The House That .NET Built (Part 2)

We've started the framing stage!!!! The first floor is getting framed and they're preparing for the second floor. Here are a few pictures of the process as it stands right now. I've also thrown in a few videos at the bottom of the post. :-)

Talking directly to Hardware with .NET Micro Framework

Awesome!!!! Awesome!!!! Awesome!!! Why oh why am I just now finding out about this.

It's been available since November 2006, this is the ultimate technology that will allow me to actually enter the embedded devices and automation industry of Computer Software. My dream is finally coming true. One day I will have a gig in Home Automation for sure. :-)

Ok, so the Micro.NET Framework is very similar to the .NET Compact Framework, but has a much smaller foot print and is deployable to a much wider scope of devices. The platform is esentially an environment that extends the advantages of Microsoft .NET and the toolset in the Microsoft Visual Studio development system into a class of smaller, less expensive, and more resource-constrained devices than have been possible with previous Microsoft embedded offerings. Several Microsoft products use the .NET Micro Framework already, including MSN Direct watches, Microsoft TV Foundation Edition, and Windows Vista SideShow. I just finished watching this webcast and bought this book from amazon which ships from WA, so I should be up and running and writing a sample application on an emulator this weekend.

The stack is shown below...

PAL = Platform Abstraction Layer
HAL = Hardware Abstraction Layer
The OS part is there just in case I want to deploy Micro Framework to a device which has an OS.

Some of the things that have been done already...

I'm especially interested in network connections and using the TCP/IP stack so that I can talk to

other devices with in my network via a special device loaded application. In essence... I build the app, test it on the emulator, flash the hardware with the application deployed, and up boots the hardware and then my app is loaded. No OS overhead or any of that. :-)

Below is the book that I bought which I've linked to above.

Here are some cool inspirational *.wmv videos

video1

video2

My Next Cell Phone (Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1)

Say hello to my next cell phone... it's not out yet, but when it does I'm heading to the first cingular store to get it. I'm already on the waiting list. : )

Gotta love these specs.
--------------------------------------------

Size -110 x 17 x 53 mm
-4.3 x 0.7 x 2.1 inches
--------------------------------------------
Weight - 45 gr
- 5.1 oz
--------------------------------------------
Available colors Solid Black
--------------------------------------------
Screen - 800 X 480
- 65,536 color TFT
--------------------------------------------
Memory - Up to 400 MB Phone Memory
- MicroSD support Actual free memory may vary due to phone pre-configuration
--------------------------------------------
Networks - GSM 850
- GSM 900
- GSM 1800
- GSM 1900
- EDGE
- HSDPA
- HSUPA
- UMTS 850
- UMTS 900
- UMTS 1700
- UMTS 1900
- UMTS 2100
--------------------------------------------
Battery performance may vary depending on network and phone usage.
* To be announced.

more info here.

"Works on my machine"?!

Meet Phyllis, she is certainly some one who does not like it when the builds don't work on her machine. I can sympathize with this... when someone says "works on my machine" all that means is "everything the source code depends on... resides on that persons machine".

As I get deeper in to the practice of continuous integration... not breaking the build would be the first practice to employ followed by making sure anyone who needs anything can do a fresh checkout and have everything they need.

-Develop with Passion
Jean-Paul S. Boodhoo

I'm So There!!!!

Seats are going fast... so far everyone's signed up.
Just to name a few....

1) Scott Hanselman
2) Jean Paul Boodhoo
3) Chris Sells
4) Roy Osherove

Glad I got my seat... This ought'd be good!!! ;)

More on XP & Agile Approaches

I saw this video, and it completely blew my mind. This is exactly what needs to happen at work, and what I need to strive to in my own efforts.

Enjoy!! ;)

Xtreme Programming Saturdays

For the last week or so I've been reading Pro .NET 2.0 Extreme Programming ,and I have to say it's been really difficult for me to put it down.
I didn't go to work last Friday because I have a cold... I didn't want to spread it around so I stayed home. On Friday I spent quite a bit of time writing acceptance test for DirectorsMate, what's nice about acceptance test is that I don't have to worry about unit testing every little thing. I mean It's hard enough trying to come up with positive and negative tests. This way I can verify that the object under test will do what I expect in a timely manner. Now I realize that I should be writing lots of unit tests to cover as much as I can, but I'm not feeling well right now. Most likely I will go back and fill in the gaps when I'm feeling better. So getting back to the title of the post... I woke up this morning and realized that I need to get my code out of Visual Source Safe 2005. So I went and downloaded the latest subversion, TortoiseSVN, and CCNET .
I got subversion and TortoiseSVN installed and then pulled my source code out of VSS, removed the bindings, and then created a repository NTFS for the source code and then did my inital import. Ahhh... All is right with the world... I then did some tweaks on the build file and began to build my CCNET build file. After it was done I could initate a force build to test CCNET and then change the code to test the build that way. Once I finished it all I was really tired but I went over and downloaded the free visual studio add-in for SVN support over at Tigris.org.
This add-in is awesome!!! Alright, I know I've been saying that I'm going to get some videos up here, but I've tried and they just don't come out as good as I'd hoped. So I'm going to try again this time with ZoomIt!!! Stay tuned... : )

Also, some videos that really inspired me to learn more about & practice Xtreme Programming can be found below. Event though these are Java guys they still inspire me to strive to achieve this type of development in my own software company.

Xtreme Programming Videos

code.msdn.microsoft.com

It's finally out... a new code gallery on MSDN. I highly suggest getting the C# Sample first. ; )
code gallery (MSDN Code Gallery)
c# samples (C# VS2008 samples and more...)

The House That .NET Built

LOT # 17

Well it's been a long time coming and I have to say I'm very happy to be here. My lot has been released. Meaning all the paperwork, bank docs, and permits have been received and accepted! My first Meeting with my Site superintendent is on the 14th- a great day! I'm told they will have the cement foundation poured and they will be ready to start building!! After that I'm looking at 3 months (54 build days) till we finally close! So April 30th!!!
Also, there is a short video of the empty lot with the family. Don't mind my extra breathing in the video... it was a really cold ground hogs day. It's a cool feeling being able to build my first home. Which means... I'll be able to keep close watch on the build process, take pictures, and because I'm a geek... provide Google SketchUp drawings and images as well. ; )