Thursday, November 27, 2003

Source: ComputerZen.com But what price my soul?. Yes, it compiled.  It worked even.  Not only did it work, but it completely meets the client's requirements.  But somehow when I look at those particular lines of code (16 lines, in this case, with DataGridGirl's help) I wonder about the ramifications of this horrible algorithm on my immortal soul. If you know me, or maybe even if you don't, you know that it has been said I have an overdeveloped sense of smell.  Specifically, Code Smell.  Often it's a gift and has served me well.  Other times it's a crushing weight as the schedule looms and I just have to buck and, well, write some crap.  (Of course, if it is totally with in spec, performance, it works, QA, etc, it's not crap, but you know.) So my question to you, fair readers and fellow codesmith's, how bad do you feel when the pattern doesn't quite fit or that nested foreach/foreach/foreach nested a bit to deep?  When do you know to let go? Some might say, “when it passes the NUnit Test!”  Others, who look at coding as much an art form as science might disagree. I noticed a number of folks, from Don Box to Doug Purdy, at the PDC making GREAT PAINS to let the audience know that “this or that particular line of code is an abomination! Look away, look away from these alpha bits that hold all our pride and all our shame.”  I had to say I agreed with their evaluations. What to do when you've built a great monument, but there's bird poop at the top that you're responsible for.  Does it take away from the accomplishment? [ComputerZen.com] 1:56:04 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Source: ComputerZen.com Getting Session State in HttpHandlers (ASHX files). A reminder to myself and others, when you want to get access to your Session State from an ASHX or HttpHandler, you need to implement IReadOnlySessionState: <% @ webhandler language="C#" class="DownloadHandler" %> using System; using System.Web; using System.Web.SessionState; public class DownloadHandler : IHttpHandler, IReadOnlySessionState {    public bool IsReusable { get { return true; } }       public void ProcessRequest(HttpContext ctx)    {        ctx.Response.Write(ctx.Session["fred"]);    } } > [ComputerZen.com] 1:54:34 PM    trackback []     Articulate []

Source: help.net An SQL text by Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP. Erland has also posted an interesting list of articles Texts on SQL This is a small collection of texts about some features in SQL Server that people frequently ask about in the newsgroups about MS SQL Server. Rather than being a FAQ with many questions with short answers, these are in-depth articles on some of my favourite topics The curse and blessings of dynamic SQL. How you use dynamic SQL, when you should - and when you should not. (Added June 2001, Updated May 2003) Arrays and Lists in SQL Server. Several methods on how to pass an array of values from a client to SQL Server, and performance data about the methods. (Added March 2003) Dynamic Search Conditions. How to write a stored procedure that permits users to select among many search conditions, using both dynamic and static SQL. (Added May 2003) Implementing Error Handling with Stored Procedures and Error Handling in SQL Server – a Background. Two articles on error handling in SQL Server. I have split the topic on two articles, so if you only want to learn how to implement your error handling you can start there. The background article is more of interest to intermediate and advanced SQL users. Both articles also cover ADO. (New! Added July 2003) How to share data between stored procedures. Different ways of passing sets of data between stored procedures. (Added July 2001, Updated May 2003) Connecting to MS SQL Server from Unix. A brief summary of what's available. Since I don't work with Unix myself, not extremely well-informed, but people have kept asking me about this. (Added Jan 1999, Last update March 2003) [help.net] 12:39:41 PM    trackback []     Articulate []