I present, “Linq Alias Generator”
Posted on January 22nd, 2008
Here is a small project I thought others might find as useful as I have. We all know how hard it is to find a decently written schema these days especially when you inherit a project. Well why carry those ugly column names into code? This generator will create nice names for your columns while preserving the actual column name in the Linq To SQL dbml files.
This is an initial release so better things to come but it works for now. If you’d like to get involved there is a dedicated page here and a codeplex project as well.
Download from http://www.codeplex.com/linqalias/
Keep track of changes on my blog page here http://www.typemismatch.com/linq-alias/
Enjoy, -c
Tags: .NET, Tools, VS 2008
Filed under .NET, Software | 1 Comment »
Tools are the next programming paradigm …
Posted on November 25th, 2007
“Code Generation” tools to be more specific. Let me clarify that firstly. I’m not talking about tools that just take away programmer’s jobs – I don’t see anything that would suggest that is currently possible. I’m more interested in tools that just do what we keep repeating. If you haven’t discovered code productivity tools yet then you’ve been living under a rock! It’s time to wake up and get busy. You’re too slow these days without some good tools and so I’ve put a few posts together just for the best tools you could start with.
If you browse around the net these days you’ll find tons of “silver bullets” for the programming problems of today. Time is usually the best test of these things and pretty much all fancy styles, methodologies or techniques have failed or fail to some degree. The bottom line is, there isn’t a magic way to develop software, that will at least guarantee good quality or bug less code. So I think the next best thing is – how do we developer faster? and if we do find something that works well, how can I automate that so the next time I use it, a. I don’t have to rewrite it and b. I don’t re-create any bugs.
As a developer if you can build a library of tools, snippets and templates you’ll definately be headed down the road to more successful software. Now not all my suggestions are for code generation – I’ll talk a little about profilers and other such tools you just have to have!
http://www.typemismatch.com/2007/11/25/tools-productivity-tools-generators/
http://www.typemismatch.com/2007/11/24/tools-net-profilers/
If you do have any tool recommendations please leave a comment and I can see about adding a post for them.
-c
Tags: .NET, Tools
Filed under .NET, Software | No Comments »
Tools: Productivity Tools / Generators
Posted on November 25th, 2007
There are many tools out there for developers and I’ll probably write some more later about some ORM tools I use often and that save a ton of time. This article is about a more generic tool, something that can help you no matter what kind of code you’re writing. These are productivity tools and/or code generators.
A good tool in this area does at least the following:
- Helps identify code mistakes
- Supports code block templates
- Lots of refactoring support
- A good deal of syntax high lighting, i.e. code blocks, braces, line numbers etc.
Again this isn’t a tool you’re going to find for free. They take a great deal of time and research to develop so be prepared to spend a little. I’d say anything priced from $150-$250 is about average.
Below I have listed two tools both from the same company. The first called “Refactor!Pro” is a great tool however it is included in the more advanced product called “CodeRush” both from DevExpress.
Although Refactor!Pro is only $99 it is well worth the extra $150 to get the full product. This tool is incredible and you’ll discover even in the first day of usage that it can save you a ton of time. The ability to create your own templates which change depending on the code you’re editing is awesome. I picked this over competitive products primarily for 1. Their support and other product lines and 2. Their integration with the keyboard and keyboard shortcuts was just the easiest to use.
Don’t forget, you must learn to use these tools. If you get one and don’t bother to learn the shortcuts or how the templates work then you’re just wasting your money. See some juicy screen shots belows.
As usual you can get a nice long trial, so give it a go!
-c
Tags: .NET, Tools
Filed under .NET, Software | No Comments »
Tools: .NET Profilers
Posted on November 24th, 2007
This post is part of my series on development tools. There are way to many companies out there that do not offer their developers any tools what-so-ever and it is a real shame. If you’re a lone ranger then you need to get some cash and get these tools.
If you want to write high performance applications there are many things to consider and I’m not going to get into all the design aspects now. What I want to stress is that as human beings we just don’t have the capacity to predict everything our software is going to do when it runs. Using a profiler allows you to see exactly how your code is running and for web applications you can get a great idea where to optimize and also where to add caching.
Unfortunately there are no good free .NET code profilers out there but hey, very seldom is truely useful software just free :) The JetBrains and Red-Gate profilers are your best bet. I found the Ants profiler from Red-Gate to be the easiest to use and understand the output. Although JB’s profiler looks better, I went with more functional. The guys at RG are also easy to negotiate with so go bargin yourself a good price!
Here is the link for the Ants profiler, go give it a whirl. Screen shot below:
-c
Tags: .NET, Tools
Filed under .NET, Software | No Comments »