The Tech Spot!

Facebook or Twitter

2009-08-29T03:52:00.000-07:00

Facebook along with MySpace have been the leaders in social networking portals. Facebook however is trying hard to bridge the gap between them and fame of twitter.

Recent developments in Facebook were paradigm shift to their original approach, they revamped their presentation and this time they concentrated more on status messages just like twitter but little more powerful. Twitter, however has been a micro-messaging tool which became popular cuz of its simplicity and yet being powerful. This internet evolution has become one of the most significant modern trends since it has affected the way in which we do business and communicate with peers.

In last week news Facebook has launched a twitter-app, where in Facebook user can automatically syndicate their posts to Twitter, read more here. When Facebook made an attempt to acquire Twitter, and failed there was a rumor in market that Facebook will take different route to go the Tweet Way. Let’s see how much they will succeed.

Power of WCF

2009-08-19T03:35:00.000-07:00

WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) is Microsoft's unified programming model for building service-oriented applications that communicate across the web and the enterprise. WCF clearly demarcates development and implementation. There are various Hosting options available and is independent of the run-time environment in which the service is deployed, they are:-

Self-Hosting in a Managed Application
Managed Windows Services
Internet Information Services (IIS)
Windows Process Activation Service (WAS)

All the development part lies in the code while the implementation like the binding can be handled in the config file as Microsoft has abstracted a lot of plumbing work reducing the implementation time. By this way developer can concentrate on core logic and WCF takes care of data delivery in the most reliable, secure and high performance fashion depending on situation.

WCF has an integrated Logging mechanism that helps you log traces. In other technologies developer has to write custom solution but in WCF, all that you need to do is to enable trace by changing the config file.

To achieve security mechanism in WCF you have 3 implementation choices:

Transport: Transport security depends on the mechanism that the binding you've selected uses.
Message: Message security means that every message includes the necessary headers and data to keep the message secure.
TransportWithMessageCredential : This choice uses the transport layer to secure the message transfer, while every message includes the rich credentials other services need.

After the launch of modeling edition I feel it gets easy to delegate work in a team. An architect can create a Data Contracts/Relationships, Message Contracts and Service Contracts. After that only the facade layer has to be made with some tweaks here 'n' there. In this way lot of architecture intricacies can be hidden from developer.

WCF does not replace MSMQ, COM+ or Web Services, it provides a declarative infrastructure for all forms of communication to and from the Windows platform. Using WCF, communications happen at designated service endpoints, and an endpoint can implement different protocols (such as Web Service, WS-* SOAP style services), encodings (such as Text, Binary & MTOM), and transports (such as MSMQ, Http, etc.).

With .net 3.5, it becomes even easier to provide RESTful endpoints (JSON, POX, RSS and ATOM). So the real powerful leverage shall be building services that can be consumed by a ASP.net web client as JSON while simultaneously being accessed by a business partner through a php web client using the SOAP protocol (with its full complement of WS-* implementations such as WS-Security, WS-ReliableMessaging, etc.)

Burden translating Entities to DTO

2009-08-13T22:58:00.000-07:00

Well we finished a major sprint 2 months back and we were on a consolidation phase this sprint, solving browser issues, redesigning some pages, working on performance and also looking for some customer centric use-cases.

Ours is a n-tier Architected Enterprise Product which deals with wcf along with nHibernate. At that juncture I did give a lot of thought with one my junior that we end up wasting a lot of time translating Service Entities to our DTO.

I thought of writing a utility with the help of reflection which shall copy the members from one type to another. But then we dint took it up due to various reasons. Both the types should have same property name and type. In our scenario there are plenty of cases where in property names are similar but there are lot of properties which we made nullable in DTO's.

Last week Rick Strahl also wrote about it and it was good to read that there are more people who face similar problems. 3 years back we wrote a utility that shall browse 2 different entities and after maping properties manually used to generate the translaters that was the closest we got to solve the menace.

Am still in thinking mode...

Combo of Linked-In and Facebook! You game?

2009-08-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

Almost 2 years back when we were about to make first implementation of our recruitment based product we heard networking sites picking up. We at that time did had a LAMP based online community product Campus-Connect, which dealt with campus crowd. Our new product primarily focussed on Recruitment Management for Corporates and Consultants.

Our role models were Maxhire and Taleo, which captured majority of the online recruitment market in US. When facebook became so popular, Taleo aired that they will combine with facebook and give some kind of service. The idea attracted me a lot and i did write a spec of a feature for our product, which never got implemented for some silly reasons.

In recruitment world, Head-hunting is supposed to be the toughest job and getting leads is very costly and hit-ratios are not that exaggerating. So I thought of mining and churn out the leads for each candidate along with some tips to talk depending on the type of lead.

I am still bullish in making something like it... perhaps this is the time I should start working on it.

Hello World with WPF!

2009-07-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

After a lot of fight with myself am starting to dig deep into wpf, lets see how much attractive is it. Last night i downloaded the toolkit and some reporting examples. Lets see what it comes out to be.

Smart Client -- Is it a Dead Project?

2009-07-20T21:51:00.001-07:00

I have been working hands on with Smart Client Software Factory since mid 2006, used to follow Matias, Glenn and few others. Its surely lil time-taking for someone who has not taken design patterns seriously.

Have loved working on it and eventually made a SAAS grade Enterprise Project, and there are still things happening there. I heard Unity coming and things getting change in factories. Have not been too keen in WPF as it would have been costly representation.

I feel disposing of objects is not the best in the factory, and i guess there has to be significant effort to accomplish the same. Just hope something comes new and improved.

Php consuming WCF Service

2009-07-09T06:28:00.000-07:00

At last now I have Php client talking to WCF Service... Now this is something special, Technology should always be platform and language dependent.

I have a WCF Service consumed by ASP.net client RESTfully and the same service is talking to php client in a SOAP way.

Perhaps i am not an expert in wcf right now so am more thrilled ;) Just a stepping stone.

WCF-JSON with ASP.Net-Jquery Client

2009-06-24T03:36:00.000-07:00

As i have already shared that i have been working on making a wcf service layer and that shall interact with open source UI layer... Has a milestone now, earlier we used to make a wrapper layer which used to act as intermediate layer cuz i dint wanted any change in actual HOST project and behaviors of the same.

Now we shall get rid of old JSON layer and our new RESTful host will start serving us.

Ideas and More Ideas!!!

2009-06-23T00:09:00.000-07:00

I want to make a framework where i make wcf based REST services and consume it in various UI framework including php, jsp Etc, depending on the situations. I have already started the basic framework...

I feel that shall be the best use of REST... I need to start working harder now.

Comet, a new wave?!?!?!

2009-06-18T23:27:00.001-07:00

Month back i was just brainstorming with myself to have a better and performant way to show messages and mails in an online environ... I absolutely love gmail and facebook idea to have a chatting scenario along with the application.

I heard about COMET and now am digging into it... Its scary to engulf the approach, but i wont be conclusive. Hope it works out for us.

jQgrid with Add and Edit

2009-06-18T22:47:00.001-07:00

On heavy demand, i have uploaded a simple add, edit enabled jQgrid. You can download it from here, any queries do leave a comment.

We got rid of ScriptManager and jQuery $.Ajax is In

2009-04-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

We took another major step to make jQuery the new way of life in our Product. Earlier we were using ASP.Net libraries and ScriptManager (bundle of useless java script). I might sound harsh on ScriptManager and ASP.Net all through the post, but it just goes to show that how much it has hurt in past.

We have REST Layer, where in we publish WCF Services and in Client we used to register by the help of Script Manager. In turn it used to download at least 400 to 600 odd kb of js. I am not negating the power of script manager. But i feel bundling everything in one library is very painful for people who will only use some percentage of it.

We tried lot of ways to enhance performamce, it came to a level when we removed script manager control and added end js on aspx page. But still there was nothing in return. So now we removed Script Manager and are using $.Ajax functionality of jQuery.

Thats why i liked jQuery, its a pretty neat and structured way to categorize usage. Although its all java script, syntax and language is easy and worth using. I cant stop mentioning that end performance is phenomenal.

Am not giving much examples here, Read Rick Strahl Blog for implementation.

Mission jQGrid is Complete!

2009-03-06T22:16:00.000-08:00

So at last everything is complete with jQgrid. Along with busy delivery pipeline i managed to clear all the remaining hurdles and now Grid talks to WCF Services, passes JSON Stream has following features.

-- Multi select (Check box)

-- Master details

-- Grid as sub-grid

-- Add/Edit row

-- UI Date picker

-- Searching data

-- Inline Editing

-- Controlling server errors

-- Multiple toolbar search

-- Search Big Sets

Right now the REST services are talking to our local wcf services. Will make a demo thing and post soon. This surely helped me a lot, jQGrid Help.

Basic jQGrid Implementation with WCF Service

2009-02-23T03:22:00.000-08:00

I have made a very generic and simple working model of jQgrid with wcf service. You can download it from here.

I am working for a complete working model. Will upload it once its done.

Paging for jqGrid for WCF implementation!!!

2009-02-19T03:41:00.000-08:00

Past 1.5 months had been too hectic for me. Some of them were due to major happenings in personal life. Will step into married life in early april. At workplace was too consumed in regular releases of product.

At last the paging issue for jqGrid was solved. Last night i cracked the paging details were embedded in Message Header... and today i parsed and basic grid is comepleted... I need to post the solution now. Will do it by tomorrow. Have started working on fully functional POC. Might take a week. :)

No Script And HTML in POST???

2009-01-19T22:06:00.000-08:00

Damn this is really stooopid... I pasted Script tag and HTML Tag and its not showing in Post... :((((( I guess there has to be a Tag where i can post raw code!!! Thats shameful for blogger...

JqGrid with WCF REST Service

2009-01-13T02:20:00.000-08:00

We have WCF services implemented for thick and thin clients. But as the dynamicity increased we started to wrap those services around REST based WCF Services majorly for Web Client. Now am slowly getting rid of any ASP.Net code written at client. I know its pretty mean of me, but I don’t feel the sense to do it.

I am waiting for ASP.Net MVC to be integrated nicely in VS and then probably think of something in ASP.Net. There might be a situation where in we have client totally independent of any web technology :) That will be powerful for sure. Future is WCF Services and client rich applications that how I look at it.

I started to implement my Services with jqGrid yesterday and could complete the services part and Client Grid in hours but it took time to integrate it all and see my data rendering in Grid. I won’t blame on poor documentation of jqGrid but yeah it took 6-7 hours for me to implement the same. I can't whine now cuz its working and working fine now. I found no place where this combo was even attempted. So wanted to contribute for the community as well...

I will upload the whole solution after some cosmetic improvements. If someone needs any help, post comments.

Script Code -------------------------------

HTML-------------------------------------------------------

REST Service -----------------------------------------------

[ServiceContract(Name = "CandidateService", Namespace = "JsonCandidateService")]

public interface IJSONCandidateService

{

[OperationContract]

[WebInvoke(Method = "GET",

ResponseFormat = WebMessageFormat.Json,

BodyStyle = WebMessageBodyStyle.Bare,

UriTemplate = "Candidates/{criteria}"

)]

JQGridCandidatesResponse GetAllCandidates(string criteria);

}

Thats it for now, shall upoad the full solution soon. Happy jQuerying :)

jQuery Excitement Continues...

2009-01-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

I have invested past 3 days in reading a lot about jQuery and their implementation along with its language capabilities and more I read I get convinced of its usage. We launched our product 10 days back and we had been working heavily of java script. Now I am working on the presentation aspect and more of usability aspects.

I have found few plugins and am pretty bullish on implementing some of them including animations. Have made the POC's to suite our product and now am working on grid which looks pretty neat to me especially Tree Example was something I always loved. Actually we already implemented it in our own way... let’s see how this one works.

Future is jQuery!

2009-01-06T22:18:00.000-08:00

I came to know about jQuery 6 months back, when I was going through some blogs. All i could grasp at that time was a lightweight script library. Then in September end when i was travelling, my team started working with the integrated jQuery with ASP.Net MVC (3.5). Sadly we could not go through with it, cuz we were running short of time and library was less supportive.

Big names like Microsoft and Nokia have started using/integrated the same in their own products and its very encouraging for newbies to learn the same. You can follow jQuery Blog and Wiki to get more updates.

Not only its UI capabilities are amazing, It can be very handy if you are using JSON WebServices. I can see lot of articles coming up with jQuery's support in ASP.Net MVC, it surely will be next generation of web development.

Now I totally endorse jQuery's amazing capabilities. Soon we shall enhance our product looks by the same. I am waiting for fully functional integrated VS with jQuery and ASP.Net MVC support.

And We Delivered...

2009-01-06T22:15:00.001-08:00

Well by the time I was travelling, we resketched history by releasing 2 more products... Something which i am really proud of. One being Recruitment Management Suite and other one as a Niche Job Portal, having built in CRM capabilities.

Both the sites are in post alpha mode, and we are still bullish on adding things... So am sure coming months will be more exciting.

You can have a look of Reqster and AMS-Web. I am not publishing the UserName and password for sanity sake, can do it on request. Our website is also revamped.

First... Naah... One of the first...

2008-10-29T00:47:00.001-07:00

We are working hard to release our first (it won’t be last for sure) online SAAS offering... It shall be a Portal of sorts with some services pun around it. We do have a success story in thick client SAAS offering, that’s restricted to few internal clients though. We are working in parallel to make that available online as well.

There already have been lots of changes in plan in sync with the business scene... I guess I just wanna sum up with word AGGRESSIVE... Just keeping fingers crossed.

Cloud Hustle Bustle!!!

2008-10-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

Cloud madness is at its peak now... MS being smartest of all by not showing all the cards... Right goes Balmer once again... Azure is here to rock... and yeah no surprise, License/Pricing is not yet disclosed... Although its a CTP release, it will surely be handy.

This left me all confused... cuz i was hearing lot of codenames like Zurich, Strata, "Red Dog", Live Mesh... And then i read this Article which made my mind lil clear. Hope this helps everyone.

Amazon is also out with their version. Actually there was lots of pressure to get something out for the worlds most abused yet favorite OS. They have done what it can be done at the earliest.

And i still remain a fan of MS by offering services which is surely tough to understand cuz there are too many... If my understanding is right, MS is actually manipulating their all the current services to suit for the Cloud. At the same time they are waiting for others to show their arsenal (I love this part... ;) ) and once again they will be the clear winners.

What Google and Amazon are doing is very raw and less meaning/value to developers or ISV's. 2009 will surely a important year when we will talk about Virtualization for sure.

SilverLight... Funny!!!

2008-07-18T00:42:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my last release I couldnt write a single post and there are lot of things to share.

Past 2-3 Months back i was thinking of giving Silverlight a try, Although i am very circumspect about the whole thing. 3 Days back i thought of trying it, saw some of the sites which were un-impressive and few of them never worked. Still i thought of trying, so i downloaded sdk and then started the struggle to actually installing it. I tried for few hours and then gave up cuz i had better things to work on.

Was just going through some Ajax Controls and found Ajax Widgets which is average i would say. I was going through the blogs of the developers and found this Post and simply enjoyed it.

Go thru the same and Enjoy! At least i m not the only who has problems with SilverLight.

WCF- Remoting Comparision

2008-04-21T07:17:00.001-07:00

Very informative post. WCF if used to the best affect, nothings better than the same.

JSON-WCF Conquered!

2008-04-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

I struggled big time last week with installation of VS2008 and Ajax Libraries. Actually I had older version of System.Web.Extensions... That made life hell... And I used to get "Sys is undefined" most notorious problem with .Net 3.0. Then I installed VS2008 Standard Edition and everything settled out. I managed to make a POC for JSON Service which wraps WCF Service in turn. Right now I have some issues Dependency Injection. But am thinking of it again to use it or not. Right now I m just preserving the state in a static variable. Lemme work more to find a more structured solution for the same.
Now I am making infrastructure for my Project that shall use these Independent Layers. I was also thinking about using an environment variable according to which JSON service will be used or not.

JSON-WCF-AJAX -- Wondrous Combo!!!

2008-04-14T01:48:00.000-07:00

Am working along with Patterns and Practices (now Codeplex) for around 2 years now... WCF came in Dec' 2006 and there started a new journey of Services... Last year they also integrated JSON with WCF which i believe would be big boost to ASP.Net developers. I will upload the code soon, till then if u r interested in the same visit Dino's Article.

My First Tech Post!!!

2008-04-14T01:39:00.000-07:00

I have been working since 2004, and have learned a lot till now... although thats not enough... still working hard on each and everything... and improvising every day...