Using LINQ to query XML

In this screencast we'll talk about the Microsoft .NET component called Language Integrated Query (LINQ)

We'll specifically discuss how LINQ can be used to query XML.

Download the project code here.

Introduction to Microsoft LINQ

In this screencast we'll talk about the Microsoft .NET component called Language Integrated Query (LINQ)

We'll discuss some of the features that the System.LINQ namespace makes available to the ASP.NET programmer today. We'll look specifically at Comprehension Queries and also briefly discuss Extension Methods.

Download the project code here.

Create and access an Azure SQL Database

In this screencast we'll create an Azure SQL database and connect to it via ADO.NET using a DataReader.

This main focus here is to show you how to create a database in Azure and how you can manage it much in the same way you would manage a SQL database on premise.

We'll create the database, a server to host it, configure the IP addresses allowed to connect to it, then in SQL management studio we'll run a script to create some tables and populate them with some data. Then we'll create a simple console application which uses ADO.NET DataReader to retrieve data from the database.

In subsequent screen-casts we'll access the database using in other ways, such as LINQ to SQL and the Entity Framework which will allow us to compare and contrast some of the new different data access capabilities we have available to us today.

Download the project code here.

ASP.NET MVC 4 Hello World Application

In this screencast we'll create a simple Hello World application using the Microsoft MVC 4 framework. We'll discuss some of the merits of MVC and finish up talking about unit testing.

Part 1- Creating the "Hello World" app.

Part 2- Dissecting the "Hello World" app.

Jochumson.com Web Site Launched!

http://www.jochumson.com

February 2014
Web site launched in order to showcase my various web development skills as well as provide a launchpad for my blog, various web demos and screencasts.

Features:

• Fully responsive design
• Looks great on phone, tablet, medium and large screens
• Flat and simple design
• Retina display support
• Web site design- Malosanu

Tech:

• Bootstrap
• jQuery
• Mixitup
• Fastclick
• Smooth Scroll
• Less Prefixe

Browser Support:

• Firefox 5+
• Google Chrome 14+
• Internet Explorer 8+
• Opera 11
• Safari 5

HTML Geolocation API

Make your applications smarter by leveraging the power of the Geolocation API!

The Geolocation API is used to determine a user's geographical position. Since this can compromise a user's privacy they must give permission before your HTML application can gain access to a users location information.

Here's how Google's Chrome browser presents the Geolocation permission dialog.

Once the user has allowed it, the application can then make one of two different calls into the Geolocation API. The API will call back into your application when the position information is available.

• navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(showPosition,showError)

• Produces a one time callback providing location information 

• navigator.geolocation.watchPosition(showPosition,showError)

• Produces continual callbacks as the users location changes

The video (above) starts with a slide deck introducing some of the key concepts, then it demonstrates the Geolocation capability within the browser and finally shows the JavaScript code.

Here's a link to the demo page where you can test it yourself and download the code if you like.

This is Part1 of a series of articles showcasing some of the new HTML5 application features. Follow-on articles will cover the App Cache which allows your applications to run offline, as well as Web Storage (local and session), an expansion on the cookie storage concept and finally I'll cover Web Workers which allow you to spin up separate threads in the browser to do work in the background freeing up the UI thread, making your applications much more responsive when doing real work.

I'm including the slide deck separately here in case you would like to go through it on your own.

REST using Microsoft's ASP.NET Web API

Today we'll be talking about REST and how using it can make your HTML applications more responsive.

First a little background about what REST is. REST stands for REpresentational State Transfer. It's basically a software architecture style for exposing server based resources.

• Uses HTTP methods (verbs) explicitly- GET, POST, PUT, DELETE
• It's stateless.
• It exposes directory structure-like URIs.
• Returns XML, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), or both.

A typical REST call looks like this:

http://example.com/customer/34456

This URI represents a request for information about a customer with Id 34456.

In our screencast we'll be creating a RESTful application leveraging Microsoft's ASP.NET Web API. ASP.NET Web API is a Microsoft framework that makes it easy to build HTTP services that support a broad range of clients, including browsers and mobile devices.

Our HTML application will utilize JQuery's Ajax capabilities to request data from the server (in our case widget data) and place it into the page without forcing a full page refresh. This type of responsive UI is becoming common place today and is expected from users.

I hope you enjoy the screencast. I plan to do more projects in the future utilizing ASP.NET's Web API.

Here's a link to download the code.