Knowing .NET

This is quite interesting. Open source Implementations of the missing data structures of the FCL: linked list, doubly linked list, tree, skip list, heap, etc... Focus is made on robustness, standard conformance, documentation and testing of the collections.  via [Sam Gentile's Blog]

So the cool kids have moved away from calling it the Base Class Library and now call it the Framework Class Library, is that right? (Gotta' have the lingo down to run with the cool kids...)

4:27:43 PM    comment []   trackback []

Jason Nadal has posted an RSS reader that uses the Longhorn text-to-speech APIs to actually read you the morning news while you do other things. Includes source. via [Marquee de Sells: Chris's insight outlet]

I love sample code that is actually helpful...

4:26:21 PM    comment []   trackback []

via William Bartholomew:

Fritz Onion has posted an interesting article about how to write ASP.NET projects without using Web Projects and the associated bindings to IIS etc.

http://staff.develop.com/onion/Samples/aspdotnet_without_web_projects.htm

TTFN - Kent

 via [Kent Sharkey's blog]

4:23:01 PM    comment []   trackback []

I haven't seen this referenced before:

Microsoft Win32 to Microsoft .NET Framework API MapMicrosoft Win32 to Microsoft .NET Framework API Map

via [Eric Gunnerson's C# Compendium]

4:21:23 PM    comment []   trackback []

  Which one of these three loops is the most efficient? How can I prove the answer?

I've listed the source code below. The three loops are:

1. Foreach over an int array
2. Simple for over an int array
3. For over an int array, hoisting out the length value

...

The third option is to be avoided. The JIT looks for the pattern in version #2, and knows how to optimize it. If you pull the value out into a temporary, it may not optimize it. Of course, you know that because you've been measuring your important scenarios...

via [Eric Gunnerson's C# Compendium]

Hoisting the Length value is ill-advised? Surprising; I'll have to change my habits.

4:20:37 PM    comment []   trackback []

Some guy managed to build a DIY "steady-cam" for $14 (those things which help keep TV crews keep their videocameras from shaking while they're running around shooting reality shows), which might not sound like a big deal until you realize that a professional Steadicam (that's the brand name) costs around $1,500. [Via MetaFilter] via [Engadget]

I swear I'm going to do this as soon as my ear infection clears up.

4:18:52 PM    comment []   trackback []

Jetway sells a new small form factor PC called the 860Twin that can be used by two people at the same time. via [Engadget]

Useful for pair programming?

4:17:30 PM    comment []   trackback []

Quick links for a dictionary of algorithms and data structures and a book on exact string matching algorithms. (via HotLinks) More bedtime reading ;-) Update: The memory management reference, via Simon's linklog.... via [Curiosity is bliss]

Helpful.

4:16:40 PM    comment []   trackback []

Keith Short has good reasons why Whitehorse is not using UML.  via [Christian Nagel's OneNotes]

Good article, solid arguments.

4:14:41 PM    comment []   trackback []

"These annotations are then used for performing context checks or are passed on to subsequent modules, for example to aid in code generation." -- Modern Compiler Design, Grune et al.

The meme says:

Grab the nearest book.
Open the book to page 23.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions

(watch how it is spreading on the blogsphere here or here)

via John Shute's Weblog

P.S. I'm not proud to be reading a book on writing compilers on a Sunday.

2:43:24 PM    comment []   trackback []

Chris Pratley asked for feedback on how blogging from OneNote should appear and my comments became too unwieldy for his comments box:

To dispense with two crucial things: ink support and layout support (i.e., not just tables but the arbitrary positioning of elements in X-Y space a la "real" OneNote). AFAIK, there is no blogging tool right now that allows you to draw a map and type "Bob's House" at the appropriate spot; for all the power of Blogging As It Exists, it basically works with text streams.

Now for the more ruminative stuff: OneNote has the metaphor of pages, tabs, and notebooks. The obvious mapping is to blog entries, categories, and blogs. So I would expect that to "subscribe to a blog" in OneNote, I would get a new notebook that periodically updated itself; new titled pages appearing for every new post. Since page titles have limited screen real-estate, this introduces a navigation problem: perhaps one needs some kind of automatic Table of Contents page, essentially providing aggregator services. Or... maybe one doesn't subscribe to a blog in OneNote, perhaps aggregation is the role of NewsGator / Outlook and a OneNote "subscribed to" blog represents posts that one wishes to keep around for reference: one still would have a OneNote notebook corresponding to the blog, but the notebook wouldn't update itself, one would use a SideNote / Snippet sort of capability to shoot entries from the aggregator into the notebook.

So upstream you must support ink and layout, downstream you must support the blog -> category -> entry hierarchy. The third leg of the stool is clearly linking. The feedlink / permalink distinction is the clearest example I know of REST: the feedlink is a permanent resource of "the latest stuff" the permalink is a permanent resource to "this particular thing." I want hyperlinks in OneNote that embrace this distinction and I want those hyperlinks to be able to navigate not only across the World Wide Web (of course) but within my own computer, workgroup, corporation, and social networks. In other words, I want OneNote notebooks to become transparent to deep linking: onenote://machinename/mynotebook/mypage#myanchor as a URI (short of onenote as a complete scheme, I'll settle for a transition period where http is shoehorned into service). Creating good RESTian links must be reduced to a trivial service (with my Tablet I want to be able to circle some elements, make a gesture, and those elements become a post, with a permalink and a reference in the feedlink). 

I also want to make a slightly different gesture to free the elements for editing. In other words, the "square" gesture makes a post that only I can edit (a traditional blog entry), the "star" gesture makes a post that anyone can edit (a wiki-like entry), the "circle" gesture makes a post that only people in the "ninja" group can edit, etc.

11:08:55 AM    comment []   trackback []