I saw this come across on slashdot this morning...

It seems VMWare has a new free "player" product. It appears to be the same as vmware 5 workstation, except that you cannot create new virtual machines or add hardware to existing ones - you can only use machines created using one of the full-featured versions (Wkstn/GSX/ESX). Aside from that, it's supposed to be fully-functional.

And it claims to support Virtual PC / Virtual Server images as well.

And thats pretty cool, since vmware has always been a better virtualization product than VPC. The only reason most shops use VPC right now is because it comes with MSDN subscriptions.

This was a presentation I gave earlier this month (October 2005) to the Atlanta C# Developer Group.

Code generation is one of those "cool" techniques in software development where you just don't know what you have been missing until you see it in action... and then once exposed to it, you find yourself wondering "how did I ever get along without this?".

In this presentation, I discussed the reasons and benefits of using code generation tools, and the problems they can solve (or avoid entirely). I focused on the benefits of consistent code, building upon a solid foundation, and simplification of complex application features.

We designed and built the code for a basic application foundation, supporting simple features such as lightweight enforced transactions, entity persistence, and other baseline features. Then a series of linked templates were created that take advantage of that code foundation. Finally, we built an example UI that leverages the generated middleware to dramatically simplify and streamline the actual development process. It was pretty durn cool IMO.

All templates were built using CodeSmith, which is a fantastically useful tool. I feel like I might have been giving a sales pitch for that product by showing off many of the way too cool features of the new version of CodeSmith, but it's one of those things I strongly feel is worth every penny.

The powerpoint slide deck and all relevant source code can be downloaded from the presentation archive of the Atlanta C# Developer's Group website at: http://www.atlantacsharp.org/PresentationArchive.aspx

I actually gave this short presentation to the Atlanta C# Developer Group back in September, but never got around to blogging about it...

The presentation covered why you should be using custom exception classes in your own code, and how to structure your exception class inheritance to gain the most benefit. It showed working examples of the concepts. It also touched on a few related practices such as only catching exceptions that you can deal with, and designing a meaningful exception taxonomy.

The slides and source code can be downloaded from the Atlanta C# Developer Group's presentation archive at: http://www.atlantacsharp.org/PresentationArchive.aspx

The third installation of the Sharepoint 1, 2, 3! training series is next Monday and Tuesday. This session goes deeper into the capabilities of SharePoint than our previous two sessions did. We will be covering advanced topics such as connectable web parts, Office integration, Document Library Events, Workflow Implementation, the SharePoint Object Model, and SharePoint Web Services!

We have thirteen detailed demos packed into this session, so this is definately tailored for folks who are comfortable writing code. Just like last month, attendees of the Hands-On Lab will also recieve a DVD containing the training materials loaded on a trial version of Windows Server 2003 (VPC image). This is a really cool take-away that allows you to share what you have learned with your cohorts back in the office. It also makes a great way to demonstrate the power of Sharepoint to that skeptical manager! We also expect to have Content CDs available that contain the presentation slides as well as the Hands-On Lab manual and code snippet files. All of this will be made available at the Hands-On Lab on Tuesday night (we are still debating on whether or not to offer the Content CDs after Monday night's seminar as well).

Our first two sessions were extremely popular, with fantastic positive comments from across the board. The Hands-On Lab for Tuesday night is already fully-booked, but it you show up with a laptop and are willing to be slightly inconvenienced we most likely will not turn you away (our training room is only designed to hold about 20 people, but as we proved at the first HOL session we can manage to fit up to about 40).

There is still room to sign up for the seminar on Monday night however. You can get more details and find a registration link on our main website at http://www.sharepoint123.com/. Just like the previous sessions, the coming Sharepoint sessions are FREE.

Like last month, Intellinet (our corporate sponsor) is providing refreshments and any giveaways. There will also be a number of Sharepoint experts from Intellet on hand to handle "sideline" discussions and to lend their expertise to the presentations.

Atlanta Nerd Dinners are back.