New RSS 2.0 feed URL for thecave.com
Recently I mentioned the RSS feed for this site had a bug in it. The link for each blog item was incorrect. The reason this happened is because I was using Blogger.com to generate the rss.xml file and Blogger had no way of knowing the link used on the site. I finally fixed this today but it means Blogger is no longer generating the XML file. It also means the URL to the RSS feed has changed.
If you are reading this blog from an RSS-based aggregator you will need to update the URL for the feed. The new URL is:
http://www.thecave.com/rss.aspx
My Opinion of Typed Data Sets is Changing
Is there a place in the .NET development world for typed data sets? I use to think resounding “No”. I despised typed data sets ever since I was first exposed to them in a VB.NET training class back in 2001. Actually, until last week I have not even looked at typed data sets since that class.
I love writing code so custom business entity and handed-rolled CRUD classes are a-okay with me. But I’m starting to develop a change in opinion about typed data sets in .NET. It all began last week when I started evaluation ADO.NET 2.0.
First of all, loading data into a DataSet or DataTable is much faster in ADO.NET 2.0, night and day faster. For instance, I ran a speed test that loads 1 million rows into a DataTable. The test took just over 52 minutes to load the 1 million rows using ADO.NET 1.1. The same test took only 27.36 seconds using ADO.NET 2.0. Now that’s a performance improvement. If you previously discard DataSet and DataTable because of performance reasons, you owe it to yourself to take another look at them in ADO.NET 2.0.
A typed data set is nothing more than code generated by Visual Studio that inherits from the DataSet and DataTable classes, among others. You can view a typed data set as nothing more than a set of generated business entity and CRUD classes. Because typed data sets inherit from DataSet and DataTable, they share the same performance boost given to its parent classes. But this alone did not convince me that typed data sets finally have a place in the development world.
Visual Studio.NET 2005 really impressed me on how easy it is to now create a typed data set. The wizards make it easy to associate your CRUD stored procedures to the table adapter, and you can just as easily extended the functionality to include adhoc queries and other non-CRUD stored procedures. And Visual Studio will generate over 800 lines of code that handles concurrency checking and other ADO.NET best practices with a simple drag and drop action. As much as I hate to say it, this is faster than writing your own business entity and CRUD classes.
The invention of a type data set is about improving a programmer’s productivity and Visual Studio 2005’s implementation of typed data sets does just that. It is one of the most productive ways I have seen to build data access and entity classes. I will definitely consider using typed data sets in future .NET 2.0 work.
Congratulations, you got 9/10 correct!Latest Announcements
Check out these latest announcements.
ANN: SMTP Diagnostics 1.4
ANN: New Web Site Design
As you can see, even thecave.com has been included in the new web site design. The goal of this redesign was to bring a similar look and feel across the 3 main sites, www.thecave.com, www.smtpdiagnostics.com, and of course www.whitepeaksoftware.com.
I hope you like what we have done.
Do we need local email software?
A few months back I mentioned that White Peak Software is working on a new product to be released next year. That product, code name Vertigo, is a new type of email client for the PC. The current plan includes 3 editions to Vertigo: Basic, Personal, and Business editions. The Basic edition is a simple to use email client but the Personal and Business editions will go beyond what other email clients such as Outlook offer.
I have shared my vision of improved communication software with many people over the 6 to 12 months. A common response I get from some is “Why write a PC version of an email client?” This response typically comes from consumers who use online email such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo for personal emails. My response is always the same, “Not everyone wants to or can work with email while connected.”
For lots of users there are times when a person needs to catch up on emails while traveling on a plane or train. Or maybe that person is staying at a hotel in another country that does not offer a broadband Internet access or all you have is dial-up access to the Internet. And there are still others who want to do more with their email data such as track statistics, generate reports, and integrate/share the data with other locally run application.
I’m not the only one who believes there is a need for local email. As Rafe Needleman put it:
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“People who need to work when they are disconnected–and that’s most of us–need a PC with an e-mail application, a modicum of processing power, and local storage. For us, online e-mail applications–be they consumer e-mail like Yahoo or Microsoft’s corporate solution, Outlook Web Access–are useful adjuncts to local e-mail applications. They are not a replacement.”
</div>
Will this ever change? I believe this will change within my lifetime but I don’t see it happening before 2010 or 2012 at the earliest. It requires that we are always connected to the Internet, which is not the case for so many people today. Or it might require a new way of integrating local programs with web-base application. It’s hard to time what the right answer will be, and how or if the browser will become the platform. I do know, however, that there is a need for local email programs like Vertigo and this need will continue for years to come.
Small Company Claims Patent on XML
Here’s the latest in “stupid patents” news. The U.S. should end the madness and get rid of software patents.
Updated: Tim Bray’s response to the claim.
More on Delphi Roadmap
Danny Thorpe, Borland Chief Scientist, posted an entry on the Delphi Roadmap for 2005-2006. But the really interesting read are the comments, which include responses from Danny.
Tim's Marathon Run to Fight Cancer
My friend Tim is running a marathon at Disney World in January as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. The team is raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. You can make a donation to this great cause and/or check Tim’s training status from his new Tim in Training web page.
Marathon Results for Brooke and Josh
Speaking of marathons, my sister-in-law and her husband, aka Brooke and Josh, are running the Chicago Marathon today. Click here to see the results of their run, which is updated at various check points.
Updated: Good luck Congratulations Brooke and Josh on the excellent finish!