Tools

I previously talked to you about LightSwitch, now you can download the Beta 1 version.

Go ahead, have fun!

Here is a small script that allows loading images only when they are displayed on a BlogEngine.Net site, commonly known as Lazy Loading.

The 0.5 beta version of the Orchard project has just been released. Here are 4 points that I really like about this engine:

1. ASP.Net MVC
2. Allows multiple Wikis under the same site
3. Management of static pages
4. AND ABOVE ALL, the ability to translate posts and pages into different languages!! Which is quite rare in this field.

You can download the source code or simply install it with WebPI

Microsoft has just unveiled LightSwitch, a tool for developing business applications without having to touch the code. Jason Zander provides an excellent introduction on his site.

There will be a template for C# and VB. At first glance, the generated application seems to run on WPF for the Desktop version, and probably Silverlight or XBAP for the web version.

The beta will be available on August 23rd.

Stay tuned

StyleCop is a free tool from Microsoft that allows you to check the style of your code (or others’). Additionally, StyleCop is now available as Open Source (on Codeplex), so I strongly recommend looking at the default rule implementations to help you create your own.

Create Your Rules

Here are some steps to create your custom StyleCop rules:

• Install the latest version of StyleCop
• Download the SDK of StyleCop (documentation .chm file)
• Start Visual Studio
• Create a new project of type “Class Library”
• Add the following references - Microsoft.StyleCop - Microsoft.StyleCop.CSharp - Microsoft.StyleCop.CSharp.Rules

The Visual Studio 2010 keyboard shortcuts posters (in English only) have been updated (C++, C#, F#, and VB).

Source of the information

For some time now, I have had the chance to experiment with PRISM and I really like what it brings to the table. But I also use some Telerik controls for WPF, and after doing some research, I noticed that Telerik has included in its documentation some elements about PRISM.

Here are some interesting links:

• Telerik Sales Dashboard White Paper: Example of applications using PRISM and the MVVM pattern
• Introduction to PRISM with the RadControls for WPF on TelerikTV
• PRISM on the WPF forum by Telerik

If you have other interesting articles, let me know via the comments or my contact page

Here is a collection of tools/plugins/utilities that allow you to work even more efficiently with VS2010. Here are the three that I install with VS2010. While you’re at it, take a look at the Visual Studio Gallery, you’re sure to find something interesting!

Visual Studio 2010 Pro Power Tools

Newly arrived, the Pro Power Tools offer better tab management (by project, color coding, scrolling, stacking, …) as well as search in the Add Reference menu, which is quite nice, and I even noticed an improvement in the performance of this dialog.

For some time now, I have been experimenting with Silverlight and PRISM. If you are curious like me, here are some links to help you get started:

• The source code on Codeplex
• To evaluate the Composite Application Guidance
• The development activities, a more visual representation of all available modules/functions. In fact, it is a large list of well-explained How-To’s.
• Enterprise Library on Codeplex
• And most importantly: download the Composite Application Guidance, Project Linker, and sources.

Good luck, and if you have other links, feel free to leave a comment!

A new version of my blog engine has just been released. I will wait a bit, as the changes are minor:

Do I need to upgrade?

If you are happy with the way comments work in your blog as they are - no. If you are still looking for better anti-spam protection - yes.

We’ll see later because it works well for me.