JULY 2009 Volume 19, No
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
VisualStudioMagazine.com Targeting Azure Storage Learn how to store and retrieve binary large objects in the cloud with Azure’s RESTful Storage API. PLUS Fine-Tune Unit Testing in Visual Studio MonoDevelop 2.0 Reviewed Redmond Review: Bettering Business Intelligence JULY 2009 Volume 19, No. 7 2009 Volume JULY Project3 3/19/09 9:08 AM Page 1 Project3 3/19/09 9:09 AM Page 2 Project1 6/8/09 11:13 AM Page 1 ESRI® Developer Network Integrate Mapping and GIS into Your Applications Give your users an effective way to visualize and analyze their data so they can make more informed decisions and solve business problems. By subscribing to the ESRI® Developer Network (EDN SM), you have access to the complete ESRI geographic information system (GIS) software suite for developing and testing applications on every platform. Whether you’re a desktop, mobile, server, or Web developer, EDN provides the tools you need to quickly and cost-effectively integrate mapping and GIS into your applications. Subscribe to EDN and leverage the power of GIS to get more from your data. Visit www.esri.com/edn. Copyright © 2009 ESRI. All rights reserved. The ESRI globe logo, ESRI, EDN, and www.esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners. 0709vsm_TOC_3-4.v5 6/12/09 11:06 AM Page 3 July 2009 // Volume 19 // No. 7 Contents { FRAMEWORKS } Michael Desmond, Editor in Chief, Visual Studio Magazine Time for XAML? Don’t look now, but the broadly ambitious eXtensible Markup Language (XAML) vision Microsoft kicked off several years ago appears to be gaining traction. Most developers know XAML as the language behind Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), the graphical subsystem unveiled in 2006 with .NET 3.0 and due for an exten- sive refresh in .NET 4. (check out last month’s cover feature, “.NET 4 Revealed”). Ironically, the real driver behind XAML 18 to date has been Silverlight, Microsoft’s fast-evolving rich Internet application (RIA) platform. Even as WPF adoption lan- guished, Web developers began working FEATURES with XAML and tooling like Expression Blend for their Silverlight projects. 18 Targeting Azure Storage Silverlight has set the stage for XAML Learn how to store and retrieve binary large objects in the cloud with Azure’s RESTful Storage API. BY ROGER JENNINGS adoption, says Todd Anglin, chief evangelist with component maker Telerik. “I think there’s a bit of a halo effect on DEPARTMENTS WPF from Silverlight. Silverlight was the 6 Letters to the Editor attention-getter and people came and learned the core concepts of XAML within 8 DevDisasters The Cost of Static BY ALEX PAPADIMOULIS Silverlight,” Anglin said in an interview. That halo effect should grow stronger 10 DevInsights DEVELOPER NEWS, REVIEWS, PRODUCT BRIEFS this summer, when Microsoft is expected Early Feedback on Visual Studio 2010 Beta PAGE 10 to release Silverlight 3. The new version Product Review: MonoDevelop 2.0 PAGE 13 will introduce powerful new data and Product Briefs: AVIcode Intercept uX, Mykonos 1.0 AJAX Security Framework, application capabilities that, for the first Borland TeamDefine PAGE 14 time, make Silverlight a mature target for live-fire business application development. 24 LANGUAGE LAB The question is: Will desktop application developers simply develop for Silverlight ON VB PAGE 24 64-bit-capable machines are everywhere. It’s time you start thinking about 64-bit rather than the more robust and exten- support as you develop your Visual Basic applications. BY BILL MCCARTHY sive WPF spec? It’s an open question, and one that Ask Kathleen PAGE 26 VSM readers will certainly have a say in With a few tweaks, you can turn Visual Studio’s basic unit-testing capabilities into a answering. Meanwhile companies like Telerik powerful and extensible tool for improving code quality. BY KATHLEEN DOLLARD are helping developers support WPF and Silverlight apps from a common code base, COLUMNS with components that work from a unified code set. Are you aiming to build XAML 3 Frameworks BY MICHAEL DESMOND apps that run seamlessly in both Silverlight 32 Redmond Review BY ANDREW BRUST and WPF? Or do you plan to target WPF for 31 Index of Advertisers your traditional client applications? E-mail me at [email protected]. PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION BY BYRON SCOTT/ISTOCKPHOTO BYRON BY PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION VisualStudioMagazine.com · July 2009 · VISUAL STUDIO MAGAZINE 3 0709vsm_TOC_3-4.v5 6/12/09 11:06 AM Page 4 Online Contents Get the complete picture— the latest dev news, analysis and how-to content—at VisualStudioMagazine.com and our partner sites in the Redmond Developer Network. VISUALSTUDIOMAGAZINE.COM REDDEVNEWS.COM ADTMAG.COM Online Tutorials Visual Studio 2010 and .NET FX 4 Beta Ellison Anointed ‘Next Leader of Wahlin on .NET Drops Today Java Community’ Creating a Silverlight-Enabled WCF Service Visual Studio 2010 debuts a revamped Oracle’s pending acquisition of Sun Silverlight is capable of consuming data editor, UI and shell built using Microsoft’s Microsystems had attendees at the annual from a variety of sources including REST Windows Presentation Foundation 4.0. JavaOne conference wondering about the APIs, ASMX services, Windows Based on early developer feedback, fate of Java and the Java Community Communication Foundation (WCF) services Microsoft has already made some Process. Also, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made and other standards-compliant services. modifications to the new editor. a surprise cameo during the keynote, BY DAN WAHLIN BY KATHLEEN RICHARDS where he talked up JavaFX and OpenOffice. LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907DW1 BY JOHN K. WATERS LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907AD1 Will Entity Framework 2 Appease Early Adopters of LINQ to SQL? Classic VB Corner .NET 4 gives developers a first peek at the Using a Standard Terminal Font ADO.NET Entity Framework version 2, Adobe Revamps Flash Platform Need to recreate that old-timey Terminal which is Microsoft’s preferred model for Adobe released the next version of its RIA look? There’s a stock object built into building applications that access databases. platform, Flash Builder 4 (formerly Flex every version of Windows that will serve BY JEFFREY SCHWARTZ Builder) and Flash Catalyst, for beta that need. testing. The products let designers and BY KARL E. PETERSON LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907RD2 developers share workflows. LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907KP1 BY JEFFREY SCHWARTZ LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907AD2 JavaFun: Interoperability, But Is Three a Crowd? Practical ASP.NET Microsoft’s JavaOne keynote about .NET Handling Concurrency with interoperability highlighted progress IBM Rational Previews New Wares Entity Framework between Sun and the Redmond-based At its annual user conference, IBM’s If you want to use Entity Framework in company. Will Microsoft be on that stage, and Rational division gave attendees a peek at ASP.NET, you’ll need to handle concurrency a JavaOne sponsor, after Oracle buys Sun? three new products focused on “software problems. Here are some suggestions from a BY KATHLEEN RICHARDS investment management,” as well as pre- Microsoft “architect evangelist.” views of older software-delivery products BY PETER VOGEL LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907RD3 being tuned for cloud-based infrastructures. LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907PV1 BY JOHN K. WATERS LOCATOR+ CODE: VS0907AD3 VisualStudioMagazine.com RedDevNews.com ADTmag.com ISTOCKPHOTO.COM 4 VISUAL STUDIO MAGAZINE · July 2009 · VisualStudioMagazine.com Project7 4/29/09 3:36 PM Page 1 0709vsm_Letters_6.v3 6/12/09 11:01 AM Page 6 VisualStudioMagazine.com July 2009 • Volume 19 • No. 7 Letters Editorial Staff Vice President, Doug Barney Editorial Director Editor in Chief Michael Desmond Executive Editor Kathleen Richards News Editor Jeffrey Schwartz Managing Editor Wendy Gonchar Associate Managing Editor Katrina Carrasco Contributing Editors Andrew J. Brust, Kathleen Dollard, Ken Cox, John Cronan, Dan Fergus, John Gavilan, Roger Jennings, Looking to .NET 4 and Don Kiely, Martin Kulov, Jeff Levinson, Bill McCarthy, John Charles Olamendy Turruellas, Keith Pleas, Bill Wagner Visual Studio 2010 Art Staff Creative Director Scott Shultz Graphic Designer Erin Horlacher In April we explored Visual Studio 2010, and in June we Online/Digital Media took an in-depth look at .NET Framework 4. Here’s what Editor, VisualStudio Becky Nagel Magazine.com readers had to say about our coverage of the next Executive Editor, New Media Michael Domingo generation of these strategic dev technologies. Online News Editor Kurt Mackie Associate Editor, Web Gladys Rama I’m curious about how the developers of .NET Web Producer Shane Lee Framework manage to keep from reintroducing historical bugs or problematic features from past versions, when I’m certain that the development teams have changed President Henry Allain Vice President, Publishing Matt N. Morollo over the years. Director of Marketing Michele Imgrund Allan (via the Web) Online Marketing Director Tracy S. Cook Bronx, New York I love all the candy that should be coming with Visual Studio 2010, but what I’d President & Neal Vitale like to know is if I’ll still be stuck using Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 Chief Executive Officer to build and maintain SQL 2005 (or SQL 2008) reports and SSIS [SQL Server Senior Vice President Richard Vitale & Chief Financial Officer Integration Services] projects. I was very upset to find out that Visual Studio 2008 Executive Vice President Michael