.NET

If you walk into any store to buy a game or movie you will find a little blue triangle sticker which contains the age restriction from the Film and Publications Board who review and rate content.

Since I created a game recently I decided to see what the process is for classification of a game is and learnt some very interesting things for developers.

Put simply only games/films that are sold or hired require to be classified – so if you are developing a game/films that will be available for FREE then you do not require classification! Below is the email from the head of the classification unit confirming that!

GREAT NEWS for hobbyist developers!

If you do plan to sell your game then you need to complete the forms on the website (game submission form), provide a disc with screenshots and videos of your game, a game synopsis and pay the registration fee (currently R1 508.64) and then wait for the classification.

Microsoft have confirmed & I have tested that the forced requirement for the FPB certification in the marketplace no longer exists. You can submit a certification but you are not forced to. Only downside at the moment is Window Phone 7 – when you submit a game for the South African market regardless of price they require the certification which is incorrect. I have submitted a request to Microsoft for details on this and will update you as soon as I have any information.

Community Night, the best way to meet, mingle and learn (if you don’t know about it – read here) happens on the second Tuesday of the month… except in September due to an event at the venue on the Tuesday which can’t be moved.

So for September it will take place the Monday before, in other words Monday the 12th September. Please help get the word out to the various user groups and communities!

See you there!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to present at a fantastic event, Dev4Devs which is a free event where anyone can present on anything (software developer related) for 20min. It is a lot of fun, because of the variety of talks, the variety of people (some new speakers and some experiences speakers) and the HORRID 20min timeline.

This time I presented on a topic I am very interested in, Codename: Roslyn which is the next version of the C# & VB.NET compilers which are fully managed code (C# one written in C# and the VB.NET one written in VB.NET).

Since there is no public bits available I made use of the compiler from Project Mono – which has had similar things (the REPL environment and hosted compiler) for years.

As with all presentations here (or at the end of the post) are my slides, demo notes, demo files and other info!

During my research and prep, I found a bunch of interesting posts and information about it so here is the info I found. I’ve bolded the ones I think are especially interesting.

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4222524/what-would-you-do-with-compiler-as-a-service
• http://codebetter.com/patricksmacchia/2010/05/31/c-5-and-meta-programming/
• http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/events/fs2011
• http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/async/thread/03a51936-b4fd-4814-9161-46544eda63cf/
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ericlippert/archive/2010/12/16/hiring-for-roslyn.aspx
• http://blog.functionalfun.net/2008/10/dynamic-future-of-c-40.html
• http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Checking-In-with-Erik-Meijer/Checking-In-Eric-Lippert-On-Compiler-Evolution-Designing-C-and-Blogging
• http://castroller.com/Podcasts/NetRocks/2230612-Eric%20Lippert%20Talks%20About%20Project%20Roslyn
• http://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Going+Deep/Anders-Hejlsberg-Questions-and-Answers
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/lisa/archive/2011/03/29/teched-middle-east-2011.aspx
• http://www.mono-project.com/CsharpRepl

Image from Ezu

Found this little C# compiler optimisation which is really cool. Here is start code

int y = 0;
int x = 10;

if (x * 0 == 0)
{
    y = 123;
}

Console.WriteLine(y);

If you know a bit of math, anything multiplied by 0 always equals 0 (line 4). So the compiler optimises that out and then because x is never used that is also optimised out and you end up with

int y = 0;

if (0 == 0)
{
    y = 123;
}

Console.WriteLine(y);

Not talking about the technology but various identifiers in the .NET world are often abused. I know this is SUPER pedantic of me, but it is something I come across watching lots of presentations. Getting this right shows a level of polish and knowledge, and getting it wrong shows that either you not paying attention, don’t know what you are talking about or just don’t care.

So here are some brand/naming problems I see:

• .NET – I often see people use .net or .Net, the correct capitalisation is ALL caps. There is NO excuse for this one, just do it right.
• .NET Framework 4 – With .NET 4, the marketing people dropped the .0 like we had with 2.0 or 3.5, so stop saying four-oh, it’s just 4.
• Windows Phone 7 – It is Windows Phone 7, not Windows Mobile 7 (no such product) or Windows 7 Phone.
• Microsoft Visual C♯ 2010 – I make this one often and call it C♯ 4, it is actually Microsoft Visual C♯ 2010.
• Should you use ♯ or # with C♯ – either is acceptable. However Microsoft recommends the “Music Sharp Sign” for marketing material.
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate – That is the full product name. The issue I see often is people putting .NET in there, ala Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2010. There is NO .NET in the name. There was a release in 2002 called Visual Studio .NET, but that was a specific release and is not the product name.
• Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 – A lot of people are using the term MOSS to describe SharePoint Server. It is not MOSS in 2010. In 2007 it was Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, but the Office part was dropped for the 2010 release and the MOSS acronym along with it.
• Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Foundation – Like MOSS above people love to use WSS for SharePoint Foundation. It’s not called that in 2010…. there isn’t even a W in the whole name now.
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Documentation – There is a very bad habit (I do it too) to call this MSDN. MSDN is not the help that is install on your machine with Visual Studio! MSDN is a website Microsoft runs for developers which has help on it and also a subscription service where you can get Microsoft software legally and cheap for development purposes. So while it is two things on the Internet, it is NOT on your machine.
• MacLean – Thought I would just throw this one in, it’s my surname. It has a ‘a’ in the second position and a capital L. It is not Mclean, McLean, Maclean or ‘Hey you, stop kicking my dog…’

Important Notice for August 2011

Community night is normally the second Tuesday of the month, however since that is a public holiday it has been moved to Monday the 15th of August!

What is community night?

For those who do not know this is a FREE event that happens monthly where a variety of user groups get together at Microsoft's offices. User groups are not influenced by Microsoft, they just use the facilities. User groups that are there on a regular basis:

• Information Worker: Technical focused SharePoint & Office
• Business User Workshops: User group that looks at the issues that face power users in enterprises. This month the understanding where a portal ends and CRM begins.
• Game Dev: One of the biggest with plenty of game developers & artists getting together.
• JavaScript: For all you JS fixes
• Mobi: My good friend Rudi Grobler hosts this group focused on mobile (iPhone, Android, Symbian and Windows Phone)
• UX: For those who understand there is more than 16 colours
• Architecture: For architects of any IT systems!
• Languages: For developers who are interested in learning the pros & cons of other languages.
• SQL: The fantastic Gail Shaw runs the best SQL user group anywhere!

There is also FREE beer, cool drinks & pizza!

Where is Microsoft’s offices?

Microsoft Bryanston Office
3012 William Nicol Drive
Bryanston
2191 Johannesburg
South Africa

Click here for map and more details.

Times?

Various user groups starts at different times. I think the first UG kicks off at 16:00 and it can run to 21:00.
However depends if you attend multiple UG, stay for passage conversation, etc…

So up to you, I have nights where I arrived after 17:30 and other times left at 18:00, no pressure!

The fact we half way through the year snuck up on me this morning, so it is time again to share some of the presentations I have done in the last 6 months! For those new to the presentation dump, every 6 months or so I share all the slides I can (some I can’t because they contain NDA info, like the one about Microsoft’s Project Double Rainbow) so that you can take these slides and work with them yourself!

So what is included in this dump:

• Windows 7 API Code Pack: This was a very fun session to do since it was showing off a bunch of cool Windows 7 features.
• Development for Nokia: This is maybe one of the best looking slides, but one of the worst timed sessions since shortly after it Nokia announced their move to WP7 so not much could be taken away from this
• Mercurial: This is a difficult session, because the demo’s are so boring (how do you make source control sexy?) – however a ridiculous amount of animation about process made this entertaining to create and present.
• Visual Studio Productivity Tools: This one started off from the idea of answering the question CodeRush vs. Resharper – which is a bit of religious debate more than a this one wins. It includes a bunch of other interesting content about other extensions too. For non-South African’s “Braai Rules” is the same as saying “BBQ Rules” or “Pub/Bar Rules”
• Aspect Orientated Programming: This is a big one for me as I see general development using more of this and the frameworks, like .NET, moving to it more and more in future. Good to get an early look into it.
• Multitasking in applications: This session looks at one of the themes of .NET 4 – TASKS. Why should you care, because multi threading is complex, but multi tasking gives the same benefits with less complexity.
• WebMatrix: Microsoft’s new tool for hobbyist web developers. What is included in that tool? This presentation tells you.
• Welcome to the cloud: I had a great opportunity to present at Tswane University of Technology with Rudi Grobler on the cloud & mobile. This was a very fun session and allowed me to also talk about why BBD is such an awesome place to work.

Slides available in the post! Click below for more

Windows 7 API Code Pack

Development for Nokia

Mercurial

Visual Studio Productivity Tools

Aspect Orientated Programming

Multitasking in applications

WebMatrix

Welcome to the cloud

Updated: This has been resolved, see comments below for details from YallaApps.

YallaApps, the company that submit Windows Phone Apps in parts of the world Microsoft forgets, has a BIG problem at the moment and to make things worse they are not talking about it publically!

In short something is borked between YallaApps and App Hub (the Microsoft submission side) and as such there is a hold on all submissions! So the very purpose for it has stopped, and there is not a mention on the blog or site about this. Very poorly done Yalla!

How did I find out? I emailed them because after 5 days my app hadn’t been submitted! Below is their response.

Microsoft used to be a horrid company with regards to their security, then they sat down and made security a quality gate – we do not ship if security is wrong. How do they know what is wrong? A 24 page guideline with 68 bullet points?! Perfect holiday reading

The security development lifecycle team has recently tried to help us developers improve our applications so we not the next company with a bad security issues with two acronyms which will improve security notices to our users: NEAT & SPRUCE

What is NEAT?

• N: Necessary – Only show messages that you need. If you can take a safe action automatically or defer the message, do that!
• E: Explained – If you do interrupt the user, explain in everything to the user. EVERYTHING?! Yes, and the SPRUCE acronym will help explain what everything is.
• A: Actionable – A message should only be presented to the user if there is steps the user can take to make the right decision.
• T: Tested – A security message needs to be tested. TDD, Usability Testing, Visual Inspection, every test.

So, we need to show the message now – what do we put in there? SPRUCE:

• S: Source – Why are we showing this message? Did a website do something or a file or a user action? Tell the user.
• P: Process – Give the user the steps they need to go through to make sure they make the right decision.
• R: Risk – Explain what the consequences of getting the decision wrong.
• U: Unique – If your software knows everything, do the right thing automatically. So if you are showing the message, it means the user has unique information that is needed to make the decision. Explain what information is needed (slightly similar to P).
• C: Choices – Show the user all the options and recommend the safer one.
• E: Evidence – Provide any additional information that the user may need to make the decision.

Now that the training is done, let’s look at real implementations:

A web page contains secure & nonsecure content

Here is what the dialog looked like in the bad old days of IE6:

In IE 9 where this logic has been applied:

Let’s look at the differences:

• N (Necessary) has been applied – previously this was a blocking model UI, which the user was forced to deal with to continue working. Today it shows discreetly with at the bottom and only if the user needs to work with this they have to, otherwise ignoring it.
• E (Explained) has had been done with the What’s the risk? – which shows the dialog below. It is not perfect as it hasn't followed SPRUCE fully but it is a good improvement.
• A (Actionable) has been applied – previously you had both a yes & no, now we have one action that can be done. Close or ignore and nothing happens.
• T (Tested) there is some weird language issues with the old one especially if English isn’t your primary language because of the yes/no not being perfectly clear. The new dialog has a single very clear labelled button!

Takeaways

Now that we have looked at how it can help you and how to do it, attached is a nice simple 3 page document with more details and reminders about this. GO IMPROVE YOUR APPLICATIONS!

Update 26 July 2011: Note that once you have done this you must move off of YallaApps to AppHub by 20 August 2011 or you will not get refunded. See this post for details on how to do that

The single reason I don’t tell people to buy Windows Phone 7 devices in South Africa – no market place. This issue for users means a 3rd rate experience on the device compared to other smart phones. For developers this was an issue, because it meant we couldn’t get our phones unlocked and we couldn’t publish… this WAS an issue for developers.

Now we developers have YallaApps, a service to allow developers where Microsoft doesn’t have a marketplace to develop and publish apps. It is a good but slow service, but today is not about Yalla, today is about you.

As a South African, you can signup for YallaApps (no phone needed) and get

• $100 (about R800) worth of credits for free
• Your phone unlocked (if/when you get one)
• A free developer account (value $100) when the marketplace arrives

All you need to do is signup – it takes 5 minutes. My suggestion, regardless if you have a phone now or not or if you plan to develop an app – DO IT NOW! Get those free benefits banked for later so that if you do decide one day it costs you nothing!