The Resharper cult members already know this, but for those who haven't joined yet, version 4.0 released today with VS 2008 support -- huzzah,  huzzah.  No longer able to resist the chanting and promises of eternal coolness I donned my robe and installed my free copy.

I clearly should have joined sooner.  Resharper has already changed my life.  First it pointed that I had redundant overrides  in the control I was working on, which I had really meant to delete.

Then it reminded me about the new implicit type declaration keyword var, so this...

XmlDocument SomeDoc = new XmlDocument();

becomes...

var SomeDoc = new XmlDocument();

Granted, that's not too exciting, but if your type declaration is something like...

Dictionary<SomeStrangeType,ANamespace.AnotherLongType> SomeDictionary = new Dictionary<SomeStrangeType,ANamespace.AnotherLongType>();

with var it becomes...

var SomeDictionary = new Dictionary<SomeStrangeType,ANamespace.AnotherLongType>();

Then Resharper pointed out something I didn't realize was available in C#, the object intializer?? VB.NET has long had something similar with the With statement (now with object initializer goodness too).  What's nice about this is that it saves repeating the instance name in front of the properties.  So this...

var MenuBinding = new MenuItemBinding();
MenuBinding.DataMember = MenuItemElementName;
MenuBinding.TextField = DisplayTextAttribute;
MenuBinding.NavigateUrlField = NavigationUrlAttribute;
MenuBinding.Depth = Depth;

becomes...

var MenuBinding = new MenuItemBinding
  {
     DataMember = MenuItemElementName,
     TextField = DisplayTextAttribute,
     NavigateUrlField = NavigationUrlAttribute,
     Depth = Depth
  };

I was staring at this new construct when I realized that -- it shouldn't work. The project I was working on was a Framework 2.0 project and these things were in 3.0 syntax.  But the darn thing compiles and works.  Not even a single warning.  WTF?  It turns out that since 3.0 and 3.5 are based on 2.0, these are simply compiler tricks -- there is nothing fundamentally different about the types.  Here's a blog post that explores in more detail what is happening under the covers.

Not bad for 15 minutes of tooling around.  Guess I am an official member. Where's the Koolaid?

protected MasterPage UltimateMaster(Page ThePage)
{
      if (ThePage.Master == null)
      {
         //no master
         return null;
      }
      else
      {
         return UltimateMaster(ThePage.Master);
      }
}

//this will call itself until it runs out of Master Pages
protected MasterPage UltimateMaster(MasterPage ThePage)
{
      MasterPage TheMaster;

      if (ThePage.Master == null)
      {
           TheMaster = ThePage;
      }
      else
      {
           TheMaster = UltimateMaster(ThePage.Master);

      }
      return TheMaster;
}

MasterPage TheUltimateMaster = UltimateMaster(this);

MyUltimateMasterPageType MyMaster = (MyUltimateMasterPageType) TheUltimateMaster;

MyMaster.AUsefulMethod("SomethingSomehting");

• It's time to start learning about WCF (Windows Communication Foundation).  This is going to be the way to build distributed applications going forward, and it seems to get away from some of the headaches of remoting and web services.  Definitely a great plumbing platform that should make it easier to develop apps that span systems.
  
•  WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) is going to be very interesting eventually and even has some cool implementations, but the design tools aren't ahem, mature yet. But WPF will further erode the line between desktop and web apps. Fortunately, XAML should be very familiar to anyone who has been doing ASP.NET development.
  
• I really need to get a copy of Resharper for my daily refactoring.
• There's a better way to search for useful .NET information without having to wade through unrelated results in Google or other search engines. 
  
• I was introduced to ELMAH, the library I need to use to replace the hand-rolled exception code I've been lugging around.
• When ordering pizza for an event the ratio of pepperoni pizzas to cheese pizzas should be between 2:1 and 3:1. Not enough people actually like cheese pizza to make 1:1 a viable ratio.
  

There are four (development) life annoyances that I can do without:

1. Recruiters who only use the state abbreviation to describe a job location. "Urgent need for Senior .NET Developer, Location: CA"
2. Forum posters who demand code for entire applications. "Please send me chat server code -- urgent."
3. Repeated requests for Interview Questions.  I've covered this elsewhere.
   
4. Lazy gits who can't be bothered to learn how to read either C# or VB.NET. "Thanks for the answer, but my project is in VB.NET, I don't understand C#."

ala C#: using System.Data.SqlClient;
ala VB: Imports System.Data.SqlClient

ala C#: public class TheClassINeverHad
           {
             //fields, methods and properties -- oh my!
            }
ala VB: Public Class TheClassINeverHad
             'fields, methods and properties -- oh my!
          End Class

ala C#: public abstract class TheClassINeverHad
ala VB: Public MustInherit Class TheClassINeverHad

ala C#: public sealed class TheClassINeverHad
ala VB: Public NotInheritable Class TheClassINeverHad

ala C#: public interface IPractical
ala VB: Public Interface IPractical

ala C#: public class TheClassINeverHad: APracticalClass
ala VB: Public Class TheClassINeverHad
             Inherits APracticalClass

ala C#: public class TheClassINeverHad: IPractical
ala VB: Public Class TheClassINeverHad
             Implements IPractical

ala C#: public class TheClassINeverHad: IPractical, IRidiculous
ala VB: Public Class TheClassINeverHad
             Implements IPractical
             Implements IRidiculous

ala C#: public class TheClassINeverHad: APracticalClass, IPractical, IRidiculous
ala VB: Public Class TheClassINeverHad
             Inherits APracticalClass
             Implements IPractical
             Implements IRidiculous

ala C#: //This is a 1 line comment
          /* This starts a multiline comment
          This ends a multiline comment */
ala VB: 'This is a one line comment

ala C#: private int SomeNumberIWillUse;
ala VB: Private SomeNumberIWillUse as Integer

ala C#: private const string LAZY_GIT = "Lazy Git";
ala VB: Private Const LAZY_GIT as String = "Lazy Git"

ala C#: public TheClassINeverHad()
            {
                //Do Something Useful
             }
ala VB: public Sub New()
             'Do Something Useful
          End Sub

ala C#: public struct Soda
           {
                 public string Name;
                 public int Calories;
            }
ala VB: Public Structure Soda
             Public Name as String
             Public Calories as Integer
          End Structure

ala C#: public enum PlanetValues
           {
                    Mercury = 0,
                    Venus = 1,
                    Earth = 2,
                    Mars = 3,
                    Jupiter = 4,
                    Saturn = 5,
                    Uranus = 6,
                    Neptune = 7,
                    Pluto = 8
            }
            public enum PlanetValues
           {
                    Mercury,
                    Venus,
                    Earth,
                    Mars,
                    Jupiter,
                    Saturn,
                    Uranus,
                    Neptune,
                    Pluto
            }
ala VB: Public Enum PlanetValues
             Mercury = 0
             Venus = 1
             Earth = 2
             Mars = 3
             Jupiter = 4
             Saturn = 5
             Uranus = 6
             Neptune = 7
             Pluto = 8
          End Enum

        Public Enum PlanetValues
             Mercury
             Venus
             Earth
             Mars
             Jupiter
             Saturn
             Uranus
             Neptune
             Pluto
          End Enum

ala C#: string DeveloperPersona;
ala VB: Dim DeveloperPersona as String

ala C#: string[] CoolDevTools;
           string[] CoolDevTools = new string[5];
           //assignment
          CoolDevTools[0] = SomeString;
ala VB: Dim CoolDevTools as String()
          Dim CoolDevTools(5) as String
          'assignment
          CoolDevTools(0) = SomeString
             

ala C#: AnObjectType SomeObject = (AnObjectType)SomeHashtable[SomeKey];
           AnObjectType SomeObject = (AnObjectType)SomeArrayList[SomeIndex];
ala VB:  Dim SomeObject as AnObjectType = SomeHashtable(SomeKey)
           Dim SomeObject as AnObjectType = SomeArrayList(SomeIndex)
          'or if Option Strict is on
          Dim SomeObject as AnObjectType = CType(SomeHashtable(SomeKey), AnObjectType)
          Dim SomeObject as AnObjectType = CType(SomeArrayList(SomeIndex), AnObjectType)
             

ala C#: public void ThePerfectMethod(string DeveloperName)
             {
                // coding goodness
             }
ala VB: Public Sub ThePerfectMethod(DeveloperName as String)
                'Coding Goodness
          End Sub

ala C#: public int ThePerfectMethod(string DeveloperName)
             {
                // coding goodness
                return 42;
             }
ala VB: Public Function ThePerfectMethod(DeveloperName as String) as Integer
                'Coding Goodness
                Return 42
          End Function

ala C#: public int TheAnswer
             {
               get{   return mTheAnswer;}
               set{  mTheAnswer = value;}
             }
ala VB: Public Property TheAnswer() as Integer
                Get
                    Return mTheAnswer
                End Get
                Set (Value as Integer)
                   mTheAnswer = Value
                End Set
                     
          End Property

ala C#: public int TheAnswer
             {
               get{   return mTheAnswer;}
             }
ala VB: Public ReadOnly Property TheAnswer() as Integer
                Get
                    Return mTheAnswer
                End Get
          End Property

ala C#: public int TheAnswer
             {
               set{  mTheAnswer = value;}
             }
ala VB: Public WriteOnly Property TheAnswer() as Integer
                Set (Value as Integer)
                   mTheAnswer = Value
                End Set
                     
          End Property

ala C#: private static int mANumberEveryoneNeeds;
           public static ANumberEveryoneNeeds
           {
                get{return mANumberEveryoneNeeds;}
           }
           public static void ResetTheNumber()
           {
                mANumberEveryoneNeeds = 0;
           }
ala VB: Private Shared mANumberEveryonNeeds as Integer
           Public Readonly Shared Property ANumberEveryoneNeeds() as Integer
                Get
                   Return mANumberEveryoneNeeds
                End Get
           End Property
           Public Shared Sub ResetTheNumber ()
                 mANumberEveryoneNeeds = 0
           End Sub

ala C#: if(SomeVariable == 42)
             {
                Answer = "That's it!";
                HasWisdom = true;
             }
           else
             {
                Answer = "That's not it.";
                HasWisdon = false;
             }

          //one line syntax
           if(SomeVariable == 42)
                Answer = "That's it!";
           else
                Answer = "That's not it.";
               

ala VB: If SomeVariable = 42 Then
             Answer = "That's it!"
             HasWisdom = True
          Else
             Answer = "That's not it."
             HasWisdom = False
          End if

ala C#: if(!Page.IsPostBack) //Not operator
           if(Night != Day) //Inequality
           if(Night == Day & Pigs.CurrentState == PigState.Flying) // And
           if(Night == Day && Pigs.CurrentState == PigState.Flying) //Conditional And
           if(Night == Day | Pigs.CurrentState == PigState.Flying) // Or
           if(Night == Day || Pigs.CurrentState == PigState.Flying) // Conditional Or
           if(Night == Day ^ Pigs.CurrentState == PigState.Flying) // Xor


ala VB: If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
           If Night <> Day Then 'Inequality
           If Night = Day And Pigs.CurrentState = PigState.Flying Then
           If Night = Day AndAlso Pigs.CurrentState = PigState.Flying Then 'Conditional And
           If Night = Day Or Pigs.CurrentState = PigState.Flying Then
           If Night = Day OrElse Pigs.CurrentState = PigState.Flying Then 'Conditional Or
           If Night = Day Xor Pigs.CurrentState = PigState.Flying Then
          

ala C#: switch(SelectedPlanet)
           {
                 case PlanetValues.Earth:
                      message = "Live there";
                      break;
                 case PlanetValues.Venus:
                 case PlanetValues.Mars:
                      message = "Landed there";
                      break;
                 case PlanetValues.Mercury:
                 case PlanetValues.Jupiter:
                 case PlanetValues.Saturn:
                 case PlanetValues.Uranus:
                 case PlanetValues.Neptune:
                      message = "Flew by";
                      break;
                  case PlanetValues.Pluto:
                      message = "Is it a planet?"
                      break;
                   default:
                      message = "Never heard of it";
                      break;
           }
           
ala VB: Select Case SelectedPlanet
                Case PlanetValues.Earth
                   message = "Live there"
                Case PlanetValues.Venus, PlanetValues.Mars
                   message = "Landed there"
                Case PlanetValues.Mercury, PlanetValues.Jupiter, PlanetValues.Saturn, PlanetValues.Uranus, PlanetValues.Neptune
                   message = "Flew by"
                Case PlanetValues.Pluto
                   message = "Is it a planet?"
                Case Else
                   message = "Never heard of it"
          End Select

ala C#: for(int Index = 0; Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length; Index ++)
             {
                 Total += SomeIntegerArray[Index];
                 CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray[Index]);
             }
             //A single line For Loop can be done without the brackets
            for(int Index = 0; Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length; Index ++)
                Total += SomeIntegerArray[Index];

ala VB: For Index as Integer = 0 to SomeIntegerArray.Length -1
                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index))
          Next

ala C#: for(int Index = 0; Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length; Index += 2)
             {
                 Total += SomeIntegerArray[Index];
                 CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray[Index]);
             }
           

ala VB: For Index as Integer = 0 to SomeIntegerArray.Length -1 Step 2
                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index))
          Next

ala C#: for(int Index = 0; Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length; Index += 2)
             {
                 Total += SomeIntegerArray[Index];
                 if(CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray[Index]) == false)
                   break;
             }

ala VB: For Index as Integer = 0 to SomeIntegerArray.Length -1 Step 2
                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                If CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index)) = False Then
                   Exit For
                End if
          Next

ala C#: foreach(Universe PossibleUniverse in PossibleUniverses)
             {
                 if(PossibleUniverse.HasStrongForce)
                 {
                     
                      AddToViableCandidates(PossibleUniverse);
                 }
             }
           

ala VB: For Each PossibleUniverse as Universe in PossibleUniverses
                If PossibleUniverse.HasStrongForce Then
                   AddToViableCandidates(PossibleUniverse)
                End if
          Next

ala C#: do
             {
                 Total += SomeIntegerArray[Index];
                 if(CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray[Index]) == false)
                   break;
                 Index++;
             }
             while(Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length);

ala VB: Do
                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                If CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index)) = False Then
                   Exit Do
                End if
                Index += 1
          Loop While Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length

          Do While Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length
                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                If CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index)) = False Then
                   Exit Do
                End if
                Index += 1
          Loop

ala C#: do
             {
                 Total += SomeIntegerArray[Index];
                 if(CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray[Index]) == false)
                   break;
                 Index++;
             }
             while(Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length);

ala VB: Do
                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                If CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index)) = False Then
                   Exit Do
                End if
                Index += 1
          Loop Until Index = SomeIntegerArray.Length

          Do Until Index = SomeIntegerArray.Length
                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                If CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index)) = False Then
                   Exit Do
                End if
                Index += 1
          Loop

ala C#: while(Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length)
             {
                 Total += SomeIntegerArray[Index];
                 if(CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray[Index]) == false)
                   break;
                 Index++;
             }
           
ala VB: While Index < SomeIntegerArray.Length

                Total += SomeIntegerArray(Index)
                If CallSomeOtherFunction(SomeIntegerArray(Index)) = False Then
                   Exit While
                End if
                Index += 1
          End  While
        

ala C#: SomeButton.Click += new ButtonEventHandler(SomeButton_Click);
           
ala VB: AddHandler SomeButton.Click, AddressOf SomeButton_Click

          'or directly declare it
          Sub SomeButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SomeButton.Click

• C# Operators
• C# Keywords
• VB.NET Keywords
• Language Equivalents

• Tanglible Software
• Developer Fusion
• Or Google For More

Finally! .NET 2.0 has been out for a year.  Finally found the time to move our main application to 2.0. It's been a bit of an adventure.  There are 12 class libraries, 2 server control assemblies, a service, a web app and various utilities.  Two of the class libraries are in C++, one managed, one native. The truly insane can read about the little odyssey through those assemblies.  Everything else is written in VB.NET. 

The VB.NET class libraries converted easily.  The only issue was in the few classes that performed XSL Transformations where I had to change a couple of deprecated method calls.  These were no surprise.  Other than that there were only warnings for untyped functions or parameters (very naughty, and one of the dangers of working in VB with OPTION STRICT OFF) and a surprising number of unused local variables. 

The web application was a lot trickier than anticipated.  There are some fundamental differences between 1.1 and 2.0 web applications. One of the significant changes is in the coding model.  2.0 makes use of partial classes, so that a single class can be created from separate files, this cleans some things up.  There are no longer control declarations in the code-behind file, but it is a change. 

Here is a very handy resource that discusses most of the issues you will run into when converting from 1.1 to 2.0. 

In the standard out-of-the-box VS2005, the project file for web applications has also gone the way of the dodo, you create Web Site Projects.  Everything in the project tree gets put into the application. Fortunately, there is a feature to exclude files, which you will use. Since the Web Site Project includes ALL the files in the directory tree, files that you excluded in your 1.1 project will suddenly reappear like uncompilable ghosts in the 2.0 version. The other annoying "feature" is that these projects spew forth an assembly for every folder in your application, and couple of others for good measure, and the files are randomly named.  Hello deployment fun -- I'm sure there's good reason for this, but it is not intuitively obvious, it seems friggin' nutty.

This application model had been fine for the smaller projects I had converted, and I figured I would discover a way to deal with the assembly vomit, so I pushed on assuming that I was moments away from having a our application working in 2.0.

But it was not to be, this web application pushed the Web Site Project model over the cliff of despair.

The application has around 60 pages, 15 classes and 15 user controls spread amongst 10 directories. Most of the heavy lifting is done in the underlying libraries. I didn't think it was that large until I tried to compile it.  In VS 2003, it was up and running in under a minute, in VS2005 it was 5+ minutes, and the sucker was crashing every time I changed the base web page class that the pages inherited from.  I lived with this for about a day, googling while it compiled or restarted, toggling various settings, swearing and pruning previously exlcuded and unused pages ruthlessly. 

After one seemingly eternal cycle of rebooting, I seriously considered asking for a quad-core super box or retreating back to 1.1.  I decided to take one more look around the web for a solution and I stumbled across this article, which in turn led me to discover an alternate model to this lunancy, the Web Application Project! It was the old 1.1 compilation model, complete with a single assembly output -- hooray.  It required some VS update installations and yet another conversion from my original 1.1 application, but in a few hours I had a quickly compiling application.  Some testing and a small victory dance later, and it was time to start ripping out the facacta hand-rolled page templates and putting in the master pages!

[Obsolete("This method has been replaced by ReallyUsefulMethod.")]
public void OnceUsefulMethod(){

<Obsolete("This method has been replaced by ReallyUsefulMethod.")> _
Public Sub OnceUsefulMethod()

[Obsolete("This method has been replaced by ReallyUsefulMethod.", true)]
public void OnceUsefulMethod(){

<Obsolete("This method has been replaced by ReallyUsefulMethod.", True)> _
Public Sub OnceUsefulMethod(){

public class SomeEntity{

    //Constructor for new instance
     public SomeEntity(string Name, string ANeededValue, int AnotherNeededValue){...}
    
    //Constructor for a retrieved instance
     public SomeEntity(int ID, string Name, XmlDocument TheReasonForTheObject){...}

    //Members
    private string mName;
    //...

    //Properties, Methods, Etc.

    public void DoSomethingImportant(){...}

    public string Name{
       { get{return mName;}
    }
    //...
}

public class SomeEntity{

       //default constructor
       public SomeEntity(){}
  
    //Members
    public string Name;
    public string ANeededValue;
    public int AnotherNeededValue;
   
    //Properties, Methods, Etc....
    public void DoSomethingImportant(){...}

}

SomeEntity AnObjectINeed = new SomeEntity();
AnObjectINeed.Name = "Fred";
AnObjectINeed.ANeededValue = "Tuesday";
AnObjectINeed.AnotherNeededValue = 789;

public class SomeEntity{

  
    //Members
    public string Name;
    public string ANeededValue;
    public int AnotherNeededValue;
    public DateTime OoopsForgotThis;
   
    //Properties, Methods, Etc....
    public void DoSomethingImportant(){...}

}

//Constructor for a retrieved instance
  public SomeEntity(int ID, string Name, XmlDocument TheReasonForTheObject){...}

//Constructor for a retrieved instance
public SomeEntity(int ID){...}

if(astring != null)
   if(astring.Length > 0)
      bstring = astring;

  if(!String.IsNullOrEmpty(astring))
     bstring = astring;

if(astring != null)
   if(astring == "")
      bstring = astring;

Among the many improvements of .NET 2.0 is a subtle but welcome one in GridView, the replacement to the DataGrid control.

The Items have finally left the building.  Any old kinda grid control should have columns and rows.

The DataGrid had Columns and Items?

What in the world is an Item?  It's a row, but it's not called that -- for a very good reason I am sure.

The GridView has Columns and Rows!

Hooray!

Instead of ItemCreated, or ItemDataBound event handlers, there are RowCreated and RowDataBound.  Instead of ItemType there is RowType.

I cannot tell you how confusing this was for developers when first working with the DataGrid.  "How can I access a row?" must have been screamed at monitors from Mountain View to Mumbay.

What things are named can greatly affect how easy/hard it is use someone else's interface or maintain code.  How many times have you written code for something, only to find the same functionality in an obscurely/badly named function or class?

Consistent, meaningful naming makes it much easier for someone else, or the future you (go read some code you haven't touched in a year) to get what you are trying to do.

I must confess that I have not always been the best practioner.  My original programming platform was the Apple II, and variable names were limited to 8 characters (only the first three of which were meaningful -- found that out the HARD way), and I've never fully overcome the combined effects of that and my Modified Hunt & Peck Typing skills. 

This is something I have worked to be better at, but this post from Ryan Olshan really made it hit home.  I will paraphrase his thesis as "Variable names should be like characters in novel, they should be easily identifiable and make the reader care what happens to them". 

Especially with Intellisense and the built-in refactoring tools in Visual Studio (this one especially), there is no reason to skimp on meaningful naming and it's easy to fix past mistakes.