December 2004 - Posts
“X-develop is a new multi-language cross-platform IDE from Omnicore. X-develop targets both the .NET platform and the Java platform. It offers advanced code analysis, project wide on-the-fly error checking, refactoring, smart editing, fast code navigation capabilities and other productivity-boosting features for C#, Java, J# and Visual Basic.NET. “
It also boasts an open API for custom languages, is supported on both Windows and Linux (and Mac OS in the future), incremental background compiling, and tons more.
Nuff said - I'm downloading it right now - check it out.
I've been forced to develop in VB over the last few days, and to say the least, it is just too 'intelligent' for my liking. It's almost like pair-programming with a mute; I have no idea what it's really doing. Today I had the final straw (apart from the fact that I'm working this close to Xmas!)
When adding a reference to a C# project (that references another VB project) to a VB project, I got the following error:
Reference required to assembly 'cSharp.dll' containing the type 'cSharpType.declaredInterface'. Add one to your project.
My project did contain the said reference, and I even had intellisense on its types. This is a bug in either the IDE or the framework (I have no time to go digging right now!), and the quickest and probably the only way for me to get rid of it was to convert my C# library to VB. Thank goodness for little utilities like these.
[UPDATE]: Thanks to Chris Falter for pointing out the KBA on this.
Senkwe says he prefers ProggyClean over Comic Sans. This is what my Text Editor looks like:
Lucida Console, 10pt, with the background set to a soothing RGB: 249-245-238. I also like using line numbers. I also use different colors for hard-coded strings and numbers. I love my IDE settings :P
... has been filled to the brim with work. I've been receiving sms's from friends asking where I am, Armand & Thea are having beers all over the beach in Cape Town, Stuart went cruising to tropical islands... other mates without blogs to link to (:P) are having blasts away from work in all the most wonderfull spots *outside* their offices.
Today I came across something that made it worthwhile though - the satisfaction of one change improving your app's performance by about 60%. Although it implies changing current interfaces, and hence has a snowball effect on current code, it's a no-brainer to implement from here on.
Trust me folks - a holiday in the office has its ups :)
Julia Lerman has made her blog-client available to the public, and it isn't only for tablet PC's either.
When you google for “billionare”, I'm number 9 on the list. I used to not be superstitious, but I now choose to be.
The South African MVP's spent yesterday at Microsoft SA's new offices in Bryanston, Johannesburg. Most of us have met before, but it was great meeting the guys I haven't met before. We chatted to Manoj Bhoola (Head of Server and Tools BG) and had lunch with Gordon Frazer (Managing Director of Microsoft SA). Mohammed Seedat (our MVP Lead) entertained us with his photography- and video-editing skills after lunch :)
It became clear how serious the MVP Program is taken by Microsoft, and also how strong the program has grown locally over the past 15 months. It also became clear how important coffee is in the IT industry, with coffee cubicles randomly strewn all around the inside of the building.
Thanks Mo, for making this happen!