Coding For a Living

Related Posts

• vRAD Well Known Names– Part 3

  In my two previous vRAD posts I explained the concept of well known names and introduced ‘PostalCode’, a well known name I have used for application development since 1992.

  	Coding For a Living xRAD Well Known Names– Part 1
  	Coding For a Living vRAD Well Known Names– Part 2

  At the end of my last xRAD post I asked: Can you think of at least three more ways the well known word PostalCode helps us build applications rapidly?

  Here are a few of many correct answers:

  	1. Reduces code review time. PostalCode classes and class members which encapsulate data and behavior, were last changed in 2004.
  	2. Reduces testing time; PostalCode classes and class members which encapsulate data and behavior, were last tested in 2004.
  	3. Avoids elusive names that are open to subjective interpretation.
  	4. Promotes self-documenting code and reduces code comments.
  	5. Provides a common name across the tiers of a multi-tier application.
  	6. Makes it possible to document legacy systems faster.

   

  In three posts I have explained the concept of well known names and how a single well known name can speed up application development by promoting re use over new development.

  Since 1992 we have developed 1513 well known names. Examples are:  PhoneNumber, EmailAddress, City, State, Country, Customer, FirstName, LastName, Contact, Url, Product, UnitOfMeasure.

  Our well known names are used in schema scripts for databases, in models, in code, generators, in documentation, and much more.  We have code snippets for every well known name.

  When we start a new project an average of 88% of the names we need come from our well known names.

  In future posts I will explain how the ‘well known’ concept applies to other things used for application development; things like ‘well known tables’, well known methods, well known constants, and more.

• xRad–Well Known Schemas

  In my three previous xRad posts I explained the use of well known names and how they help make extra rapid application development (xRad) possible.

  	Coding For a Living  xRAD Well Known Names– Part 1
  	Coding For a Living  vRAD Well Known Names– Part 2
  	Coding For a Living  vRAD Well Known Names– Part 3

   

  In this post I will expand on the ‘well known’ concept that speeds up application development by discussing well known table schemas.

  There are many database tables that are commonly used in business applications. A few examples are:

  	Customer	CustomerType	Comment	Location	Table
  	Contact	ContactType	Role	Profile	Price
  	Address	AddressType	Version	File
  	Order	OrderType	User	Permission
  	Item	ItemType	AppLog	Role_Permission

   

  Since 1992 we have identified 1104 well known table schemas.

  Like well known names, well known table schemas are used in my databases, models, code, generators, and snippets.

  And, like well known names, well known schemas reduce development time because they are reusable.

  Some benefits of well known table schemas are:

  1.  When a new project starts up no design time is spent on the well known tables.

  2.  Programmer documentation about well known schemas has not changed since 2011.  We will add more well known tables schemas but they will be additions, not changes.

  3.  We run one script to install all well known tables at the beginning of a project.

  4.  Code, text, comment, and documentation generators - auto create data access code, enum code, validation code, classes, and more for the well known tables. Once we install the tables and run the generators everything just works.

  We’ve found it’s easier to install the well known tables and generate supporting code than to pick and choose.

• vRAD Well Known Names– Part 2

  This post explains several ways well known names help my company build applications rapidly.

  In my previous vRAD post I introduced ‘PostalCode’, a well known name I have used for application development since 1992.

  In our development world, the well known word PostalCode is used where ever a zip code, post code, or postal code is represented or stored, for example:

  1. as the column name of all database table columns that store a zip code, post code, or postal code

  2. in data models where ever a zip code, post code, or postal code is used

  3. as the property name in all classes that require a zip code, post code, or postal code

  4. in programmer documentation

  5. in code and other generators

  PostalCode helps build applications rapidly because it reduces development and development project time.

  How? Reuse. Reuse as in where the same thing is used again for the same function – again, and again, and again.  Since 1992:

  1. No design time has been spent coming up with what to name things that will represent or store zip codes, post codes, or postal codes.

  2. Programmer documentation about PostalCode has not been changed since 1992.

  3. Anyone who has worked for me for more than a couple of months can teach a new person to use PostalCode because it is – you guessed it – well known.

  4. Code generators, which require postal codes, post codes, or zip codes - for schemas, models, code, and tests – used the well known name PostalCode. We never spend time modifying that part of our code generators.

  Can you think of at least three more ways the well known word PostalCode helps us build applications rapidly?

  Answers will be published in the next xRad blog post..

• Possible Features of C#.6 and VB.12

  Below are some features that may be a part of C#.6 and VB.12.  For current information visit Language feature implementation status for Dev14

  Feature status as of 10/3/2014:

  Feature	Example	C#	VB
  Primary constructors	class Point(int x, int y) { … }	No	No
  Auto-property initializers	public int X { get; set; } = x;	Done	Exists
  Getter-only auto-properties	public int Y { get; } = y;	Done	Done
  Ctor assignment to getter-only autoprops	Y = 15	Done	Done
  Parameterless struct ctors	Structure S : Sub New() : End Sub : End Structure	Done	Done
  Using static members	using System.Console; … Write(4);	Done	Exists
  Dictionary initializer	new JObject { ["x"] = 3, ["y"] = 7 }	Done	No
  Indexed member initializer	new JObject { $x = 3, $y = 7 }	No	No
  Indexed member access	c.$name = c.$first + " " + c.$last;	No	Exists
  Declaration expressions	int.TryParse(s, out var x);	No	No
  Await in catch/finally	try … catch { await … } finally { await … }	Done	Maybe
  Exception filters	catch(E e) if (e.Count > 5) { … }	Done	Exists
  Typecase	Select Case o : Case s As String : …	No	Maybe
  Guarded cases	Select Case i : Case Is > 0 When i Mod 2 = 0	No	No
  Partial modules	Partial Module M1	N/A	Done
  Partial interfaces	Partial Interface I1	Exists	Done
  Multiline string literals	"HelloWorld"	Exists	Done
  Year-first date literals	Dim d = #2014-04-03#	N/A	Done
  Binary literals	0b00000100	No	No
  Digit separators	0xEF_FF_00_A0	No	No
  Line continuation comments	Dim addrs = From c in Customers ' comment	N/A	Done
  TypeOf IsNot	If TypeOf x IsNot Customer Then …	N/A	Done
  Expression-bodied members	public double Dist => Sqrt(X * X + Y * Y);	Done	No
  Event initializers	new Customer { Notify += MyHandler };	No	No
  Null propagation	customer?.Orders?[5]?.$price	Done	Planned
  Semicolon operator	(var x = Foo(); Write(x); x * x)	No	No
  Private protected	private protected string GetId() { … }	No	No
  Params IEnumerable	int Avg(params IEnumerable numbers) { … }	Maybe	Maybe
  Constructor Inference	new Tuple(3, "three", true);	No	No
  String interpolation	"\{p.First} \{p.Last} is \{p.Age} years old."	Planned	Planned
  TryCast for nullable	Dim x = TryCast(u, Integer?)	Exists	No
  Delegate combination with +	d1 += d2	Exists	No
  Implicit implementation	Class C : Implicitly Implements I	Exists	No
  nameof operator	string s = nameof(Console.Write);	Done	Planned
  Strict modules	Strict Module M	Exists	No
  Faster CInt	Dim x = CInt(Math.Truncate(d)) |	Exists	No
  #pragma	#Disable Warning BC40008	Done	Done
  Checked and Unchecked blocks	Checked : x += 1 : End Checked	Exists	No
  Field targets on autoprops	Serializable> Property p As Integer	Maybe	Maybe
  If(b,e1,e2) uses type context	Dim x As Integer? = If(b,1,Nothing)	N/A	No

• Visual Basic If Operator

  It looks like a function but it is an operator.  The Visual Basic If operator provides the functionality of the IIF function and more - including short-circuiting. It can be use as a ternary operator which mimics the functionality of the IIF function while adding some more to it, and as a binary operator which provides a comparison/assignment feature.

  The operator uses short-circuit evaluation to conditionally return one of two values. The If operator can be called with three arguments or with two arguments.

  When If is called by using three arguments, the first argument must evaluate to a value that can be cast as a Boolean. That Boolean value will determine which of the other two arguments is evaluated and returned.

  ' This statement prints TruePart, because the first argument is true.
  Console.WriteLine(If(True, "TruePart", "FalsePart"))
  
  ' This statement prints FalsePart, because the first argument is false.
  Console.WriteLine(If(False, "TruePart", "FalsePart"))
  
  Dim number = 3
  ' With number set to 3, this statement prints Positive.
  Console.WriteLine(If(number >= 0, "Positive", "Negative"))
  
  number = -1
  ' With number set to -1, this statement prints Negative.
  Console.WriteLine(If(number >= 0, "Positive", "Negative"))
  

• Visual Studio 2014 Updt 3 Released into the Wild

  Scaffolding

  With this update, scaffolding will correctly detect what are the versions of NuGet packages that the project is using. For example, if the project is still using ASP.NET MVC 5.1.2, then scaffolding will use 5.1.2, instead of 5.2.

  JSON Editor

  Auto formatting is now part of the JSON editor and is turned on by default.

  Brace and brackets match highlighting are just like in C# and JavaScript editors now.

  Supports more selector patterns

  Drag and Drop Magic

  Added drag-and-drop of fonts, images and.css files from solution explorer into .css files.

  Added support for two-factor authentication in One ASP.NET templates for MVC and Web Forms.

  There's more...