tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-282254482024-03-05T03:15:08.011-06:00Scott BennersWelcome to my blog where I post observations, opinions, research results, and other musings.Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-61001212561408224802011-04-05T12:30:00.000-05:002011-04-05T12:30:21.064-05:00The future is coming faster than you thinkI came across this video from one of Michael Hyatt's more recent blog posts and thought it was worth passing along. After looking at it you might think, "yeah, right", but 10 years ago how many of us would've imagined what we can do today with Smart phones and other portable touch screen devices. I do think it'll be just a matter of time. If even half of this video's ideas where to come about we all know that adoption would be widespread. Pretty exciting stuff!<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38&feature=player_embedded</a></div>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-39547382388889326332011-03-24T09:49:00.000-05:002011-03-24T09:49:32.239-05:00Good economics reading...I'm seriousThomas Sowell is a world reknown columnist, author and economist who has been writing now for over 40 years. Here's his bio on Wikipedia: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/wiki/Thomas_Sowell/ref=sr_tc_2_wp?qid=1300977080&sr=1-2-wp">http://www.amazon.com/wiki/Thomas_Sowell/ref=sr_tc_2_wp?qid=1300977080&sr=1-2-wp</a>. I've read a couple of his books so far and I'm working on a third...several others are in the queue. I can tell you firsthand that you'll learn more about practical real-world economics by reading a couple of his books than you picked up in all of the economics courses that you took in high school or college combined...guaranteed. <br />
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The topic of economics is generally seen as dry and boring, but Sowell keeps you engaged and makes it both real and fun. If you're looking for some good reading material that'll really open your mind then I'd highly recommend taking a look into some of his works. If you don't take my word for it, just read some of his book reviews on Amazon.<br />
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<u>Listed here are links to some of his more recent masterpieces:</u><br />
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Basic Economics - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Economics-4th-Ed-Economy/dp/0465022529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-1">http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Economics-4th-Ed-Economy/dp/0465022529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-1</a><br />
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Intellectuals and Society - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Intellectuals-Society-Thomas-Sowell/dp/B004H8GL40/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-3">http://www.amazon.com/Intellectuals-Society-Thomas-Sowell/dp/B004H8GL40/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-3</a><br />
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Dismantling America - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dismantling-America-other-controversial-essays/dp/B004NSVE4G/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-4">http://www.amazon.com/Dismantling-America-other-controversial-essays/dp/B004NSVE4G/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-4</a><br />
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Economics Facts and Fallacies - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Economic-Facts-Fallacies-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0465022030/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-6">http://www.amazon.com/Economic-Facts-Fallacies-Thomas-Sowell/dp/0465022030/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-6</a><br />
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Applied Economics - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Applied-Economics-Thinking-Beyond-Stage/dp/B002FL5HF0/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-12">http://www.amazon.com/Applied-Economics-Thinking-Beyond-Stage/dp/B002FL5HF0/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-12</a><br />
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The Housing Boom and Bust - <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Housing-Boom-Bust-Revised/dp/B004I1JQ98/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-7">http://www.amazon.com/Housing-Boom-Bust-Revised/dp/B004I1JQ98/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300975239&sr=1-7</a><br />
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<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-2081159755245845622011-03-04T09:51:00.001-06:002011-03-24T09:56:38.496-05:00Designing the wrong thingI recently read this quote and it really resonated with me having seen and experienced some of the systems I've worked with over the years...<br />
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"<em>The besetting mistake of expert designers is not designing the thing wrong, but rather in designing the wrong thing.</em>"Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-14708969364928518642011-02-17T15:55:00.000-06:002011-02-17T15:55:37.307-06:00More interview questionsSoftware developers: here are more questions to add to your arsenal…some good ones too.<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://www.hanselman.com/blog/NewInterviewQuestionsForSeniorSoftwareEngineers.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ScottHanselman+%28Scott+Hanselman+-+ComputerZen.com%29">http://www.hanselman.com/blog/NewInterviewQuestionsForSeniorSoftwareEngineers.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ScottHanselman+%28Scott+Hanselman+-+ComputerZen.com%29</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.hanselman.com/blog/WhatGreatNETDevelopersOughtToKnowMoreNETInterviewQuestions.aspx">http://www.hanselman.com/blog/WhatGreatNETDevelopersOughtToKnowMoreNETInterviewQuestions.aspx</a><br />
<br />
Older, but still relevant:<br />
<a href="http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ASPNETInterviewQuestions.aspx">http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ASPNETInterviewQuestions.aspx</a><br />
<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-21373425039719301672011-02-11T15:04:00.000-06:002011-02-11T15:04:16.835-06:00.NET Dynamic DataNot sure how many out there have played around with .NET Dynamic Data, but I found it to be a thought-provoking approach. If you’ve built your relational database well, it allows for RAD in the beginning. I haven’t quite figured out yet what you’d do in the case of a data schema change…rebuild it maybe? I also like the built-in asp.net routing feature, and the UI consistency across all object CRUD operations is nice. I’m not sold though on this being the sole development model for an enterprise site, but if mixed in with classic web forms or MVC one might experience the best of all worlds.<br />
<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg535665.aspx">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg535665.aspx</a><br />
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If you want to build a sample site, following the example you’ll need the Adventure Works DB if you don’t already have it:<br />
<a href="http://msftdbprodsamples.codeplex.com/releases/view/37109">http://msftdbprodsamples.codeplex.com/releases/view/37109</a><br />
<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-76518116610526302832011-02-10T15:10:00.005-06:002011-02-11T16:05:09.668-06:00Dry, but still worth readingI just finished reading "Design of Design" by Frederick P. Brooks Jr. It was at times an interesting topical read, but for the most part I found myself often disengaged. I don't at all question the author's experience, nor do I doubt he's a seasoned and well-respected professional in the computer science field. I personally just found it difficult to submerse myself into the content. That's the down-side...at least for me. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRRl58HAJj3PDFjnPoL02r3o0GQKZBsSIvWcwdGapIu6nP9o4kwroz8P1hge6RA2Qmogb_j84KyBF0IrhMa_y4IHCYPlbqZaFMZRsKvceP1UaBtaG_Y7DtS3AlGG4XahGyrwZ/s1600/Design_Of_Design.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZRRl58HAJj3PDFjnPoL02r3o0GQKZBsSIvWcwdGapIu6nP9o4kwroz8P1hge6RA2Qmogb_j84KyBF0IrhMa_y4IHCYPlbqZaFMZRsKvceP1UaBtaG_Y7DtS3AlGG4XahGyrwZ/s1600/Design_Of_Design.jpg" /></a><br />
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Now the up-side. Despite it being dry, overall I was better off for having read it and learned a few things from it. I agreed with the chapter on the computing field's need for more exemplars, and the chapter that pointed out our lack of standardization and common design practices echoed in print what I've been telling others in my field for years now. Also, I enjoy good quotes that history's great minds have left us, and this book contained a good number of them that really jumped out at me. I'll close this post with one of them...<br />
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<strong><em>"The besetting mistake of expert designers is not designing the thing wrong, but designing the wrong thing."</em></strong>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-42593480490504233872011-02-02T16:12:00.000-06:002011-02-11T17:26:46.324-06:00No free lunchSomeone recently sent me this link and expressed their disdain with the approach that <u>Red Gate</u> has taken with the new pricing model of the .NET Reflector tool. The public announcement is listed below...<br />
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<em>Red Gate has announced that it will charge $35 for version 7 of .NET Reflector upon its release in early March. Version 7 will be sold as a perpetual license, with no time bomb or forced updates. </em><br />
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<em>As many of you know, our original intention was to maintain .NET Reflector as a free tool. But, after two-and-a-half years of providing it without charge, we realized that we could not make the free model work. We know that this will cause pain for some people in the .NET community, and we apologize for the change in policy. </em><br />
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<em>As a commercial company, we need to charge at least a nominal amount to keep .NET Reflector up-to-date and relevant. Without revenue coming in, we cannot dedicate a team of developers to ensure that Reflector remains a valuable part of .NET developers' toolboxes. </em><br />
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<em>As always, your feedback is important to Red Gate, so please contribute any thoughts on this subject to our .NET Reflector forum. </em><br />
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I really don't have a problem with this though. After all, the business model of offering a product for free until you have a large user base and then finally charging for it is really nothing new. Support and maintenance for any decent product comes at a price. Of course if it's the intellectual property of a brick-and-mortar software company, why shouldn't they have the write to charge a nominal price for their product? It appears that the laws of Supply and Demand for this product have worked in Red Gate's favor. Good for them.Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-47000109848905499952011-02-02T13:38:00.000-06:002011-02-02T13:38:37.237-06:00Rationalism vs EmpiricismI'm currently reading "The Design of Design" by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr. and found one of those nuggets in Chapter 8. Mr. Brooks provides his software engineering angle on the difference between Rationalism and Empiricism. It's so good that I've got to share it. He says the following...<br />
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"The rationalist believes that man is inherently sound (and good), subject to mistakes, and perfectible by education. After right education, maturing experience, and sufficient careful-enough thought, a designer can make a flawless design."<br />
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"The empiricist believes that man is inherently flawed, and subject repeatedly to temptation and error. Anything he makes will be flawed. The design methodology task, therefore, is to learn how to determine the flaws by experiment, so that one can iterate on the design."<br />
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Mr. Brooks acknowledges the fact that he's a die hard empiricist. He goes on to say...<br />
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"A program is a pure mathematical object and in principle can be designed perfectly by correct thought. The difficulty is not with the design medium but with the designers."<br />
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"This firm faith in fallibility prescribes a design methodology that includes design, early prototypes, early user testing, iterative incremental implementation, testing on a rich bank of test cases, and regression testing after changes."<br />
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This last sentence describes the implementation approach to Agile Software Development. I don't see how anyone that would put themselves in the empiricist camp would favor the waterfall approach to creative software engineering. Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-44821091445657944892010-12-29T14:36:00.001-06:002011-02-14T14:37:40.104-06:00Behavior-Driven Development with SpecFlow and WatiNI’ve never been a huge fan of TDD in its purest form. This is an interesting approach though to BDD that accomplishes the same thing and more. <br />
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<br />
I’m interested in your thoughts in this article. <br />
<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg490346.aspx">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg490346.aspx</a><br />
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Here is the code if you wanted to download it:<br />
<a href="http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/mag201012BDD/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=5241">http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/mag201012BDD/Release/ProjectReleases.aspx?ReleaseId=5241</a>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-56981613583019693052010-12-29T14:34:00.000-06:002011-02-14T14:35:49.659-06:00How to respond to a ridiculous timeline...Mozart’s response to his father’s inquiry about an opera due to the Duke in just 3 weeks is classic:<br />
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<strong><em>"Everything has been composed, just not yet written down."</em></strong> – Letter to Leopold Mozart [1780]<br />
<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-57254616368627817412010-12-03T18:06:00.002-06:002011-02-01T18:07:48.833-06:00How to succeed in Internet commerce by being a jerkAn interesting read that one of the engineers on my team forwarded on to me...<br />
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/business/28borker.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/business/28borker.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss</a><br />
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"I have stared into the black-eyed-heart of online shopping darkness and seen a smiling Russian immigrant entrepreneur staring back at me. That's the only way to describe the feeling I had after reading David Segal's New York Times expose on how to succeed in Internet commerce by being a jerk. The story and interview with one Vitaly Borker is a must read for every online consumer and any Internet merchant who runs an online business and works hard to cultivate a Google Search result presence." <br />
<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-48715609723213774382010-12-01T13:43:00.010-06:002011-02-14T14:27:48.101-06:00Our field's next generationIf you haven't read the Editor's note of the Nov. 2010 issue of MSDN magazine entitled "Proactive Eduction" and you're in the software development career field, then I would encourage you to do so.<br />
<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg309186.aspx">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/gg309186.aspx</a><br />
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The article really got me thinking about the benefit for any organization of substantive size to have an internship program. Such a program would target high school students interested in programming and college students majoring in computer science or related field. It could be paid, un-paid, or both. IT groups would need to work with their HR department on the details. <br />
<br />
<u>I could see such a program having the following benefits:</u><br />
1) It could breed qualified candidates for junior programmer new hires upon graduation. <br />
2) Those professionals that are more seasoned would gain teaching and mentoring skills.<br />
3) The cost of labor performed by interns would be low and financially advantageous to departments.<br />
4) "Giving back" would provide good marketing and publicity for the organization.<br />
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I'm sure there are disadvantages to having such a program, but I just can't think of anything that's even worth noting. Just my 2 cents.<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-33684522062732103512010-10-20T14:39:00.001-05:002011-02-14T15:02:23.423-06:00Typical Waterfall SDLC process (paraphrased)Process:<br />
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<u>1. Establish contact</u><br />
a. Gather high-level description<br />
b. Identify audience (i.e. everyone, line-of-business)<br />
c. Define process (current process or something brand new)<br />
d. Automation of manual process? New business model?<br />
e. Who does this benefit? Authority? Budget?<br />
f. Support Plan? Primary technical / business contacts?<br />
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<u>2. Project Slating - Group Discussion</u><br />
a. Decision point<br />
b. Review scope of project<br />
c. Develop Project charter<br />
d. Review info gathered in contact phase<br />
e. Is it related to something in environment already?<br />
f. Is it a go, no-go?<br />
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<u>3. Requirements</u><br />
a. Understand project scope<br />
b. Ideation<br />
c. Analysis<br />
d. Technical Assessment<br />
e. Identify and document scope document<br />
f. Given scoped-out detail, can we take this on? If so, create SOW.<br />
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<u>4. Project Management</u><br />
a. Define project timeline<br />
b. Weekly update meetings<br />
c. Customer facing / Team facing<br />
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<u>5. Development</u><br />
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<u>6. Closing Activities</u><br />
a. UAT, Customer sign-off<br />
b. Go gold -- move into Production<br />
c. Implement support plan<br />
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<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-71459078345798122582010-10-05T17:48:00.000-05:002011-02-01T17:50:07.983-06:00Web Application or Web Site...now that's the questionFor reasons why you should care about which one is used see: <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd547590.aspx">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd547590.aspx</a><br />
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Scenarios in which Web application projects are the preferred choice include the following:<br />
• You want to be able to edit code without stopping a debugging session.<br />
• You want to run unit tests on code that is in the class files that are associated with ASP.NET pages.<br />
• You want to refer to the classes that are associated with pages and user controls from standalone classes.<br />
• You want to establish project dependencies between multiple Web projects.<br />
• You want the compiler to create a single assembly for the entire site.<br />
• You want control over the assembly name and version number that is generated for the site.<br />
• You want to use MSBuild or Team Build to compile the project. For example, you might want to add pre-build and post-build steps.<br />
• You want to avoid putting source code on a production server.<br />
• You want to use the automated deployment tools that are available in Visual Studio 2010.<br />
<br />
Scenarios in which Web site projects are the preferred choice include the following:<br />
• You want to include both C# and Visual Basic code in a single Web project. (By default, a Web application is compiled based on language settings in the project file. Exceptions can be made, but it is relatively difficult.)<br />
• You want to open the production site in Visual Studio and update it in real time by using FTP.<br />
• You do not want to have to explicitly compile the project in order to deploy it.<br />
• If you do precompile the site, you want the compiler to create multiple assemblies for the site, which can include one assembly per page or user control, or one or more assemblies per folder.<br />
• You want to be able to update individual files in production by just copying new versions to the production server, or by editing the files directly on the production server.<br />
• If you precompile the site, you want to be able to update individual ASP.NET Web pages (.aspx files) without having to recompile the entire Web site.<br />
• You like to keep your source code on the production server because it can serve as an additional backup copy.Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-37505702490473704642010-10-05T14:24:00.001-05:002010-10-20T14:28:29.204-05:00Azure Migration WorkshopOne of the engineers on my team and I recently participated in 2-day Azure (Microsoft’s cloud) Migration workshop. We successfully deployed 2 organizational applications and a SQL database and learned a lot from the exercise. While we were there I jotted down some of the lessons learned and thought that others might find them interesting...<br />
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<strong><u>SQL Azure Migration</u></strong><br />
• 50GB database size limit (in relational DB format)<br />
• Oracle databases will need to be connected to on-premise<br />
• Need to use SQL Server authentication model<br />
• SQL queries used by SQL Azure are slightly different from the original script...code migration wizard alters them, but the tool is still not very mature<br />
• Cross-DB dependencies and communication is not supported...neither is distributed transactions<br />
• SQL Server migration wizard (from Codeplex) can be used to analyze and point out DB incompatibilities before conversion to SQL Azure<br />
• Every SQL Azure DB table must have a clustered primary key<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Windows Azure Migration</u></strong><br />
• Applications need to be in .Net web application (not web site) format<br />
• Must include Cloud project within .Net solution<br />
• Cannot use Windows authentication model without using an AD federation-like model<br />
• AnonymousAuthentication web.config setting is not recognized<br />
• The WSDL of web service sites gets the port 20000 injected at the point of deployment<br />
• Observation: deployments take a LONG time (plan on going to lunch)<br />
• SMTP capabilities are not yet available in the Azure cloud (would have to use an on-premise solution)<br />
• Cannot use regular file-system reading/writing<br />
• Need of URL Mapper for Staging environment...a unique URL (GUID) is generated with each deployment<br />
• Each web.config change, no matter how small, requires a full package redeployment<br />
• David Pallmann's Technology Blog is a good Azure resource<br />
• The number of "instances" in the Cloud Project configuration file reference how many VM instances are to be built<br />
• The csfg (Cloud Service configuration file) file is the singular file (custom zipped) that gets deployed<br />
• The word "global" cannot be used within an Azure cloud URL and Service Names/Labels are unique across the entirely cloud.<br />
• Cannot reference anything within the machine.config file...must be moved to web.config<br />
• At this time only 3rd-party vendors are coming to the table with VM usage monitoring tools -- this space is still very immature.<br />
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<strong><u>Dev Fabric</u></strong><br />
• Enables developers to build, debug, test code locally as a Cloud project before deploying to the Cloud.<br />
• Just because .NET code runs locally using the DevFabric with a Cloud project included in the solution doesn't mean that it'll run in the cloud. Code has to be tested in both environments.<br />
• Runs on the same OS as the local test machine. Beware: Cloud VM's are x64 slightly-tweaked W2K8 server.<br />
• Is not a good indicator of performance…very much based on local hardware specs.<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Billing & Portal</u></strong><br />
• The Azure portal makes it very unclear and difficult to determine your usage statistics for the billing month.<br />
• BEWARE: each MSDN account holder receives 750 free hours of Azure platform which goes quickly even with only a couple of small applications and a DB deployed. <br />
• Hours billed are for platform usage, not application usage. <br />
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<strong><u>Other Things to Note</u></strong><br />
• To use your own domain it is necessary to setup a DNS Cname that redirects the company URL to the Cloud URL.<br />
• The Package configuration file (cscfg) can be changed and uploaded on the fly (# of VM instances specified in this file). Changes to the Service Definition file (csdef) however require a redeployment.<br />
• Think of Windows Azure roles as type of VM's you'd build internally (i.e. Web Server --> Web Role, Application Server --> Worker Role, etc.).Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-20584681990999311392010-09-22T17:45:00.002-05:002011-02-01T17:46:55.270-06:00Defining Document CapatibilityOk, this page is the shizzel on the ins and outs of document compatibility. It has VERY detailed information on actions that developers can take to control how web pages / sites are displayed. <br />
<br />
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<a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288325(VS.85).aspx">http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288325(VS.85).aspx</a>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-16649463356680909452010-08-07T17:36:00.001-05:002011-02-01T17:37:21.020-06:00Automapper<a href="http://automapper.codeplex.com/">http://automapper.codeplex.com/</a><br />
AutoMapper uses a fluent configuration API to define an object-object mapping strategy. AutoMapper uses a convention-based matching algorithm to match up source to destination values. Currently, AutoMapper is geared towards model projection scenarios to flatten complex object models to DTOs and other simple objects, whose design is better suited for serialization, communication, messaging, or simply an anti-corruption layer between the domain and application layer.Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-65932138431941694762010-07-03T17:32:00.001-05:002011-02-01T17:34:21.803-06:00Agile Portfolio PlanningThis may help communicate / coordinate efforts that span multiple development teams and stakeholders.<br />
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<a href="http://code.google.com/p/apropos/">http://code.google.com/p/apropos/</a><br />
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Apropos is an open source agile planning tool focused on large team Agile Portfolio Planning. The typical use of Apropos would be an organization that:<br />
* Uses an Agile development process like XP, Scrum, or Kanban<br />
* Has multiple Agile teams that need to coordinate<br />
* Makes use of an Agile Lifecycle Management (ALM) tool to track their team progress <br />
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The last point is very important. Apropos is designed to work in tandem with your existing ALM tool, not replace it. Most ALM tools do not provide the full tool set to support a Agile Project Portfolio Scheduling, which is where Apropos comes in.<br />
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Some of the benefits that you can realize from implementing an Agile Portfolio Process using Apropos as the foundation include:<br />
* Synergies with downstream organizations such as Operations, Professional Services, and Sales<br />
* Increased delivery value through organization-wide alignment of priorities<br />
* Continuous improvement enabled by whole process feedback loops<br />
* Realtime visibility into delivery status and potential blockagesScott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-67593148781591456312010-06-29T17:30:00.002-05:002011-02-01T17:31:16.363-06:00Clonezilla<a href="http://clonezilla.org/">http://clonezilla.org/</a> <br />
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You're probably familiar with the popular proprietary commercial package Norton Ghost®. The problem with these kind of software packages is that it takes a lot of time to massively clone systems to many computers. You've probably also heard of Symantec's solution to this problem, Symantec Ghost Corporate Edition® with multicasting. Well, now there is an OpenSource clone system (OCS) solution called Clonezilla with unicasting and multicasting!Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-31355589819869157482010-06-01T17:25:00.000-05:002011-02-01T17:26:40.587-06:00Setting up Windows 2008 WorkstationWe have found this to be a very good reference for setting up Windows 2008 as a workstation:<br />
<a href="http://www.win2008r2workstation.com/">http://www.win2008r2workstation.com/</a>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-85510722422089097642010-05-19T17:23:00.000-05:002011-02-01T17:24:50.967-06:00Pex and Moles...Amazing StuffOur engineering team has greatly benefited from this revolutionary software.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/pex/documentation.aspx"><span style="color: blue;">http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/pex/documentation.aspx</span></a> </div>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-54670132918765445012010-05-01T18:00:00.001-05:002011-02-01T18:00:51.176-06:00Bulk InsertDiscovered one way to do a bulk update using XML in sql 2005, not sure if it is optimal, but it works :)<br />
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Schema for tblContractBranchCustomerLocations:<br />
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PK_ContractBranchCustomerLocationId int<br />
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,DaysOfWeek VARCHAR(50)<br />
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,RateDefinition VARCHAR(50)<br />
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,LastUpdateDate smalldatetime<br />
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,LastUpdateUser varchar(11)<br />
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DECLARE @xmlDoc XML<br />
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SET @xmlDoc = '<items><item audituser="999999C" daysofweek="hi" id="1" ratedefinition="rate"></items>'<br />
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UPDATE a<br />
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SET a.[DaysOfWeek] = Items.Item.value('@daysofweek','varchar(50)'),<br />
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a.[RateDefinition] = Items.Item.value('@ratedefinition','varchar(50)'),<br />
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a.[LastUpdateDate] = GETUTCDATE(),<br />
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a.[LastUpdateUser] = Items.Item.value('@audituser','varchar(11)')<br />
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FROM [tblContractBranchCustomerLocations] a<br />
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INNER JOIN @xmlDoc.nodes('/items/item') AS Items(Item) ON a.[PK_ContractBranchCustomerLocationId] = Items.Item.value('@id','int')<br />
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<br />Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-3388260720350112442010-04-17T17:19:00.001-05:002011-02-01T17:21:56.018-06:00Microsoft: Changing Passwords Isn't Worth the EffortI've thought for some time that the enforcement of strict password policies, especially in the corporate world, are an overkill. An interesting article.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362692,00.asp">http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362692,00.asp</a></span>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-3724972267318224532010-03-26T17:16:00.001-05:002011-02-01T17:17:27.407-06:00Most software stinks... Know it, Learn it, Live it!A thought provoking title and an article engineers on my team found to be a good read.<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.beautifulsoftware.com/phpdocs/beautifulsoftware.php"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.beautifulsoftware.com/phpdocs/beautifulsoftware.php</span></a> </div>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28225448.post-52813353777515655752010-03-20T17:14:00.001-05:002011-02-01T17:15:18.827-06:00Project Manager vs Developer ViewI liked this graph and found it worth sharing...<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="http://www.knowing.net/index.php/2010/03/16/project-managers-vs-developers-view/">http://www.knowing.net/index.php/2010/03/16/project-managers-vs-developers-view/</a></div>Scott Bennershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15594831032733969231noreply@blogger.com0