C# - Chevtek.io

Refining My Data Bucket Class

Last year I wrote a post [http://codetunnel.com/blog/post/how-to-combine-the-unit-of-work-pattern-and-repository-pattern-in-an-easy-and-intuitive-way] showing you how to combine the Unit of Work pattern [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd882510.aspx] and the repository pattern [http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff649690.aspx] into one elegant class that I call the

C#

Extending our JsonModel to help with model binding.

In a previous post [http://codetunnel.com/blog/post/133/making-jsonresult-easier-with-json-model-objects] I talked about creating a JsonModel object to help when returning JsonResult from an action method. This is especially useful when you need to return the same data from several action methods. The JsonModel acts as a projection of

REST

Making JsonResult easier with "JSON Model Objects"

Lately I've been working with a client-side control library known as KendoUI [http://www.kendoui.com/]. KendoUI contains a grid control [http://demos.kendoui.com/web/grid/index.html] that ties seamlessly to a Kendo DataSource [http://demos.kendoui.com/web/datasource/index.html] object. The nice thing about the

SignalR

Cannot have many tabs open with SignalR

I've been quite fond of a library known as SignalR. The library wraps several different communication protocols: Websockets, server-sent-events, and long-polling. You don't really need to know exactly what those are. Just know that they are each a form of continuous communication with the client browser directly from the server.

C#

Getting Your Database Back in Sync With Your Entity Framework Code First Model

I've been playing with Entity Framework 5 and Code First for the past few days. At some point during development of a new application I needed to update my model but could no longer afford to let the app just drop and re-create my database for me because I input

Visual Studio

Visual Studio Express 2012

Okay, I'm hooked. The 2012 express line of Visual Studio products is amazing. I am actively working on several hobby projects and I had decided to stick with the Visual Studio Express for Web [http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/products/visual-studio-express-for-web] product to take it for a test drive.

C#

How to combine the Unit Of Work pattern and Repository pattern in an easy and intuitive way

How to structure my data layer in a project is something I have put a lot of thought into. It would seem that I'm a little OCD when it comes to code cleanliness and organization. Every time I write data layer code I end up pondering the same questions and

C#

How To Properly Return A Paged Result Set From Your Repository

If you follow this blog then you know that I discourage [http://codetunnel.com/blog/post/103/should-you-return-iqueryablet-from-your-repositories] the practice of returning IQueryable from your repositories. A common criticism I receive about my use of "verbose repositories" (repositories that have very specific methods) is that returning paged result sets

C#

Should you return IQueryable<T> from Your Repositories?

The internet has been abuzz for a long time with fierce debates about whether or not you should return IQueryable types from your repositories. I do have a fairly strong opinion on this issue so I figured I would weigh in on the discussion. First let's take a look

C#

SignalR is Amazing!

I have to share a library with you. It's just so awesome that it can't stay contained. It's called SignalR [https://github.com/SignalR/SignalR]. For a couple years I've been searching for a simple workable .NET solution to an AJAX chat application. On the surface an AJAX chat is

C#

I am done using the repository pattern in 90% of my projects.

Recently I've found myself starting a bunch of smaller websites for family members and friends. When I start these projects I dive head-first into a solid pattern of development that will extend long-term maintainability and make my code reusable. I pay strict attention to separation of concerns [http://www.codetunnel.

C#

What is the difference between "(type)object" and "object as type"?

object myObject = "Hello World."; string myString = myObject as string; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- object myObject = "Hello World."; string myString = (string)myObject; I constantly forget the difference between these two usages of type conversion so I decided to throw up a quick blog post about it. Hopefully writing an explanation will cement it in

.NET

Missing System.Web in Console Application

I have been working on a project which involved building a class library and then consuming that class library in a console application. Pretty standard stuff. The problem was, when I added a reference to the class library in the console project it would act fine until I tried to

.NET

How to Prevent ASP.NET MVC Action Method Ambiguity

It is sometimes easy to run into action method ambiguity when you have two action methods with the same name (e.g. one for POST and one for GET), like this: [HttpGet] public ActionResult NewBlogPost() { return View(); } [HttpPost] public ActionResult NewBlogPost() { BlogPost newBlogPost = new BlogPost(); TryUpdateModel(newBlogPost); if (ModelState.

.NET

ASP.NET MVC TryUpdateModel vs UpdateModel

I have answered this question a few times now so I figured I'd throw up a quick post about it; hopefully Google will catch it when future people inquire. If you are used to coding against ASP.NET MVC then you are aware of model binding and the associated risks

.NET

ASP.NET MVC Model Binding Security

Model binding is the concept of taking values passed in through a browser request and binding them to C# objects/variables. If you're familiar with MVC then the following action method should look familiar to you; it is a trimmed down version of the action method here on CodeTunnel that

C#

What is a mocking framework? Why is it useful?

Today I want to talk about mocking frameworks and why they are useful. In order to do that I first need to propose a scenario to you in which we will be testing a piece of functionality in an application. I will show you how you would test it without

.NET

Understanding the Var Keyword

At work we've been putting together a coding standards document so that everyone adheres to similar code usage. This keeps everyone on the same page and makes it easy for another programmer to modify code that he/she did not write. Whenever we arrive at a controversial coding standard we

Entity Framework

Introduction to Entity Framework: Part IV - IQueryable

This is part four of my Entity Framework tutorial. If you have not read the previous parts of this tutorial and you do not know how to setup EF and write LINQ queries against it then please read those first. Table of Contents * Part I - Object Relational Mapping [http:

Entity Framework

Introduction to Entity Framework: Part III - Building the Model

This is part three of my tutorial series on Entity Framework. If you have not read parts one or two and do not have a good understanding of what an Object Relational Mapper (ORM) is or how to setup a basic SQL Server Express database, then please read those parts

Entity Framework

Introduction to Entity Framework: Part II - Designing the Database

This is part two of my tutorial series on Entity Framework. If you have not read part one and do not have a good understanding of what an Object Relational Mapper (ORM) is, then please read part one first. Table of Contents * Part I - Object Relational Mapping [http://codetunnel.

Entity Framework

Introduction to Entity Framework: Part I - Object Relational Mapping

Table of Contents * Part II - Designing the Database [http://codetunnel.io/introduction-to-entity-framework-part-ii-designing-the-database] * Part III - Building the Model [http://codetunnel.io/introduction-to-entity-framework-part-iii-building-the-model] * Part IV - IQueryable [http://codetunnel.io/introduction-to-entity-framework-part-iv-iqueryable/] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that I've completed my Introduction to LINQ [

C#

Introduction to LINQ: Part IV - Putting it All Together

This is part four of my introduction to LINQ tutorial. If you have not read the previous parts in this series and you do not have a decent understanding of delegates, lambdas, and extension methods then please go back and check those out first. Table of Contents * Part I -

C#

Introduction to LINQ: Part III - Extension Methods

This is part three of my introduction to LINQ tutorial. If you have not read parts one and two and you do not have a decent understanding of delegates and/or lambda expressions, then please head over and read those first. Table of Contents * Part I - Delegates [http://codetunnel.

C#

Introduction to LINQ: Part II - Lambda Expressions

This is part two of my introduction to LINQ tutorial. If you have not read part one and do not have a decent understanding of delegates in C# then please head over and read that first [http://www.codetunnel.io/introduction-to-linq-part-i-delegates]. Table of Contents * Part I - Delegates [http://codetunnel.