Robert McLaws: FunWithCoding.NET

Public Shared Function BrainDump(ByVal dotNet As String) As [Value]

  • WinForms 2.0: Still the Bastard Child of .NET Development

    You know, there are some great new WinForms controls in .NET 2.0. It's obvious that Microsoft has spent a lot of time making WinForms better than it was in 1.X. But having spent the last several days building WinForms 2.0 demos, I'm extremely frustrated at the holes that are still all over the place. Maybe I'm just dumb and don't know what I'm doing, or maybe I really do need a college degree to do this stuff, but some things that are supposed to be intuitive are anything but. Just a few of my frustrations (please jump in if you know the answers to any of these):

  • Changing My Focus in Software Development

    Alright, it's official. As of today I'm no longer an ASP.NET MVP. My focus in software development has been shifting towards thick and smart client development for a while now, and I've been liking it a lot. Since the focus on LonghornBlogs.com is primarily on the Windows client, it's fitting that I'm now a Windows Client MVP instead. I'll still have a lot to contribute on the web development side, but I'm much happier with how everything fits together now.

  • 'About Box' forms, the 'My' Namespace, and Class Libraries

    In Visual Studio 2005, there is a built-in form called the "About Box". In a VB.NET project, you can add it to your application, and it will automatially display the info that you put in your AssemblyInfo file for the user. It's a pretty neat little addition that makes it just a little bit easier to build an app.

  • Disappointed with the MSBuild Object Model

    I've been working pretty heavily with MSBuild over the last few days. Overall, I love the idea of a universal build engine, and I've been really excited to wrap up this idea that's been in my head ever since I saw it in August 2003.