Keyboard shortcuts from .NET DeveloperDays 2018
As I promised during my session “Turn on Turbo Mode for Your Visual Studio Usage and Debugging” on .NET DeveloperDays 2018, I’m posting the shortcuts I was showing.
ADO.NET provider 6.3.0.0 for Firebird is ready
New version 6.3.0.0 of ADO.NET provider for Firebird is ready for download. This version had a single focus and that was seemingly random exceptions, usually around blobs. It took me almost 4 days of trying and debugging, time supported by company behind Bauradar for which I’m thankful, to hunt down the issue.
ADO.NET provider 6.2.0.0 for Firebird is ready
New version 6.2.0.0 of ADO.NET provider for Firebird is ready for download. This version closes the gap with support for DROP PACKAGE and DROP PACKAGE BODY. And better support for encrypted databases – in services and creating databases.
View captured variables for lambdas and local functions
I don’t know how long this feature is in Visual Studio – maybe because I’m more keyboard-focused -, but I just noticed it and it’s a complete game changer. I mean, now I can’t imagine not having it. 😃
Exploring .NET’s – Java inspired – “synchronized” methods
I was recently talking about first versions of .NET, C# and the world of development technologies of that time. As I briefly touched J# (anybody remembers?) I realized there’s one Java feature that was added to C# because of inspiration by Java and I wanted to explore it. It’s not much used or even known in C#, but it’s still there. And because it’s about “threading and synchronization” I couldn’t resist and immediately jumped in. It’s synchronized methods.
.NET DeveloperDays 2018
In less than two months the .NET DeveloperDays 2018 conference will happen. According to the organizers it’s “the biggest event in Central and Eastern Europe dedicated exclusively to application development on the .NET platform” and I’m excited to speak there together with other great speakers.
How is Thread.SpinWait actually implemented?
I’m always drawn into disassembling stuff and learning how something works under the hood. The Thread.SpinWait is something I’m going to explore. Because .NET Core is open source I can attack this from side of both sources as well as pure disassembly.
WUG: Entity Framework Core 2.1 (Ostrava + Praha)
Ačkoli jsou prázdniny klidnější období v IT, WUG Ostrava a Praha nezahálí a frčí na vlně Entity Frameworku Core 2.1. Já tu vlnu ještě víc zvednu 19.7.2018 od 17:00 v Ostravě a 21.8.2018 od 17:30 v Praze. Takže doufám, že bude hnusně a dorazíte. 😃
Současně s novou verzí .NET Core 2.1 byla uvolněna i nová verze EF Core 2.1. Co je tedy v EF Core 2.1 nového? Proč všichni o 2.1. mluví? Da se již 2.1 reálné použít nebo jsou ještě oblasti, které pokulhávají?
ADO.NET provider 6.1.0.0 for Firebird is ready
New version 6.1.0.0 of ADO.NET provider for Firebird is ready for download. Visible change is support for MERGE, CREATE PACKAGE and CREATE PACKAGE BODY statements in FbScript.
ConfigureAwait(false) analyzer with improved “brain” (v2.0)
The original ConfigureAwaitChecker tool I wrote was just a concept and I knew it had a lots of limitations. Luckily it idea was not completely dumb (even Jon Skeet thinks so) and hence when ideas for improvements came in, I was not skipping on these. And because these improvements become quite big, I’m releasing today version 2.0.
Introducing FirebirdDbComparer – library for comparing Firebird databases to create alter scripts
When I first heard the idea of writing library for comparing databases’ structures and producing alter scripts I thought it was a joke. I believed it would take months of work to get it into production quality, handling all the different cases and often also bugs or limitations in Firebird. That was 2015. It’s 2018 now and I’m here, ready to introduce it.
Penny pinching Azure Append Blobs
I was going through some reports in Application Insights for a small website I’m running and I saw a lot of 409 errors when writing to Append Blobs. As I was sorting this out, I also realized I can do the whole logic more “efficient” and save some pennies.
Two little nuggets about NOP instruction
I’m researching some spin locks stuff last few days. That led to checking also NOP instruction and I’ve found two interesting little nuggets.
Start always the right project with this simple secret in Visual Studio
You know that feeling. You’re working in a project, hammering awesome code line after line. And then you hit F5 to see the magnificence, …, and a wrong project starts. Or you’re testing multiple applications and always clicking Set as Startup Project. Not anymore. I’ll show you a small little secret that will make this pain a history (or at least will eliminate portion of it).
FirebirdClient version 6.0, Entity Framework Core 2.x provider, Entity Framework 6 provider
Yep, it’s finally here. The big version, version 6.0, of FirebirdClient and providers for Entity Framework Core and Entity Framework 6. I think this is the biggest release ever. A lot of changes (some breaking). Let’s take it one by one.
WUG: Entity Framework Core 2.0/2.1 (Zlín)
Ještě před prázdninami, než začne v IT klidnější období, se můžete přijít podívat na novinky v Entity Frameworku Core 2.0 a 2.1 na WUG 12.6.2018 od 17:30 ve Zlíně. Na všechny “fičury” se detailně podíváme a zjistíme co a jak.
Entity Framework Core 2.0 a 2.1 byl představen nedávno společně s .NET Core 2.0 a 2.1. Co nového přináší? Jaké jsou změny oproti verzi 1.0/1.1? Má smysl verzi 2.1 používat? Jaké jsou pokročilejší features, jaká jsou omezení… A co například použití s jinými databázemi než jen MS SQL Server?
Easier GetHashCode implementation in .NET Core 2.1
Writing correct GetHashCode implementation is difficult. I know you’ve written it before and simple xor-ing looks fine. But trust me, it’s more than that. Especially if you want your implementation to be solid and useful for hash-tables etc. And .NET was not helping in any way. Until now.
How I fixed and improved connection pooling by not working on connection resiliency.
For a long time, I had a ticket with “Connection resiliency” title in the issue tracker. My idea was to provide a functionality to be able to recover from a broken connection. Why? Because when I reimplemented (and fixed) connection pool sometime around 4.x version I removed one questionable (to put it lightly) feature. That, and also because I introduced a small bug, surfaced a problem people had/have in the code.
Entity Framework Core 2.0 provider second beta (and FirebirdClient 6.0)
It has been a while since I posted new version/beta of FirebirdClient 6.0 and the Entity Framework Core 2.0 (and newer) support. Although I’d like to spend more time on all the providers, my free time is limited (although occasionally somebody sponsors some feature or bux fix), thus the progress is what it is.
Update Days: Legacy aplikace
Zanedlouho, konkrétně 28.5.-29.5., se uskuteční zajímavá konference nazvaná ”Update Days: Legacy aplikace“. Proč zajímavá? Protože často se na konferencích řeší novinky, fičurky atp., ale ne na každém projektu je čas a prostředky na implementaci posledních výstřelků (které ještě případně po dvou letech upadnou v zapomnění) a tato konference není o novinkách; je o tom co dělat s existující aplikací, jak ji posunout dál, co funguje a má smysl.
How many curved monitors you need to create a full circle?
I was listening to DotNetRocks podcast episode yesterday and while the talk went bit off-topic (which is fine for me), one interesting question popped up. How many curved monitors you’d need to make a full circle? And I immediately thought: “That should be easy to calculate, no?".
NT konferenca 2018
In less than a month (22nd-24th of May 2018) the biggest Slovenian conference – NT konferenca 2018 – will happen. It is the 23rd edition, amazing. And I’m so stoked to be part of it with my session about Entity Framework Core 2.0 and 2.1.
Gopas TechEd 2018
Web hlásí vyprodáno, takže budu asi lákat především ty, kteří si vstup už urvali. Na letošní TechEd jsem připravil dvě přednášky:
- IDisposable – implementace a mýty
- Co je nového v Entity Frameworku Core 2.0 a 2.1
Getting the state of load management switch on budget
My house has a load management switch (we call it HDO here), which means the company managing the electricity grid can turn on and off some devices, like water heater, when the demand is low or high. And in exchange I get cheaper electricity (when switched on). And although the schedule is known in advance, I was interested whether the switching happens also at unscheduled times (aka to get a little peek into what’s happening in the grid) and maybe also switch automatically other devices I have when the electricity is cheap. I could ask an electrician to install another contactor on my fuse board and connect “something” to it, but I was not into doing anything permanent and expensive, in case I’d change my mind about all of this in the future etc. I also wanted to get this information into my home automation system (Domoticz). Here’s my cheap solution I hacked together.
WUG: C# 7, 7.1, 7.2 a 7.3/8.0 (Olomouc)
Máte rádi C#? A ztrácíte se v aktuální rychlé kadenci verzí? Mám pro vás řešení – WUG 2.5.2018 od 17:00 v Olomouci. Všechno dáme do kupy a srovnáme si to v hlavě.
C# v poslední době velmi rychle přidává nové funkce. Malé funkce v minor verzích, ale připravuji se i velké změny do major verze (verzí). Co je tedy dostupné v C# 7, 7.1, 7.2 a jak to začít používat. A co nás ceká v 7.3 a hlavně ve verzi 8.0?
Simple caching interceptor (aspect) for Castle Windsor
I needed to cache value from method. Simple. I know there’s at least dozen of ready-made solutions, but I eventually decided to write my own interceptor, because the whole project is already using Castle Windsor and it seemed like a fun stuff to explore. There isn’t really anything special about this code and I originally didn’t want to blog about it, but people on Twitter changed my mind.
Fun with C#’s local functions – part 2
I was speaking about new features in C# 7.x and 8 some days ago and as the questions came in, some were really good small brainstorming, basically trying where C# compiler limits are. And that’s always interesting to me.
From this brainstorming I have two interesting pieces. This is the other one and the first one is here.
Fun with C#’s local functions – part 1
I was speaking about new features in C# 7.x and 8 some days ago and as the questions came in, some were really good small brainstorming, basically trying where C# compiler limits are. And that’s always interesting to me.
From this brainstorming I have two interesting pieces. This is the first one and the other one is here.
Global Azure Bootcamp 2018
Global Azure Bootcamp 2018. Jeden den, Azure po celém světě. A taky v Čechách, v Praze. I já přispěju svojí troškou do mlýna a povím vám něco o Azure CDN v přednášce “Azure CDN a jak ji začít rozumně používat”.
.NET.CZ Podcast se mnou o Entity Frameworku (Core)
Fíha, to byl ale hektický závěr týdne. Ve čtvrtek, ještě před WUGem, jsem stihl promluvit o Entity Frameworku a Entity Frameworku Core v .NET.CZ Podcastu ve 24. epizodě. A o Entity Frameworku Core jsem, kromě jiného, mluvil i na WUG Days (nyní už máte šanci podívat se jen na záznam). Entity Framework (Core) otázky? Sem s nimi.
Glowing filament of halogen bulb
I was testing dimmer during the weekend and I used halogen lamp in my garage. The dimmer worked great, but that’s not what I want to talk about now. When I played with the dimming I realized I can dim the 8000-9000 lumens halogen bulb down to one percent and see the glowing filament with my own eyes. So I did.
WUG Days 2018
Víkend 7.-8.4. se v Brně koná nabitá konference WUG Days 2018. Celkem je připraveno 48 přednášek. Na dva dny masakr.
Hlasováním byly vybrány 3 moje přednášky. A sice:
WUG: C# 7, 7.1, 7.2 a 7.3/8.0 (Praha)
Máte rádi C#? A ztrácíte se v aktuální rychlé kadenci verzí? Mám pro vás řešení – WUG 5.4.2018 od 18:00 v Praze. Všechno dáme do kupy a srovnáme si to v hlavě.
C# v poslední době velmi rychle přidává nové funkce. Malé funkce v minor verzích, ale připravuji se i velké změny do major verze (verzí). Co je tedy dostupné v C# 7, 7.1, 7.2 a jak to začít používat. A co nás ceká v 7.3 a hlavně ve verzi 8.0?
Using value converter for custom encryption of field on Entity Framework Core 2.1
In February I wrote Custom encryption of field with Entity Framework Core post, which in turn was building on idea for Entity Framework 6. Both are easy, but not absolutely straightforward. And another problem is that the encrypted value needs to fit into the datatype of unencrypted value. Finally, the querying is inconvenient. Luckily Entity Framework Core 2.1 (currently in preview) has a solution.
True and false operators in C#
Few days ago, I learned new thing about C#. Apparently, there are “true” and “false” operators and you can overload these. But I also wanted to know what are these good for, given I’ve never heard about these.
Lesser known feature of digit separators in C# 7
As I was on the .NET.CZ podcast I realized there’s maybe a one specific behavior of digit separators in C# 7 people might not be aware of.
.NET.CZ Podcast se mnou o C# a programovacích jazycích obecně
Na světlo světa se dostala další epizoda (22) .NET.CZ Podcastu, kde jsem byl vyzpovídán nejen o C#, novinkách v C# 7, 7.1, 7.2 a 8, ale také o programovacích jazycích obecně a jejich vývoji. Máte-li otázky, sem s nimi.
Named locks (using Monitor) in .NET: Performance
One thing remaining from last week’s exploration of named locks is performance. My personal preference was and still is ConcurrentDictionary<TKey, TValue>, but what if the string interning is 10 times faster? That would convince me to thing about it for usage.
Named locks (using Monitor) in .NET: Implementation
The Monitor class in .NET might be the most often used “locking” mechanism in C#, mostly because the lock keyword is making it so easy. One thing you might face is unknown number of locks you’re going to need and how to solve this. This is often called named locks or named Monitors, because the lock is bound to some name (or similar value).
I bought a chair. And I am sad.
I’m sad. I’m sad because I bought myself a chair. It sounds probably confusing, why buying yourself a chair would make you sad. Stay with me.
How I got my machine back, patiently, after overloading it
At the moment, one of my explorations is how the system (Windows) handles more-than-number-of-CPUs threads (all ready to run) under full load (from these threads). And because I’m out of office, I access my workstation remotely (using TeamViewer, in case you’re wondering).
Custom encryption of field with Entity Framework Core
Almost exactly 5 years ago (yes, that’s 2013) I wrote about Custom encryption of field with Entity Framework. At that time, it was using few tricks to make it work and although it might have looked like magic first time you saw it, it was actually very easy. With Entity Framework Core nowadays we have far more options how the entity can look like and hence how the whole solution can be plugged together. Let’s revisit the topic.
Do attributes or fluent configurations take priority in Entity Framework Core?
I was teaching my Entity Framework Core course last two days and question about priority of attributes’ and configurations’ priority came. Let’s test it, shall we?
ShowIT 2018 a G2B•TechEd 2018
Příští týden se konají po roce opět konference ShowIT (Bratislava) a G2B•TechEd (Brno) a myslím, že ještě nějaké místo urvat můžete. Aby se ani jedno město necítilo ochuzené, budu mít na stejné přednášky na obou. Povíme si něco o Azure CosmosDB.
Azure CosmosDB je databáze s globálním škálováním a dostupností. Podporuje několik modelů ukládání a konzistence. Má garantovanou dobu odezvy bez ohledu na data. A to vše jako služba v Azure. Wow! Je to opravdu tak přímočaré? Nebo je nadšení třeba krotit? Vysvětlím vám, jak CosmosDB funguje, na co se dá použít a uvidíme jestli je nadšení podloženo daty (třeba i těmi uvnitř DB 😉).
Tuples goodness in .NET 4.7.1 (.NET Core 2.0 included)
One of the few things I was missing when tuples were introduced was some way to generically work with unknown tuples. Mostly to be able to identify tuples, instead of using plain object and also work with items using index of some sort. Luckily, I was probably not the only one and starting .NET 4.7.1 new interesting interface – ITuple – was added (also available in .NET Core 2.0).
About mentoring
Recently in my social bubble, mostly on Twitter, there has been a lot of talking about mentoring. Senior developers mentoring juniors and so on. Although I’m not, by any means, saying mentoring is bad and juniors should leave seniors alone, I’d like to also share my opinion. Shedding some light into this seemingly black-and-white problem.
ADO.NET provider 5.12.1.0 for Firebird is ready
New version 5.12.1.0 of ADO.NET provider for Firebird is ready for download. This is a regular bug-fix release.
Entity Framework Core 2.0 provider for Firebird now in beta
As I’m sweeping the corners, the work is less glamorous (read: close to zero outside contributions) and every move is harder and harder. But despite all of that, I’m glad to move one step closer to the RTM version of Entity Framework Core 2.0 provider for Firebird and jump to the beta phase.
WUG: Entity Framework Core 2.0 (Olomouc)
WUGy v Olomouci opět oživly a můžeme se tedy podívat společně na Entity Framework Core 2.0.
Entity Framework Core 2.0 byl představen nedávno společně s .NET Core 2 a ASP.NET Core 2. Co nového přináší? Jaké jsou změny oproti verzi 1.0 / 1.1? Má smysl verzi 2.0 používat? Jaké jsou pokročilejší features, jaká jsou její omezení… A co například použití s jinými databázemi než jen MS SQL Server?
Těším se na vás 12.12.2017 od 17:00 v Olomouci.
Changing paths in PDB files for source files (and PDB file path in DLL as well)
Although you can disable PDB files generation altogether, it’s good idea to have these. Debugging without PDB files later is so much harder, like if debugging isn’t hard enough already. One thing that might be bothering you, is the source files location that is stored in PDB files. You might want to change these paths – build servers often use random directory names or you might want to simply hide that the project directory on your hard drive has some weird name. 😃
Where are the differences in execution speed of various method types come from (.NET)?
In previous post I measured execution speed of static and instance methods. Here I’ll dig deeper and I’ll try to find where the difference comes from. Bear in mind, I don’t have a deep knowledge of processors, JIT or assembly. I’m just thinking out loud, poking and observing.
Are static methods faster in execution compared to instance methods (.NET)?
Couple days ago, fellow MVP and colleague @RobertHaken tweeted from frustration about a refactoring (in this case not a good refactoring) into static methods. And I immediately started thinking about scenario where the static method might have some tangible benefits compared to instance method. What a better way to improve method execution than speeding it up? Could this be the case?
Do not await what does not need to be awaited
As the usage of await seeps more and more into general C# code, I’m finding some small “leaks” that make me sad sometimes. This one is pretty simple. Looks like that every time somebody uses XxxAsync method, he or she also awaits it. Makes sense, or does it?
ADO.NET provider 5.12.0.0 for Firebird is ready
New version 5.12.0.0 of ADO.NET provider for Firebird is ready for download. Although I’m focusing mainly on version 6 of FirebirdClient now, immediate fixes and small improvements are still landing in 5.x version(s). This is a collection of these.
Calibrating Aeotec Multisensor 6’s temperature using OpenZWave (in Domoticz)
The Multisensor 6 from Aeotec is a nice little device. I have three of these in my house at the moment (and I’m sure I’m not done yet 😉). Being data geek I always calibrate the temperature (and humidity) sensor to match my own “calibration” devices (ESP-8266 with Si-7021). The steps described in official documentation are correct, but because I use OpenZWave (in Domoticz) I had to do some specific steps to make it work.
How does asynchronous Main work under the hood?
C# 7.1 comes with option to use asynchronous Main method. That means now the Main can have async modifier and return Task or Task<int>. But how it works under the hood? Let’s find out.
Using Azure CDN for complete static (running) website
If you read the documentation etc. for Azure CDN, it often expects that you’re going to use it on parts of your website and rest will be served directly from the original location. But if you have completely static (and currently running) website, like for example this blog, which is using the Azure CDN actually, you need to take a few specific steps to start using Azure CDN in such setup and without downtime.
JavaDays 2017
Stejně jako .NET, Microsoft a techonologie kolem mají výbornou Gopas TechEd konferenci, má i Java svět svoji – JavaDays. Letos se uskuteční 13. – 14. listopadu a já jsem si připravil několik přednášek, které vás doufám zaujmou. Především kolem tématu databází, které je mi velmi blízké.
Preview of Entity Framework Core 2.0 support for Firebird (and FirebirdClient 6.0)
Just before the end of the week I have a toy for you for the weekend. Yes you see it correctly – Entity Framework Core 2.0 support for Firebird. And together with that preview of FirebirdClient 6.0, which contains heaps of changes as well.
Playing with asyncio and aiohttp in Python as a C# developer
Few months back I decided to play a little with asyncio in Python. Explore a little bit how “they did it” and align that in my mind with what I know about the implementation in .NET. Because at that time I needed some HTTP probing I decided to test the async IO together with regular HTTP (aka network) requests. And I used aiohttp. Not that I did some big research. I did quick search and looked at some demos to see whether I like how it’s structured or not. And aiohttp felt fine.