Codeguru Update eNewsletter – July 31st, 2007

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CodeGuru Newsletter
July 31, 2007
http://www.CodeGuru.com


This newsletter is part of the Developer.com, EarthWeb, and
internet.com networks.
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TOPICS:


–> Editorial –


–> Recently Published Books


–> New on
CodeGuru:
        ==>
APIs
               
– Introducing the Google AJAX APIs
        ==>
Communications
               
– [Updated] MODBUS Serial RTU + TCP/IP
Simulator
        ==> Graphics
               

Creating Your Own Drawing Application with Visual Basic .NET, Part 4
        ==>
Misc.
               
– Determining Whether a DLL or EXE Is a Managed Component
               
– OP-ED:
Process is Irrelevant
        ==> Multi-core/Multi-processor
               
– Handling
Mulitple Processors in Your Code Using RapidMind
        ==> News
               
– Microsoft
Releases Betas and More
        ==> Programming Tips
               
– Speeding Up
.NET
        ==> Security
               
– Cryptographic Solutions for .NET Developers:
Hashing and Encryption
        ==> WebParts
               
– Building a Webpart to Display a Virtual Earth Map


–> Discussion Groups — HOT Threads
        – CString – ascii
problem (VC++)
       
– Convert from size_t to unsigned int (C++)
        – How to make
line drawing persistent in CStatic (VC++)


–> Highlighted new articles on Developer.com
        1.
Introducing the Google AJAX APIs
        2. TIP: Increase your Productivity
        3.
JRuby on Rails with Nine Lives: Running a JRuby on Rails Application on
Tomcat


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Comments
from the
Editor
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I’ve talked about this in the past, but it seems like it
is time to bring the topic to the forefront once again. When it comes to the
status of products, there are a few terms that are causing confusion among a number of people.


As an example, this week, several people indicated that
Visual Studio 2008 would -release- in February of 2008. If you recall, Microsoft
has stated all along that Visual Studio would -release- by the end of 2007.
Oddly, nobody seemed to question the [apparent] change in date to February of
next year. I noted that a leading author, a news reporter, and a person in one
of the discussion forums I administer all indicated the -release- in February.


In truth (as I understand it), the release target has not
changed. Visual Studio 2008 is still planned for this year. What is happening in
February is a -launch-. More importantly, a -launch- event is planned. As
Microsoft illustrated with Vista, a launch can happen after a release. In fact, Microsoft has shown that a product can be launched multiple times.


It seems that similar confusion was created when
Microsoft started releasing Community Technical Previews (CTPs). A CTP is an
unsupported release of pre-release software. It isn’t a beta, but rather can often be seen as a beta for a beta.


Microsoft also releases Release Candidates (RCs). A
Release Candidate indicated a completed product that was simply being checked
for final bugs. Changes to the product would be minimal and as responses to a bugs or errors found.


Prior to a Release Candidate, you had betas. Betas were
pre-release software that was generally unsupported. Betas could have bugs and
could be prone to being changed. Betas were a chance to test out new features
and to get an idea of how software would work. In general, they were relatively
complete and thus ready to be tested. Prior to betas, you had alphas. Alphas
were generally kept internal and were much more likely to have errors or to change.


When Microsoft released the first Release Candidate for
Vista, they cautioned that the look and feel would change. That indicated the
product was nearly complete (but not quite). The result is that the RC was really a beta.


So, instead of having alphas that evolve to betas and
then become release candidates when they are feature complete and ready, we now
have betas of betas (CTPs), RCs that are betas, and betas that are alphas. In
the end, it doesn’t matter because with Go Live licenses, you can run the betas (that are more like alphas) as released software anyway.


Until next week,


Brad!
—————————
Bradley
L. Jones
www.CodeGuru.com
—————————


=========================================================
Recently
Published Books
=========================================================


For those of you keeping up by reading books. The
following are just a few of the new books that have been recently released. If
you’ve read any of these, feel free to write a review to be posted on CodeGuru. See the submission guidelines at:


http://www.codeguru.com/review-guidelines.php


Here are a few new non-programming books:


–> Take Back Your
Life!
      Using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
to get organized and stay
organized
      By Sally McGhee and
John Wittry for Microsoft Press
      360 pages
for $24.99
      http://books.internet.com/books/0735623430


–> Pro
LCS
      Live communications Server
Administration
      By Edney and
Maxmimo for Apress
      400 pages for
$49.99
      http://books.internet.com/books/1590598369


–> Microsoft Exchange Server 2007:
Administrator’s Companion
      By
Glenn, Lowe, an Maher for Microsoft
Press
      700 pages with CD for
$49.99
      http://books.internet.com/books/0735623503


–> Microsoft Office Word 2007 Inside
Out
      By Murray, Millhollon, and
Melton for Microsoft Press
      880 pages with
CD for $44.99
      http://books.internet.com/books/0735623309


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New
& Updated Articles on
CodeGuru
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Following are short descriptions of new articles on
CodeGuru. If you are interested in submitting your own article for inclusion on
the site, then you will find guidelines located at


http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,fka1,909i,72z7,fi8i


This week’s CodeGuru posts:


==> APIs


– Introducing the Google AJAX
APIs
     By Chris Schalk
Get the scoop on
Google’s powerful JavaScript AJAX APIs, AJAX Search, and AJAX Feed. Learn how to
easily  embed rich Internet search and Feed content gathered by Google into
your Web pages with just a few lines of JavaScript.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,b7cp,2ju4,72z7,fi8i


==> Communications


– [Updated] MODBUS Serial RTU + TCP/IP
Simulator
     By Conrad Braam
If you are
unable to find a free Modbus Slave simulator, here is one.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,itve,jrob,72z7,fi8i


==> Graphics


– Creating Your Own Drawing Application with
Visual Basic
.NET, Part 4
    
By Hannes du Preez
With this article, you will learn how to Crop, Zoom, and
Rotate images. You also will learn how to make an Eyedropper, how to draw text,
and how to make a moveable Selection.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,1a85,4iiw,72z7,fi8i


==> Misc.


– Determining Whether a DLL or EXE Is a Managed
Component
     By kirants
Learn how to check
whether or not a component is a .NET managed component. Also, learn to get other
information, such as dependent assemblies, from the metadata using Microsoft
APIs and related COM interfaces.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,bby9,7xph,72z7,fi8i


==> Misc.


– OP-ED: Process is
Irrelevant
     By Paul Kimmel
Knowledge,
flexibility, and the discretion of smart individuals beats a one-size fits all
rule book any day.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,kpb,a4s6,72z7,fi8i


==> Multi-core/Multi-processor


– Handling Mulitple Processors in Your Code Using
RapidMind
     By Ejaz Anwer
Multicore
processors bring new challenges. See a solution for gaining the ability to scale
to the increasing number and types of processor cores.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,aqy9,a8dh,72z7,fi8i


==> News


– Microsoft Releases Betas and
More
     By Bradley Jones
Yesterday,
Microsoft announced the release of Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2, .NET Framework 3.5
Beta 2, Silverlight 1.0 RC, and more.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,efp0,8hb0,72z7,fi8i


==> Programming Tips


– Speeding Up
.NET
     By Bill Hatfield
.NET programmers
can become a little lazy when it comes to performance optimization. Discover a
few easy tips to keep performance at a peak!
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,31w3,7gpi,72z7,fi8i


==> Security


– Cryptographic Solutions for .NET Developers:
Hashing and
Encryption
     By
Jani Jarvinen
Learn how to use cryptography to improve the security of your
applications. Discover the basic building blocks for encryption and hashing
using C#.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,dadx,euqh,72z7,fi8i


==> WebParts


– Building a Webpart to Display a Virtual Earth
Map
     By Mark Strawmyer
Discover how to
build an ASP.NET webpart that will display coordinates on a Virtual
Earth-created map. You can do  this by using the IWebPart Interface, an
HTTP handler, and the Virtual Earth API.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,azgk,b4yt,72z7,fi8i


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Discussion
Groups
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Check out the CodeGuru discussion forums at:


http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,bcr8,cx5j,72z7,fi8i


Forums include Visual C++, General C++, Visual Basic, Java, General
Technology, C#, ASP.NET, XML, Help Wanted, and much, much, more!


… HOT THREADS …


Some of the current threads with the most activity are:


==> CString – ascii problem
(VC++)

        http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,dgtf,h1i3,72z7,fi8i


==> Convert from size_t to unsigned int
(C++)
        http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,fnkk,4wyw,72z7,fi8i


==> How to make line drawing persistent in CStatic
(VC++)
        http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,fjcj,3a6o,72z7,fi8i


==========================================================
New
Articles on
Developer.com
==========================================================


Below are some of the new articles that have been posted to Developer.com (http://www.developer.com).


1. Introducing the Google AJAX APIs
    By
Chris Schalk –
Get the scoop on Google’s powerful JavaScript AJAX APIs, AJAX
Search, and AJAX Feed. Learn how to easily embed rich Internet search and Feed
content gathered by Google into your Web pages with just a few lines of
JavaScript.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,aq7k,7dar,72z7,fi8i


2. TIP: Increase your Productivity
    By
David DeWolf –
Stop interrupting your thought process by taking control of
your committed development time. Increase your productivity by reducing your
distractions.
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,a9sv,ev50,72z7,fi8i


3. JRuby on Rails with Nine Lives: Running a JRuby on Rails
Application on Tomcat
    By Dominic Da Silva

See how easy it is to get your Rails application running on Tomcat with
JRuby!
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,3cmn,1,9osp,bwqf,72z7,fi8i


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