Do programmers dream in Byte Code?

There has been a hot fix that fixes some issues in Update 1 some from the RTM. 

Issues Addressed

1. Collections that are attached to a server that is running TFS 2012 Update 1 may lose permissions
2. Group scopes may incorrectly cause permission errors
3. Severe decrease in performance after TFS 2012 Update 1 is installed
4. Identity sync jobs may fail repeatedly
5. Warehouse is not updated correctly, or fields that represent a person are not filled
6. Users can see names of collections of which they are not a member

the full KB Article is here

download here.

b.

A series of updates are available for Enterprise Library and Unity and a few other bits of general interest

There is an update for the Enterprise Library 5.0 which is only required if you are using the Silverlight Integration Pack and need WCF RIA Services Integration or configuration tool support. get it here

However the most interesting development is a version of the Enterprise Library for Silverlight developers get it here it contains Caching Application Block, Exception Handling Application Block, Logging Application Block, Policy Injection Application Block, Validation Application Block, and Unity Application Block allowing you to develop best practice effectively.

Just in case you don't have the Enterprise library you can get it here

Microsoft Unity 2.1 is a dependency injection container. this is a minor update on Unity get it here , I also recommend you visit the Patterns and Practices page for Unity here

There is also a port of Unity 2.1 for Silverlight here

if you need to learn how to use these great libraries there is of course a Hands On Labs (HOL) for Enterprise Library 5.0 here

b

I looked back and realised I had missed a few updates to post ( I blame Microsoft for bringing out lots of great things all at once )

Light switch Beta 2 is out get it here, the site now suggests that a July 26th launch date is on the cards

StyleCop 4.5 has now been released get it here , if you haven’t tried StyleCop, its main aim is to help deliver standards of code style and standards across an organisation, but it is in fact a perfect pair to FxCop (see the Windows 7.1 .net 4.0 SDK) as FxCop analyses binaries , StyleCop analyses source code.

if you haven't already scoot over to Richards blog for updates from the ALM Rangers on some cool TFS work

b.

Microsoft as ever have been busy with new drops and SP1 refreshes of technology for us all to embrace and here is a summary update for this month

The Microsoft F# (2.0.0.0), April 2011 Community Technology Preview is available here

While not all new if you are looking at F# I would suggest keeping an eye on

F# PowerPack

F# Samples

F# Developer Center

For learning F# check out the Try F# tutorials here

Anders announced that in the new generation of the .Net languages at PDC 2010 more compiler automation of classic tasks in this case Async functions and beyond will be possible. You can watch it here. The SP1 previews of the new compilers are available now (see below)

C# Language Specification for Asynchronous Functions get it here

VB Language Specification for Asynchronous Functions get it here

A general overview of  Asynchrony in .NET is available as a Whitepaper here

Visual Studio Async CTP including the language changes (SP1 Refresh) get it here

a related useful read is Task-based Asynchronous Pattern which is a new pattern for asynchrony get it here

another interesting document is Introduction to TPL Dataflow which is a library for building parallel and concurrent applications get is here

It is useful to note that while not encouraged the EULA does allow for production use (but on your own head be it)

b.

across the two keynotes of the 2011 Microsoft have demonstrated and released a

IE10 Preview is now out, it has a nice set of enhanced features (faster etc). more importantly Microsoft are continuing with dev preview and a sensible cadence of 8-12 weeks, get it here

The ASP.NET MVC 3 Tooling Update which contains lots of new features including Modernizr a JavaScript library that delivers auto down grade browser support get it here 

Silverlight 5 Beta is now out, check out its features here get it here also the CHM is available here remember to Service Pack both Visual Studio 2010 and Expression Web before trying out the new tools.

A new version of expression blend for SL 5 is also available here

On Phone 7 and beyond Mango the next version of Windows Phone 7 was formally announced with a great set of new features. A release of Mango is expected in May in emulation form. Hopefully developers will also get access on real hardware earlier to allow development or so tweets from the team suggest.

The new emulator allows screen shots to be taken. There was some anger at reports that mango would not allow access to the gyroscope, which is quite understandable as Windows Phone 7 does not have a gyroscope, however Mango will allow access to a gyroscope if fitted to the phone (new Mango issue Phones).

New features

• “Multitasking” (fast app switching and file transfer) and Background Agents
• Phone Integration . The Live Tiles and libraries.
• Access to the Compass, Gyro(if mango phone), camera and on phone database.
• IE9 and Silverlight 4
• Applications can be both XNA and Silverlight (similar to Silverlight5)
• Access to contacts and calendar
• Performance tooling

b

For all of you who know that I am a big big fan of StyleCop, I am super pleased that Doug Holland has released  is a new update of a set of really good code snippets

Get them here

I would recommend reading Doug's blog posts for the last two updates, well worth the effort.here and here

Doug also has some StyleCop compliant project templates which are well worth a peek

Get them here

b.

The new Silverlight 4 tools are now baked and fresh out of the oven get them here

b.

As many of you know I am a huge fan of StyleCop and so when Microsoft announced that StyleCop will soon have a  C# 4.0 version (StyleCop version 4.4) but that it will also become open source under the MS-PL license, by means of a CodePlex project, and all future development on StyleCop will be done from that CodePlex site. Microsoft will continue to manage the StyleCop project, and Microsoft will be responsible for creating and releasing official signed builds. However, they will also take code submissions from the community.

rayyyy

b.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional will launch on April 12 for an estimated retail price of £484.99.

If you use a previous version of Visual Studio or any other development tool then you are eligible for this upgrade. Along with all the great new features in Visual Studio 2010 (see www.microsoft.com/visualstudio) Visual Studio 2010 Professional includes a 12-month MSDN Essentials subscription which gives you access to core Microsoft platforms: Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Datacenter.

Visit http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-gb/pre-order-visual-studio-2010 to check out all the new features and sign up for this offer

The new version of the Snippet Editor now supports Visual Studio 2010, if you are doing demo’s or like snippets get it here

b.