David Kline https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/feed.xml Sun, 05 Apr 2015 03:40:44 GMT en-US hourly 1 It's been such a long time... https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/its-been-such-a-long-time Wed, 20 Aug 2014 10:46:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2014/08/20/its-been-such-a-long-time/ Time sure moves fast when you're working on cool stuff.  Since my last post (over six years ago?!), I have had the privilege of working on some amaing products (ex: Kinect for Xbox 360, Xbox One).

With the availability of the Kinect for Windows v2 preview, I am going to resume posting fairly regularly and will be sharing more about this cool product.  Please excuse the little bit of mess as I find a good way to categorize the older (.NET Compact Framework) content and make room for the new.

Take care,
DK

]]> Moving on... https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/moving-on Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:36:14 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2008/04/20/moving-on/ If any of you read Gamerscoreblog, you may have noticed a suspicious resemblance between the photo of the zombie and the one that graces this site's News section...  Let me quell any rumors by saying that it is indeed true that the zombie and I are, in fact, one and the same. 

Earlier this year, I decided to leave the .NET Compact Framework team and to join the good folks in Windows Gaming.

I truly enjoyed my 7.5 years as a member of the .NET Compact Framework team.  I have been very fortunate to have gotten to work with a fantastic group of people on an extremely cool and important product.  From when I joined them in late 2000 (early in the v1 product), to the release of version 3.5, I have grown and learned quite a bit.

If someone had told me back in August 2000, that I would become an avid writer on a weblog and a presenter at developers conferences, I would have told them they were crazy.  In fact, I not only became those two things, I LOVED doing them.  Not only were they avenues for personal and professional growth, they lead me to meeting many many great people who came out to MEDC, Mix and other smaller (Redmond based) conferences.  Thanks to all who attended these conferences, met with me and read my writings.

Lately, you may have noticed that the flow of content here has been slower than usual.  Switching jobs can be a bit time consuming :).  This site's topic will move from the .NET Compact Framework to a general testing and development focus.  I expect to maintain this slower traffic pace for some time.  Over time, I will likely migrate the .NET Compact Framework topics into a smaller set of categories to make room for the new content.

Thanks again to everyone for the great time with the .NET Compact Framework and I hope to get to one day see some of you again at future conferences (ex: GDC, CES) or in and around Redmond.

Take care!
-- DK

]]> One of the great ones has passed https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/one-of-the-great-ones-has-passed Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:40:46 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2008/03/18/one-of-the-great-ones-has-passed/ This evening, I came home to the news that my absolute favorite author, Arthur C. Clarke had died.  I have been an avid reader or Mr. Clarke since I was 12.  That year, I first picked up a copy of '2001: A Space Odyssey".  From the start, I was hooked.  Now, 26 years later, I have re-read '2001' at least 20 times (yes, I really do average almost once per year) and have devoured almost everything I have gotten my hands on.  I am, in fact, currently in the middle of 'Firstborn' (co-written by Stephen Baxter). 

While it is very difficult to create a list of his essential books, some of my favorites are:

  1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
  2. Childhood's End
  3. Songs of Distant Earth
  4. The Ghost of the Grand Banks
  5. Fountains of Paradise
  6. Hammer of God

Tonight, I'm going to stay up late, finish 'Firstborn' and grab one of my many copies of '2001' and start reading.  I'll likely have my DVD of the movie playing as well.

Mr. Clarke, you will be greatly missed.  Thanks for the legacy of great books.  You made me a hard core reader 26 years ago, and I remain one to this day.  I'll enjoy your work for life.

-- DK

]]> See you at Mix 2008 https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/see-you-at-mix-2008 Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:24:21 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2008/02/14/see-you-at-mix-2008/ Just a quick note to let folks know that I will be making the trip to Mix this year.  I have recently gotten my flight, hotel and conference in order and am now officially registered.  I'm very much looking forward to this conference.  It'll be my first time attending and I hear it's a fun one. :)


Hope to see you there,
-- DK

One other note, sorry for going dark last month.  Things have been extremely busy for me lately (and will likely continue as such).  My usual stream of posts has unfortunately been impacted and continue to be slower than "normal".

]]> Presentation tip: Showing code https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/presentation-tip-showing-code Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:41:50 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2007/12/22/presentation-tip-showing-code/ Since MEDC 2005, I have been tapped to present sessions many times.  Over the past three years, I have learned a lot and have grown as a presenter.

When I was first getting started, I attended my first speaker training course.  Speaker training is a one-on-one class where you meet with your coach and he/she observes your presentation technique.  I found the experience extremely valuable and make a point to re-take training every year.

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I was given is in how to best configure Visual Studio for code readability in a presentation hall.  This advice applies to all audience and room sizes: from 16 person conference rooms to lecture halls that seat 400 or more.

Whenever I am preparing for a presentation (or am helping a new presenter prepare), I set Visual Studio's Font and Color settings as follows:

Font: Lucida Console
Font size: 16-24 (depending on room size and projector resolution)

Text color: Black
Background color: White

Highlighted text color: Black
Highlighted text background color: Yellow

It is amazing the difference these settings can make in code readability for your audience.

One note on code layout.  When using large fonts (20) and small resolutions (1024x768), it is very important to format your code to avoid scrolling as much as possible.  Placing each argument on its own line is perhaps the best advise I can give here.  This way, the amount of side-to-side scrolling is minimized (there will still be some when enum / variable names are long).  The example below shows my typical demo code formatting (it is very similar to what I use on this site).

public DemoMethod(String arg1, 
                  Int32 arg2, 
                  Boolean arg3)
{
    // local variables

    try
    {
        String result = DemoHelperClass.AStaticMethodWithManyArgs( 
                            arg1, 
                            arg2, 
                            arg3,
                            var1,
                            var2,
                            var3);

        // additional code
    }
    catch(Exception e)
    {
        // handler code
    }
}

Ad you can see, the method the demo is calling has a pretty long name.  For this reason, all of the arguments are on their own lines.  Depending on the resolution of the screen, you may wish to further limit the horizontal scrolling by reformatting as below.

String result = 
    DemoHelperClass.AStaticMethodWithManyArgs(
        arg1,
        arg2, 
        arg3,
        var1,
        var2,
        var3);

It may look a bit odd when you are developing the demo, however it will be much easier to read for the audience.  And it has a nice side-effect: it's also better for reviewing printed copies of the code.

Take care and Happy Holidays!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

]]> .NET Compact Framework v3.5 Power Toys Released! https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/net-compact-framework-v3-5-power-toys-released Wed, 19 Dec 2007 23:05:27 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2007/12/19/net-compact-framework-v3-5-power-toys-released/ I've been meaning to post this for the last week... 

The .NET Compact Framework v3.5 Power Toys have officially been released.  You can download the Power Toys from here.

See the .NET Compact Framework Team weblog for details on the included tools.

Enjoy!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

]]> Quick Tip: Add files to Visual Studio projects the easy way https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/quick-tip-add-files-to-visual-studio-projects-the-easy-way Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:58:32 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2007/12/18/quick-tip-add-files-to-visual-studio-projects-the-easy-way/ Here's another in my series of "why didn't I know this feature was there".

While I was doing a technical review last week, I learned about a much easier way to add files to my Visual Studio projects.

In the solution explorer

  • Select a project
  • Click the "Show all files" button
  • Right-click on the desired file (will be shown with an empty document icon)
  • Click the "Include in project" menu item

This is so much easier than my usual technique (Add | Existing Item...).

Take care!
-- DK

[Edit: fix spelling]

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

]]> CoreCon API: Brought to you by the Visual Studio for Devices team https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/corecon-api-brought-to-you-by-the-visual-studio-for-devices-team Fri, 07 Dec 2007 16:42:42 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2007/12/07/corecon-api-brought-to-you-by-the-visual-studio-for-devices-team/ The Visual Studio for Devices team has been posting a very interesting and informative series on the CoreCon API.  I highly encourage anyone interested in writing remote tools to read the series.  In fact, I recommend everyone interested in developing applications and/or tools for devices to subscribe to their RSS feed.

As of this posting, there are five installments to the series:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V

Enjoy!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

]]> Steven Pratschner on the CLR Profiler for the .NET Compact Framework https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/steven-pratschner-on-the-clr-profiler-for-the-net-compact-framework Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:16:59 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2007/11/28/steven-pratschner-on-the-clr-profiler-for-the-net-compact-framework/ I love tools.  Debuggers, analyzers, performance monitors, profilers, everything.  In version 1 of the .NET Compact Framework, the only available tools where the Visual Studio debugger and the performance counter data file (also known as the app.stats file).  Version 2 added diagnostic logs and in Service Pack 1, the Remote Performance Monitor.

Version 3.5's power toys adds one of the most asked for tools - the CLR Profiler.  This is a very cool tool that enables developers to drill into the allocations made by their applications: what object types, how many of them, what methods are creating them, etc.  With the volume of the data the CLR Profiler provides, it can sometimes be hard to know where to begin. 

To our rescue comes Steven Pratschner and his series on the CLR Profiler for the .NET Compact Framework.  He's up to three installments and I highly encourage anyone interested in application performance and memory usage to read them.  I'm currently devouring them and learning quite a bit.

Part 1: Getting Started
Part 2: Histograms and "Show who Allocated"
Part 3: The Timeline View

Enjoy!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

]]> [Off-topic] A present to myself https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/davidklinems/off-topic-a-present-to-myself Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:45:21 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/davidklinems/2007/11/21/off-topic-a-present-to-myself/ I don't often go off-topic on this site.  In fact, I probably start each off-topic post with the same basic statement.  Seeing that tomorrow is a national holiday in the United States, today seemed like a good time to take a little break here.

Yesterday, I purchased a Zune 8GB device and just have to give public kudos to the hardware and software teams.  This device feels and sounds great.  Everything I have listened to (from classic jazz to fusion to modern rock) sounds crisp and clean.

As for feel, it just feels.... right.  It fits my hand well and has just the right weight for my taste.  The device software adds to the overall experience.  It's very easy to navigate and contents of the device are easy to find -- even with hundreds of songs on it.

Quite possibly the best feature of this little device is the touch pad.  Sliding your finger from left to right selects the next song, right to left goes back to the previous.  Moving up and down adjusts the volume.  There is no clicking required, just a light touch.  You can click too, if that is your preference.

Nice job and congratulations to the Zune team!  You've produced a fantastic device.  I love it.

-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

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