my code trip » C# .Net

How To Create A Dynamic Xml Reader In C# 4.0

Shiva — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:53:12 +0000

A detailed tutorial on Creating a dynamic Xml Reader In C# 4.0. Includes downloadable source code in a zip file in the end of the article.

C# .Net Temperature Struct Code for Fahrenheit and Celsius Manipulation

Shiva — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:54:36 +0000

C# Helper Class For Indexed Property Access Without Using Subclasses

Shiva — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 16:28:44 +0000

A C# helper class featuring lambdas that allows for indexed property without using subclasses.

C# Dependency Injection and Inversion of Control Containers Explained

Shiva — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:34:36 +0000

A new approach to understanding Dependency Injection and Inversion of Control Design Patterns in the C# environment. The author, fossmo uses a Murder Mystery story analogy.

Casting Syntax Vs AS Operator – Which Approach Is Better And Why ?

Shiva — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:25:54 +0000

The two most popular approaches to casting – converting data types and objects – in C# are

Using the cast syntax i.e. (TypeToBeCastTo) (type/object) and
Using the AS operator i.e. (type/object) AS TypeToBeCastTo

It is speculated that most developers use the first approach, but have you ever wondered which approach is the better one, is more performance efficient, and why ?

According to Jon Skeet (on MSDN), the fundamental difference in the two approaches is as follows.

The AS operator returns a null when the variable you are trying to convert is not of the requested type or in it’s inheritance chain. The cast syntax, on the other hand, throws an exception.
AS operator can only be used on reference type variables, whereas the cast syntax can be applied to reference and value types.
The AS operator also will not be able to perform conversions on user-defined types, whereas the casting syntax will be able to accomplish this.

Performance: According to Jon, the AS operator syntax is known to be slightly faster than the casting syntax in v1.0 and v1.1.

Moreover, to me, it makes sense to use the AS operator where possible also because it does not throw an exception, which are in general very expensive in terms of performance. Lastly, I think the AS syntax also looks “more elegant”.

Further Reading

Jon Skeet’s C# Frequently Asked Questions
Ian Griffiths’ essay on C#’s approach to Casting. (1500+ words including code).

VB.NET to C# – Where is the Page_PreRender and other Events ?

Shiva — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 02:37:03 +0000

If you are recently moving from VB.NET to C#, then one thing you may have noticed is how many different features that you had in VB.NET IDE are now missing in the C# IDE. One such missing feature is the Page Events in the dropdown when you are the code view mode. You will notice that in a new blank webform (.aspx page) the Page_Load event is visible, but the Page_PreRender and other events are not ? How do you get to them ?

If you are in Visual Studio 2003 then

Go to the Design View for the .aspx page.
Press F4 to view properties.
From the dropdown of the properties page, choose the class name of your aspx page.
Click the lightening Icon below the class name.
In the list, below Load, you will see PreRender.
Type in a name next to the PreRender. This will be the name for the PreRender event.
Press Enter.
The event will open in the IDE and add a handler for the event in the Web Form Designer generated code.

If you are in a Visual Studio 2005 Master Page then

Go to the Design View for the .aspx page.
Click the ContentPlaceholder1 on the page to select it.
Press F4 to view properties.
The ContentPlaceholder1 will be already selected in the dropdown and the lightening Icon will be enabled.
In the list of events below Load, you will see PreRender.
Type in a name next to the PreRender. This will be the name for the PreRender event.
Press Enter.
The event will open in the IDE and add a handler for the event in the Web Form Designer generated code.

How to enable C# Syntax Highlighting in Textpad

Shiva — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 02:35:16 +0000

Sure, the C# page on Texpad’s site shows you how to enable syntax highlighting by downloading the syntax definition files for C#, but even this isn’t necessary. Here is how you enable it for C# without downloading additional syntax files.

Open Textpad and click Configure > New Document Class.

The Document Class Wizard will be displayed. In the document class name box, type a name say, CSharp and click Next.

In the class members box, type *.cs and click Next.

check the enable syntax highlighting box. From the syntax definition file dropdown, select java.syn and click Next.

Now click Finish to create the new document class.

Open any of your .cs C# file(s) in textpad. If Microsoft has done as good a job on C# from Java as it did on SQL Server from Sybase -which I think it did – you should see all the C# keywords and syntax characters highlighted !