LINKBLOG for November 28, 2007

• Generics are better than Collections... - Jay Kimble
  


• The Firepower of Teams - Hans-Eric Grönlund
  ' bleeding edge isn’t always the best strategy to achieve business value '
  On the 80/20 article from some time ago making a separation between the 20% front-running developers and 80% 'followers'


• Updating the Retry Activity - adding timed interval - Matt Milner
  


• Extension methods: one of my favorite C# 3.0 features - Kirill Osenkov
  


• Don't call us, we'll call you - push enumerators - Jon Skeet
  Long article, looks nice, but I was discouraged by the disclaimer...
  ' you'll find it hard if you're not familiar with lambda expression syntax (x => x.Foo etc) '


• FrazzledDad: Readability, Accuracy, and Maintainability of Chained Calls
  clear explanation of why exactly return new MemoryStream(File.ReadAllBytes(ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("DataDir") + contentFile.Path)); is unreadable. Includes free refactoring


• Real World Interfaces in C# - Buddy Lindsey
  basic beginner level article, the comments go a bit deeper


• Ten Tips for a Happy Upgrade to Visual Studio 2008 (Release) - Jon Galloway
  Turns out I was ****wwwwaaaayyyy**** to fast into thinking I could just jank in the DVD and go on installing the thing


• Running VS2008 & VS 2005 side by side - project file difference - Jeffrey Palermo
  


• Are you excited about ASP.NET MVC? - Todd Anglin's Code Campground
  Elaborate piece on the intricacies of the upcoming ASP.NET MVC but one would at least expect the word pattern in it...


• Code Review: PetShop 3.0 - Ayende Rahien
  Ayende looks a the improved version of PetShop but still is not that impressed


• Working With Application Config Files Remotely - Adam Buenz
  via Steve Pietrek


• Visual Studio 2008 InstallFest - Portland Edition - Scott Hanselman
  Tried installing VS2008 today, but didn't even reach the first screen Scott shows. After 4 hours I was still looking at Framework 3.5 configuring itself. Couldn't cancel, so even had to give a hard reset to the machine to stop it. Not good. VS2005 needed some serious resuscitation afterward :-) Next time trying installation inside a virtual machine first


• How to Make the Most Out of Luck in Your Career and Life - Leo Babauta
  


• Tasks versus Goals - Eric Redmond
  ' Micro-managers give "tasks"; Good managers give "goals" '


• Normal is in the Eye of the Beholder - Elisabeth Hendrickson
  ' Apparently, the waitress and Mr. Loud Guy had two different definitions of “normal.” '


• The 8 challenges innovations face - Scott Berkun
  


• Hidden Influences on Software Design - Beautiful Code
  'Have you ever thought about the printer paper you use in your office, and how it affects the design of your software?'
  Don't expect an elaboration on the influence of paper, but Michael is right on to how every company gets the software it deserves