January 2006
WinFX Workflow: Simplify Development With The Declarative Model Of Windows Workflow Foundation
Windows Workflow Foundation allows you to write workflow-based programs in terms of domain-specific activities that are implemented in CLR-based programming languages such as C# and Visual Basic. Here Don Box and Dharma Shukla get you started. Don Box and Dharma Shukla
Dazzling Graphics: Top Ten UI Development Breakthroughs In Windows Presentation Foundation
The Windows Presentation Foundation provides new techniques for UI-based developing applications and makes better use of current hardware and technologies. In this article, Ian Griffiths and Chris Sells explain 10 of the most significant advances that make WPF superior to its Win32 predecessors. Ian Griffiths and Chris Sells
Talking Windows: Exploring New Speech Recognition And Synthesis APIs In Windows Vista
Windows Vista includes a built-in speech recognition engine exposed through a number of new APIs that will let your users interact with your app using speech rather than a keyboard or mouse. Here Robert Brown explains speech recognition and introduces you to the APIs to use in your upcoming Windows Vista applications. Robert Brown
XPS Documents: A First Look at APIs For Creating XML Paper Specification Documents
Windows Vista includes improved document technology called the XML Paper Specification that is designed to provide users with a consistent document appearance regardless of where and how the document is viewed, solving the age-old problem of document portability and display consistency. Here Bob Watson explains. Bob Watson
Visual Studio 2005: Create Reusable Project And Item Templates For Your Development Team
Visual Studio 2005 introduces a new model that lets you define your own project templates and starter kits, something developers have been requesting for some time. Here Matt Milner shows you how to consume, create, and customize these templates. Matt Milner
Unit Testing Tips: Write Maintainable Unit Tests That Will Save You Time And Tears
Everybody's talking about unit testing and you want to get into the game too. But you don't want the tests to take up all your development time and energy. Fortunately Roy Osherove is here to dispel some testing myths and put you on the road to efficient unit testing. Roy Osherove
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Columns
| Editor's Note: Back to the Future
As we head into the cold winter months, we've got great content to keep you warm! You might wonder why I started this Editor's Note with such a tired intro, but we have a reason. We're covering a lot of fresh, exciting new material this month, and we didn't want to upstage the good news.
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Toolbox: Code Generation, A Charting Component, and More
Developers have a number of tools at their disposal, but which of these components do you really need to complete your project? Each month we'll analyze the latest software and books to see if they merit inclusion in your toolbox.Scott Mitchell
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Dev Q&A: DataGridView
After receiving a late-breaking news bulletin at magazine headquarters early this month stating that the Web is just a fad that will never amount to anything, we have reluctantly decided to retire our venerable Web Q&A column and replace it with one we like to call Dev Q&A. Edited by Nancy Michell
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| CLR Inside Out: Base Class Library Performance Tips and Tricks
The common language runtime (CLR) sits at the very heart of managed code. Indeed, it is the heart of managed code, so to understand managed code you need to understand the CLR.Kit George
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Data Points: SqlConnectionStringBuilder, DataView, and More
Several significant enhancements have been made to ADO. NET 2. 0 in the areas of improved performance, increased flexibility, and added features. In my last column (Data Points: DataSet and DataTable in ADO. John Papa
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Advanced Basics: The Sound of Music
So you've got a burning desire to accompany your application's splash screen with a rousing chorus of "Funky Cold Medina" (that's Tone Loc for those of you who aren't children of the 80s). Prior to working with Visual Studio® 2005, adding even simple tunes and system sounds to your application could be a challenge. Brad McCabe
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| Cutting Edge: Custom Data Control Fields
In ASP. NET 2. 0, the GridView and DetailsView controls are designed to work together. They don't merely provide complementary services, they also share a number of helper classes and components. The output of the GridView control consists of a sequence of rows, each with a fixed number of columns. Dino Esposito
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Service Station: All About ASMX 2.0, WSE 3.0, and WCF
The release of the Microsoft® . NET Framework 2. 0 reshapes the Web services landscape in several interesting, and perhaps confusing, ways. So this month I'm going to field some of the most common questions related to ASP. Aaron Skonnard
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Extreme ASP.NET: Codebehind and Compilation in ASP.NET 2.0
As I write this column, the release candidates of the Microsoft® .NET Framework 2.0 and Visual Studio® 2005 have just come out, and by the time you read this, they will both already be on the shelves. It feels like it's been a long time coming.Fritz Onion
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| Security Briefs: Encrypting Without Secrets
Do you have a Web site or other system that deals in secrets of any sort? It seems like every time I give a security talk, people ask how to deal with the sticky problem of storing secrets. Connection strings with passwords are an obvious problem. Keith Brown
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.NET Matters: Iterating NTFS Streams
Stephen Toub
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C++ at Work: Installing a Hook, Strings in Managed C++, and More
Paul DiLascia
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| {End Bracket}: Transactions for Memory
Injecting parallelism into your app is easy—managed code offers things like explicit threading and a thread pool for that. Ensuring your code remains correct when run in parallel, on the other hand, is not quite so simple. Joe Duffy
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