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Here we introduce you to some of the concepts behind the new F# language, which combines elements of functional and object-oriented .NET languages. We then help you get started writing some simple programs.

By Ted Neward (Launch 2008)
With custom form regions in Outlook you can pull in data from designated data sources and truly customize your users' Outlook 2007 experience.

By Steve Fox (Launch 2008)
James Kovacs explains the dark side of tightly coupled architectures, why they're hard to test and how they limit adaptation. He then proposes a number of solutions.

By James Kovacs (March 2008)
Here the author introduces SQL Server Data Services, which exposes its functionality over standard Web service interfaces.

By David Robinson (July 2008)
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There are many things called threat modeling. Rather than argue about which is "the one true way," a good practice is to consider your needs and what your skills, abilities, and schedules are, and then work with a method that's best for you. In the July 2008 issue of MSDN Magazine, ...
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Want to develop games for Xbox Live? Want to get paid for it, too? Click on over to the XNA Team Blog to learn more about their initial rollout of the XNA Creators Club for XNA Game Studio. ...
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The Microsoft Entity Data Model (EDM), based on Dr. Peter Chen's Entity Relationship (ER) model, is the driving force behind the ADO.NET Entity Framework. The EDM is also the feature that most significantly differentiates the Entity Framework from other ORM-style technologies in the marketplace. In the July 2008 issue of MSDN ...
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System.IO.File is a handy helper class for reading and writing data, but its methods support only synchronous operation. Is there an easy way to provide File’s functionality for asynchronous file I/O? In the July 2008 issue of MSDN Magazine, Stephen Toub walks through several ...
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Remember .NET Terrarium, the interactive game meant to introduce .NET development techniques? Well, the Windows SDK team has released the source code for .NET Terrarium 2.0 on CodePlex. You can read more about this release on the Windows SDK blog and at Microsoft ...
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The Enumerable class plays an important role in every LINQ query you create. Because the Enumerable class's extension methods can process many other classes—including Array and List—you can use methods of the Enumerable class not only to create LINQ queries, but also to manipulate the behavior of arrays and other data structures. In the July 2008 issue of MSDN ...
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March2006 March 2006
Winning Forms: Practical Tips For Boosting The Performance Of Windows Forms Apps
This article discusses techniques you can use to ensure that Windows Forms-based apps provide optimal performance to match the rich UI responsiveness they're known to provide. Milena Salman
Text Rendering: Build World-Ready Apps Using Complex Scripts In Windows Forms Controls
The System.Windows.Forms.TextRenderer class provides support for complex scripts in Windows Forms controls so you can render text the way you want and support international locales. Miguel A. Lacouture
Outlook Add-Ins: Improve Your Outlook With Visual Studio Tools For Office
Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office 2003 supported only Microsoft Word and Excel. The new version, however, has the tools you need to create managed code add-ins for Outlook 2003. John R. Durant
Office Unbound: Bring Your Documents To Life With Data Binding In Visual Studio Tools For Office
Thanks to Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System, Windows Forms controls can be bound to databases, Web services, or objects and added to a workbook or document. Find out how. Eric Carter and Eric Lippert
Agile Development: Extend Team Foundation Server To Enable Continuous Integration
How does Visual Studio 2005 Team System and Team Foundation Server facilitate the process of agile development and continuous integration? Here Ben Waldron explains it all. Ben Waldron
Reporting Services: Deliver SQL Server Reports To SharePoint To Enhance Team Collaboration
The solution covered here includes a custom SharePoint Web service that accepts SQL Server-generated report files and, through the WSS object model, stores the file in the appropriate library for enhanced collaboration possibilities. Ed Hild
The Perfect Host: Create And Host Custom Designers With The .NET Framework 2.0
The .NET Framework 2.0 introduces a set of classes that can be used to host designers right out of the box. With the understanding of designers you'll glean from this article, you'll be ready to host them in your own apps. Dinesh Chandnani
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Editor's Note: When Did Clients Get So Smart?
This issue marks the sixth anniversary of our merger, when Microsoft Systems Journal and Microsoft Internet Developer combined to become MSDN Magazine. We've been around to witness the birth and growth of the Microsoft .
Toolbox: Automated Build Process, Real-World E-Mail Tasks, and More
While the Visual Studio® Build menu's Build Solution option is the usual way developers compile their current work on a project, the process of building the complete solution for testing, deployment, or production often requires many more steps. Scott Mitchell
Advanced Basics: Set Word Document Properties Programmatically
At the beginning of another lovely day of writing courseware in mad pursuit of unrealistic deadlines, I received a frantic call from a business partner. He was at the end of a long consulting project and had several hundred Microsoft® Word documents, all of which required their document properties to be set identically, except the Title property of the document, which was to be based on the document file name, minus the . Ken Getz
CLR Inside Out: Ensuring .NET Framework 2.0 Compatibility
If we learned only one thing about compatibility in the past few years, it is that compatibility is much more than avoiding breaking changes. On the Microsoft®. NET Framework and Visual Studio® teams, we do our part to ensure that the products we build are stable platforms that developers can truly rely on. Jesse Kaplan
Data Points: Using XQuery, New Large DataTypes, and More
SQL Server 2005 introduces a lot of new features, but it also enhances the popular and oft-used Transact-SQL (T-SQL) language. Changes include the introduction of new datatypes to store large values using the MAX indicator, the integration of enhanced XML querying and data modification with XQuery, and the new XML datatype. John Papa
Cutting Edge: Windows Workflow Foundation
In the January 2006 issue, Don Box and Dharma Shukla introduced Windows® Workflow Foundation and discussed the overall architecture of the framework and its constituent components (see WinFX Workflow: Simplify Development With The Declarative Model Of Windows Workflow Foundation). Dino Esposito
Test Run: Determining .NET Assembly and Method References
Before you can test any software system effectively, you must understand the system under test. If the system includes the Microsoft® . NET Framework, understanding the system under test includes understanding its assembly and method dependencies. James McCaffrey
Concurrent Affairs: Build a Richer Thread Synchronization Lock
In my last column, I showed the various thread synchronization mechanisms employed by the Microsoft® . NET Framework (see Concurrent Affairs: Performance-Conscious Thread Synchronization). I then examined the performance characteristics of all these mechanisms and determined that the Interlocked methods performed the best because the calling thread never has to transition to kernel mode. Jeffrey Richter
Bugslayer: Strengthening Visual Studio Unit Tests
Visual Studio 2005 brought so many new features to the table that it can seem almost overwhelming. One of the most exciting additions is the new unit testing features found in the Test menu on the main menu bar. John Robbins
.NET Matters: Abortable Thread Pool
Stephen Toub
C++ at Work: Event Programming, Part 2
Last month I answered a question about implementing native events in C++ (see C++ At Work: Event Programming). I discussed events in general and showed how to use an interface to define event handlers for your class that clients must implement to handle events. Paul DiLascia
{End Bracket}: Legal Doesn’t Think the Way You Do
If you develop software for a large company, you've undoubtedly experienced the joys of dealing with "Legal. " The meetings, the endless explanations, the long waits. I'm here to report from the other side. Don McGowan
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