Blogs|Apr 8, 2014

Handling Extremely Large Data Sets in Silverlight

While writing Chapter 14 of my book, Designing Silverlight Business Applications: Best Practices for Using Silverlight Effectively in the Enterprise (Microsoft .NET Development Series) I focused on an area that is quite common with line of business applications: extremely large data sets. In the example I generated almost 1,000,000 contact rows to illustrate how they…
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Blogs|Apr 8, 2014

Hosting HTML in Silverlight (not Out of Browser)

Some Silverlight projects may require that you render HTML content – perhaps a non-Silverlight control or web page. Unfortunately unless the project runs Out of Browser (OOB) the WebBrowser control isn’t an option. What can you do? While there is no easy solution to truly embed HTML inside of the Silverlight rendering engine, it is…
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Blogs|Apr 7, 2014

Initial ASUS Vivo Tab Note 8 Review

Eight days ago I went through the five Kübler-Ross stages of grief in about 490 milliseconds as I watched my Surface Pro fall out of my backpack and kiss the concrete directly on the upper right hand corner. I didn’t even have to open the Type Cover to know that the glass would have made…
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Blogs|Apr 6, 2014

Building Universal Apps with Visual Studio 2013 Update 2

One of the most exciting pronouncements at the 2014 BUILD conference was Microsoft’s introduction of “universal apps,” which run on PCs, tablets, and phones. According to Microsoft, universal apps will one day run on Xboxes, too. The universal app represents the first step in a convergence that Microsoft has been seeking for a long time…
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Blogs|Apr 6, 2014

JavaScript Chaos with Canvas

I learned about chaos theory quite by accident. On a family vacation we stopped by a campground along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Appalachian Mountains. I was not an outdoor enthusiast at the time so while my parents were hiking I preferred to head over to the arcade to play Donkey Kong and Tempest.…
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Blogs|Mar 30, 2014

Angular: The Modern HTML5 Answer to Silverlight’s MVVM

First, let me say that I realize Silverlight in no way “owns” the Model-View-View Model pattern. I’ve written on this extensively in my article “MVVM Explained.” However, I believe it gained the most public exposure through various implementations on that platform and this is what led to its adoption on the web. In fact, you…
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Blogs|Mar 25, 2014

250th Video Published on WintellectNOW

It’s hard to believe that WintellectNOW isn’t even a year old yet.  Beginning with our launch in June, we’ve celebrated many milestones with you all and today is no different.  We are super excited to announce the release of our 250th video, SignalR Performance by Kevin Griffin.  The video is the fifth in the Mastering…
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Blogs|Mar 24, 2014

5 Great Features in EcmaScript 6 (ES6 Harmony)

EcmaScript is the standardized scripting language that JavaScript (and some other languages, like ActionScript) implement.  If you think EcmaScript is a terrible name, you’re not alone.  Brendan Eich, the original developer of JavaScript, once wrote that the name EcmaScript sounds like a skin disease.  Naming aside, JavaScript is one of the most important languages in…
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Blogs|Mar 24, 2014

Angular.js vs Ember.js Star Rating Component Comparison

UPDATE: I recently published a WintellectNow course – Getting Started with Ember.js.  You should also check out Jeremy Likness’ in depth series on Angular – Mastering AngularJS.  Use promo code NSTIEGLITZ-13 for a free two week trial. Last week, I published a blog post that shows how to build a reusable Star Rating Component using…
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Blogs|Mar 24, 2014

Ember Components – Build a Star Rating Component

UPDATE: I recently published a WintellectNow course (“Getting Started with Ember.js”).  Use promo code NSTIEGLITZ-13 for a free two week trial. — Ember Components are “custom HTML elements that you can use to clean up repetitive templates or create reusable controls.”  They simplify your templates by encapsulating functionality and introduce reusability that would otherwise not…
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Blogs|Mar 24, 2014

Advanced Queries with BreezeJS

UPDATE: I recently published a WintellectNow course (Getting Started with Breeze.js) that goes into more depth using Breeze in the context of an AngularJS app.  Use code NSTIEGLITZ-13 for a free 2 week WintellectNow trial. — BreezeJS is a JavaScript library to help manage data in rich client web applications.  It’s especially useful in Enterprise…
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Blogs|Mar 24, 2014

Five Reasons ASP.NET Developers Shouldn’t Worry About Node

I devoted my last post to reasons why ASP.NET developers should pay attention to Node.js. Taking a queue from high school debate team, and because no technology decision (or opinion) exists in a vacuum, I’d like to turn the tables and consider a few reasons why ASP.NET developers might stay away from Node (or at…
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