells of some experiences.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-tools/software-tool-design-the-three-rs/17 July 2008.Net FrameworkHeather FieldingIt is not good enough to make assumptions about the way that users go about getting help when they use your application. Heather Fielding describes how she was able to test the effectiveness of various different ways of providing embedded help in an application. By changing the design, she discovered, you can greatly increase the users willingness to use such help to make the task easier.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/embedding-help-so-it-will-be-used/14 July 2008.Net FrameworkVladimir Bodurov When you are binding Data to DataGrid in .NET, this has to be done at design-time. That's fine if you know what the form of the data is at design time: but what if you don't? Vlad Bodurov looks at some of the options and demonstrates an unusual dynamic technique that transforms IDictionary into a typed objecthttp://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/dynamically-generating--typed-objects-in-.net/05 June 2008.Net FrameworkJohn PapaSilverlight 2 is far more versatile than Silverlight 1. It can handle data-sources with some subtlety. John Papa tackles the whole subject of data-binding with Silverlight. This article is a partial excerpt from John Papa's upcoming book Data Access with Silverlight 2 by O'Reilly, due to be released in December 2008. http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/data-and-silverlight-2-data-binding/26 May 2008.Net FrameworkAmirthalingam PrasannaPrasanna Amirthalingam provides an overview of Entity Framework and how it can be used. He shows that it can provide an excellent interface between the Object-oriented model and the relational. The Entity Framework allows developers to work with data in the form objects and properties without having to concern themselves directly with either the stored procedures or functions of the defined interface, or the the underlying database tables and columns where this data is stored.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/entity-framework-the-cribsheet/12 May 2008PerformanceAmirthalingam PrasannaAmirthalingam Prasanna gives a simple and practical guide about why you need to profile your .NET applications and how you would go about doing it.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/performance/the-why-and-how-of-.net-profiling/11 May 2008PerformanceRobyn Page and Phil FactorRobyn and Phil tackle the topic of how to make .NET applications perform well. As usual, they try to take a terse, practical approach to the mysteries of JIT, CLR and GC. After giving many performance tips, they come to the conclusion that rules and tips are less useful than rolling up your sleeves and measuring or profiling everything possible, to see what's really happening with your application.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/performance/net-performance-cribsheet/22 April 2008.Net FrameworkDan ArcherDan Archer documents his epic struggle with an apparently simple task of authenticating user credentials. For some reason, a task that should be performed by a simple API call leads to a great deal of head-scratching and googling.http://mail.simple-talk.com/dotnet/.net-framework/sid-vicious/