2024 - September/October
Sahil Malik dives into advanced features of Visual Studio Code, enhancing productivity with robust Git integration and remote development capabilities. Paul Sheriff continues his series on .NET MAUI, focusing on styles, navigation, and reusable UI components for consistent and efficient application development. Wei-Meng Lee provides a comprehensive guide to container orchestration with Kubernetes, making it accessible for developers and system administrators. Joydip Kanjilal discusses the outbox pattern with Kafka and C#, ensuring data consistency in microservices architectures. Finally, Mike Yeager shares advanced topics in Semantic Kernel, highlighting the evolution of a Copilot system using GPT-4 and automatic function calling for efficient application development.
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Potential and Possibility
Rod explores the boundless opportunities available to software developers, likening their tools—code, compilers, text editors—to an artist's materials such as pencils and paint. He recounts a personal anecdote where a simple proof of concept using a new feature in the .NET Framework led to the creation of a fully functional call-center management system, exemplifying the power of seeing and acting on potential. Rod extends this philosophy to contemporary technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and large language models (LLMs), emphasizing the importance of leveraging these tools to unlock new possibilities. He encourages developers to remain curious and open-minded, echoing Picasso's sentiment about maintaining a childlike sense of creativity and wonder throughout one's career.
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CODE: 10 Years Ago
Markus reflects on the technological developments and setbacks over the past decade, focusing on Microsoft's challenging release of Windows 8 and the underwhelming Windows Phone. He highlights Microsoft's struggles with the ill-received WinRT application platform and the poorly implemented Windows App Store, marking a period of significant brand value decline under Steven Sinofsky and Steven Balmer. Markus contrasts these with the era's broader tech landscape, including advancements by Apple and Google, the rise of cloud computing, and notable trends in software development, gaming, and popular culture.
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More VS Code Tips
Sahil explores advanced features and enhancements in Visual Studio Code (VS Code) that can significantly improve developer productivity. He delves into the robust Git integration, showcasing how developers can perform various Git operations directly within the IDE, and highlights the benefits of using the GitLens extension for enhanced version control insights. He also discusses the powerful terminal integration, which allows seamless command-line operations within the editor. Additionally, Sahil covers the flexibility of VS Code profiles for managing different development environments and the innovative remote development capabilities, including tunneling and remote-SSH, which enable efficient coding on remote machines or containers.
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Exploring .NET MAUI: Styles, Navigation, and Reusable UI
In the second part of his series on developing applications with .NET MAUI, Paul delves into advanced techniques for ensuring consistency and reusability across application pages. This article covers the application of styles to controls, enabling a uniform look by centralizing style definitions. Paul demonstrates how to create and navigate multiple pages using .NET MAUI's built-in navigation system, and introduces the concept of reusable UI components with `ContentView` controls. Additionally, he explores the use of `ResourceDictionary` for managing resources like styles, colors, and data templates, and emphasizes the importance of data binding for efficient UI updates.
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Job-Oriented Programming and Pointers in a Scripting Language
This article explores the use of job-oriented programming and pointers within the CSCS (Customized Scripting in C#) scripting language. The authors demonstrate how CSCS, a lightweight and open-source language similar to JavaScript but with case-insensitive variables and function names, facilitates the development of large applications through the use of standalone micro-modules. By leveraging the `Chain` and `Param` commands, developers can easily manage inter-script communication and execution. The article also delves into the implementation of pointers in CSCS, enhancing the scripting language's versatility. The authors provide practical examples, including setting up a CSCS environment, chaining scripts, and downloading resources dynamically from the internet, showcasing the potential for modular and flexible application development.
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Container Orchestration Using Kubernetes
Wei-Meng delves into the intricacies of managing and scaling containerized applications using Kubernetes. He begins by introducing minikube, a simplified local Kubernetes environment, and guides readers through the process of setting up a basic Kubernetes cluster. The article covers essential Kubernetes components such as Pods, Deployments, Services, NodePort, and ConfigMaps, illustrating their roles in deploying and managing applications effectively. By the end of the article, you'll have practical insights into leveraging minikube to experiment with Kubernetes, making the tool more approachable for developers and system administrators.
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Implementing the Outbox Pattern with Kafka and C#
Joydip delves into the outbox pattern as a reliable method for ensuring data consistency and reliable event publishing in microservices architectures. He provides a comprehensive guide on implementing this pattern using Apache Kafka and C# within ASP.NET Core applications, covering key components, benefits, and drawbacks. The article includes a detailed walkthrough of setting up Kafka, creating database tables, and developing both producer and consumer services. Additionally, Joydip discusses real-world use cases and alternatives to the outbox pattern, such as Two-Phase Commit and Saga Pattern, to give readers a holistic view of the pattern's practical applications and limitations.
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Semantic Kernel Part 3: Advanced Topics
Mike details the evolution of his team's development of a Copilot system using Microsoft's Semantic Kernel (SK) framework for Large Language Models (LLMs). Initially, Mike describes their hands-on approach to building a Copilot capable of answering legal contract queries by manually injecting relevant data into prompts. However, as the project advanced, the team adopted GPT-4 and automatic function calling, significantly simplifying their code and enhancing functionality. Mike emphasizes the transformative impact of these new technologies, which allowed for more effective and efficient application development with minimal manual intervention.