Microsoft Visual Sourcesafe 6.0 CD Review

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(More customer reviews)I think it's time to set the record straight on Visual SourceSafe. This is a product badly in need of updating, but it doesn't seem to have any direct competitors (nobody wants to be Borlanded or Netscaped), so it probably won't happen any time soon.
If you're creating non-web applications with a programming tool that supports SourceSafe integration, then you probably won't mind SourceSafe. You will have to work around a few frustrations: the lack of drag-and-drop, the amazingly dated look to the client app, and the fact that a lot of discipline is required to use it properly and safely. If you don't train a developer new to SourceSafe, you can count somebody writing code referencing a wrong relative path, and having to merge lots of changes people made because they didn't check files out properly.
However, if you're trying to develop a web application with others in an integrated programming tool, then there will be times you want to tear your hair out until you sit down and really learn how the thing works (without any aid from the skimpy online help), because the interaction between the web files, the local files (if an ASP app), and the SourceSafe files is poorly documented and very finicky. Hint: whatever you do, don't remove the SourceSafe binding inside Visual Studio .NET and attempt to put it back again later -- instead delete all the local files and do "Open from Source Control" inside Visual Studio.
I should also mention that it networks very poorly. This is because there is no server component; clients just grab files via ordinary network shares. If you are trying to use SourceSafe from a remote site, then you will need patience, because doing a large operation such as a recursive "get latest" takes a long time even if you are telecommuting from the same city over a high-speed internet connection. Please note though that another company makes an inexpensive product called SourceOffSite that works with SourceSafe to overcome the networking deficiencies.
In general, SourceSafe is a whole lot better than collaborating without help, and it is priced relatively reasonably, which is why it's still around. It's just long in the tooth, and is missing obvious features such as viewing all the check-in comments for a file at the same time. It really should come with printed manuals for end users detailing best practices to use and pitfalls to avoid. Instead, the online help makes it seem as if a child could use the product and everything is always sunny when using it. I know there are competing products, but I've never had the opportunity to try them, because for better or worse the market has chosen Visual SourceSafe as the standard.

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Visual SourceSafe 6.0 is the latest edition of Microsoft's award-winning version-control system for managing software and Web-site development. Fully integrated with the Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++, Visual InterDev, and Visual FoxPro development environments, as well as with Microsoft Office applications, it provides easy-to-use, project-oriented version control. Visual SourceSafe works with any file produced by any development language, authoring tool, or application. Users can work at both the file and project level while promoting file reuse. The project-oriented features of Visual SourceSafe make managing the day-to-day tasks associated with team-based application and Web site development more efficient.

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional with MSDN Professional Review

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(More customer reviews)I already had Visual Studio, so I purchased this just for the MSDN license (will let someone else at my company use the VS 2008 license). I needed to test on a variety of 32 and 64 bit windows OSes so I downloaded some keys and then downloaded the Operating Systems that I wanted to test on. Determining which license went with which OS was a little confusing at times but besides that it was pretty easy to find what I wanted, download it, then run my testing. Thanks for providing this MS!

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Standard Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm positive you're reading this because you are wondering what is eligible for an upgrade. Relax cheapskates, virtually everything makes you eligible:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/it-it/vs2008/products/cc263904(en-us).aspx
"
Upgrade Pricing Eligibility
To qualify for upgrade pricing, you must be a licensed user of one of the following products:
* An earlier version of Microsoft Visual Studio
* Any other developer tool (including free developer tools, such as Visual Studio Express Editions or Eclipse)
Upgrade pricing eligibility does not apply for Volume Licensing programs.
"
If worse comes to worse, install the free express edition and register it, but it looks like any old version of Visual Studio will do.
You're welcome!

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Review

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(More customer reviews)Visual Studio 2008 is the latest version of Visual Studio. Visual Studio is Microsoft's primary IDE. It can be used to develop console applications, Graphical user interface applications, web sites, web applications, and web services in both native code as well as managed code for all platforms supported by Microsoft. It contains four major products Microsoft Visual C++, Microsoft Visual C#, Microsoft Visual Basic, and Microsoft Visual Web Developer. However, it is possible to integrate additional products like IronPython and IronRuby. I've integrated Microsoft Robotics Studio and the CCR (Concurrency and Coordination Runtime) libraries with my Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 (I also enhanced Visual Studio 2005 by downloading .Net 3.5).
Among the major enhancements to Visual Studio 2008 (as compared to Visual Studio 2005) are the .NET Framework 3.5, WPF, WCF, WWF, LINQ, and the language extensions in C# 3.0. The .Net 3.5/3.0 is really the item that provides most of those other components and Studio 2008 provides support and IDE. For us it is the language extensions in C# 3.0, for example, LINQ, and the more concise syntax to get lambda expressions to work that matters the most (the new "=>" operator). WCF (Windows Communications Foundation) is a new great programming framework that is used to build applications that inter-communicate. However, we are using CCR instead for that purpose. The CCR primitives are very easy to use and great for multi-threaded applications with, for example, autonomous agents. As I understand CCR is scheduled to be included with Visual Studio 2010/2011 but you can start using the CCR library now with Visual Studio 2005/2008.
Visual Studio 2008 Professional is targeted towards Professionals (software engineers, small development companies, etc.). If you are a student or a hobbyist you should instead down load the four Express editions of the products which you get for free. However, for serious programmers they are not enough. The four express editions are Visual Basic Express, Visual C++ Express, Visual C# Express, and Visual Web Developer Express. I will put a link for the free downloads in a comment that I will add later, and I will also give links for free .Net 3.5 download and CCR/DSS.
It should be noted that the Express Editions have significantly reduced functionality. They only include a small set of tools, and libraries. There is no remote database support for data designer, no extensibility, no class designer and several other tools, no Microsoft SQL Server integration, no support for plug-ins. x64 compilers are not available for the Visual Studio Express edition and there is only a smaller express edition of MSDN. Missing C++ related items are, for example: C++ Name undecorator, Spy++, ATL trace, MASM, Visual C++ Web deployment tool, Server Explorer, no create GUID tool, CRT debug library, CRT source code, ATL, MFC, OpenMP, C++ Support library, etc. Naturally Visual C# and Visual Basic are also scaled down. The standard edition have somewhat reduced functionality and is targeted towards rich and serious students/hobbyists and poor professionals.
I currently have Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Studio 2003, Visual Studio 2005, and Visual Studio 2008 on my computer. I am using mostly Visual C++ and Visual C#, and on rare occasions Visual Web Developer. For that reason I believe that I can contribute some information regarding the difficulty related to upgrading.
It was not too difficult to convert Visual Studio 2005 C++/C# code to Visual Studio 2008 C++/C# code and the interface changes from Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 were minor simple improvements and added community components, which was nothing to cry about. When I went from Visual Studio 6.0 to Visual Studio 2003 and then to Visual Studio 2005, there were a lot of interface changes to get used to and some of my favorite tools were no longer available (class wizard), and the project file extensions were also different. Some of the projects I worked on also had problems with syntax errors that appeared only after the conversion.
When I converted a medium sized Visual C++ project (65,000 lines) from Visual Studio 2003 to Visual Studio 2005 I got more than 500 syntax errors due to changes in variable (from wrong to correct) and due to changes in what kind of declarations was allowed (from wrong to correct). We also had problems with run time errors that appeared only after conversion from Visual Studio 6.0 to Visual Studio 2003. The reason was that Visual Studio 6.0 executables often were able to execute bad code, like functions returning pointers to stack variables. The problem was really Visual Studio 6.0 not Visual Studio 2003/2005, but when you converted from Visual Studio 6.0 to Visual Studio 2003 the bad code caught up with you. Goofy project settings could also not be converted. It was a lot of work to clean this up.
When I converted the same medium sized Visual C++ project mentioned above from Visual 2005 C++ to Visual 2008 C++ I got no syntax errors and it ran fine the first time. When I converted a much larger application containing several projects with mostly C# code but also managed C++ code that loaded dynamic link libraries built using un-managed Visual 6.0 C++ code, it built and ran problem free instantly. The Visual Studio 2008 Conversion Wizard is also nice. However, there was a small gotcha. If you are doing the conversion offline (without access to configuration control management) and you answer yes, to the question that you do want to have the project files made writable, then this might actually not happen, with the result that the conversion fails. The failure to change the read-only status of the project files happened only for the projects containing both managed and un-managed C++ code (in a mostly Visual C# application). I don't know if that was a coincidence, or if I goofed.
So it seems like the conversion from Visual Studio 2005 to Visual Studio 2008 is much less painful then previous conversions used to be. However, if you convert a Visual Studio 6.0 project to a Visual Studio 2008 project then you might have all the issues mentioned above as when converting to Visual Studio 2003 and Visual Studio 2005. However, this does not mean that Visual Studio 2005 and Visual Studio 2008 are similar. There are a lot of new and very useful components that have been added to Visual Studio 2008.
I already mentioned the language extensions in C# 3.0 (as compared to C# 2.0), for example, LINQ (querying data bases) which allows you to build strongly typed query expressions. Personally I am hoping that C# will in time more or less replace both C++ and Java. Another component I already mentioned is Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF); a new GUI toolkit that allows you to build extremely interactive and media-rich front ends (2D and 3D graphics and animations) for desktop applications (and web applications). The WPF Designer also provides a split view and snap lines for aligning controls and text. Windows Communication Foundation which allows you to build distributed applications (but we are using CCR instead). WWF allows you to define, execute and monitor workflows to model complex business processes, IntelliSense has been significantly improved and now supports JScript authoring and ASP.NET AJAX scripting. There is a Report Wizard, a class designer extension for unmanaged code, Object Browser improvements, and MSBuild recognizes when a system has multiple processors and uses all the available processors to reduce the build time.
I should add that I have bought two copies of Visual Studio 2005 Professional with MSDN from Amazon (actually my wife did) and I was happy with the price and the delivery. However, I did not get my Visual Studio 2008 from Amazon. As I am become more familiar with Visual Studio 2008 and gain additional experience from using I will probably edit or add to this review.


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Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)This is definately the best Visual Studio ever. I've been using it ever since the beta was released and bought the upgrade the very day my beta expired. I am amazed that so many things I wish VS did, now it does. I recently had to develop something in VS 2003 [due to framework requirements] and felt totally crippled after having the luxuary of Visual Studio 2008. Definately worth the upgrade!

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Visual Studio Pro 2008 Win32 English UPG DVDGeneralCategory:ApplicationsSubcategory:Visual StudioDistribution Media:DiskPackage Type:License w/DVDPlatform:WINSystem Requirements / OS Required:32-Bit WinUNSPSC CodeUNSPSC Code:43232407

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Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction Review

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(More customer reviews)It was a pleasure to find out that this book had been updated when I reads news of it. CC2 is a great one-stop 'place' to go to when you want a great excuse to apply Stephen Covey's 'Sharpen The Saw' principle. This updated version has some solid, fantastic, expert instruction on designing from scratch, whether it's OO, writing better routines, psuedocode, nested loops, or at the higher level: agile methods, etc..
McConnell's approach of talking to you, the programmer, is ideal: not too much humor, and an easy to read, but professional approach in the way he donates the contents of his brain: i.e. McConnell's lengthy experience in the field.
I read just a couple of paragraphs in a chapter before work one morning, and the advice I picked up saved so much time that same day. And it wasn't even specific to coding instruction. It was a piece of advice on a philosophy on how he personally determines how much upfront design he should settle on before coding.

Reading Software Construction material of this caliber, as compared to some, yet another, new book on a specific language that might look impressive to know, is what makes for a solid programmer.
Refreshing your overall S/W construction knowledge gives you so much more of your life back, because you will have way less bugs and a lot more fun maintaining the high-quality code you are now writing because of CC2.
I mentioned already that he covers OO, but I wanted to emphasize the excellent material he offers in this area. I am now seeing the benefit of measuring the quality of your classes by this guideline: are they true Abstract Data Types. ( rather than just trying to use the syntax that the language provides to its potential).
Great job on a rather thorough re-write of a S/W development staple.



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Widely considered one of the best practical guides to programming, Steve McConnell's original CODE COMPLETE has been helping developers write better software for more than a decade. Now this classic book has been fully updated and revised with leading-edge practices—and hundreds of new code samples—illustrating the art and science of software construction. Capturing the body of knowledge available from research, academia, and everyday commercial practice, McConnell synthesizes the most effective techniques and must-know principles into clear, pragmatic guidance. No matter what your experience level, development environment, or project size, this book will inform and stimulate your thinking—and help you build the highest quality code.

Discover the timeless techniques and strategies that help you:

Design for minimum complexity and maximum creativity
Reap the benefits of collaborative development
Apply defensive programming techniques to reduce and flush out errors
Exploit opportunities to refactor—or evolve—code, and do it safely
Use construction practices that are right-weight for your project
Debug problems quickly and effectively
Resolve critical construction issues early and correctly
Build quality into the beginning, middle, and end of your project

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Microsoft SQL Server Developer Edition 2005 Review

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(More customer reviews)As a long time user of SQL Server, I was glad when Microsoft finally moved away from Sybase and started developing SQL Server on their own. Unfortunately, SQL Server 7 took a bit too long to finish and I was stuck with SQL Server 6.5.
For my Enterprise work, however, I had to move to Oracle. To embed custom code, other than T-SQL code, I was also forced to move to Oracle and Java. There was no facility in SQL Server.
With the 2000 release, SQL Server finally became a contender. With far better tools than any other RDBMS and an engine that could work well with larger databases, SQL was on the right track. It just was not quite there.
With SQL Server 2005, Microsoft finally has a real contender. First, there is a very strong database engine with features that can compete with other Enterprise level databases. While there are still some features missing, the release is fairly strong.
* Database mirroring
* Failover clustering
* Database snapshots and other recovery options
SQL Server now also offers the ability to write custom code inside the database, using any .NET language, like C# and VB.NET.
SQL Server has a few built in features that bring it up a notch, as well. The database now natively handles XML as a datatype. In addition, in supports native encryption.
For the DBA, object schemas are now separated from users, allowing you to easily move ownership away from owners who have left the company. The new schema also allows for easier security on groups of objects.
Out of the box, SQL Server has a plethora of extras that have additional cost with the competition:
* The new version of DTS, now labeled SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a fully debugable ETL engine with the ability to work on multiple paths at the same time.
* Business Inteligence tools include an updated Analysis Services, the KPI (key performance indicator) framework and built in business analytics.
* Improvements to SQL Server Reporting services, including the ability to set up reporting aggregates for business users to create reports on the fly, without developer or dba time.
* SQL Server Broker - finally a easy, built in way of creating asynchronous applications in SQL Server.
On the negative, Microsoft dumped a lot of features during the beta. While I understand some of the reasons behind the removal, I would have like to have had separate date and time objects, as one example.
I also feel SQL Server Notification Services are a bit half-baked at this point in time. While much better than the version that shipped as an add-on to SQL Server 2000, they still feel a bit bolted on.
Overall, the main reason many shops will switch to SQL Server with the 2005 release comes down to ROI. With the extras out of the box, SQL Server is still a no brainer for small and medium enterprises. With this release the product is more applicable for larger enterprises, as well.

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SQL Server 2008, Developer Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)Microsoft has done a clever thing with their Developer tools: they've recognized that it's more important to make it easy to put the product in the hands of someone who'll learn from it than it is to make huge sweeping profits off of every buyer. SQL Server 2008 Developer Edition provides all that a developer will need to learn and use SQL Server 2008: all that's missing here compared to the full Enterprise Edition are some of the Analytics tools and advanced features that, if you need them, you've already done all you need to do in this copy of the database, anyway (analytics is typically only critical to an Enterprise-level shop, who will most likely have full licensed server versions of SQL Server 2008 Enterprise Edition).
As a database technology, SQL Server 2008 has come into its own, finally being feature-rich enough and capable enough to be compared to Enterprise big-guns like Oracle. Microsoft are also nudging their way into SAP/Business Objects territory, making ancillary activities like Reporting and Transformations much easier to perform. The SQL Server 2008 interface is powerful, it is surprisingly easy to use, and installation and maintenance really do seem to be a breeze. You also get useful features like the SQL Server Books Online to help you learn, integration with Visual Studio to speed up your development time, and some surprisingly simple interfaces for doing powerful transforms/ETL like the Business Intelligence Development Studio.
If you're a developer, and you found downloading and installing the free version(s) of SQL Server 2008 to not meet your needs (or in my case, be fraught with problems), you can't argue with the price. This product works well to get you fairly far towards "guru", and can help teach old Database Dogs new tricks. :) You should be advised that this product is only intended for learning and working in a development environment and should NOT be used to deploy and/or support Production data or applications.

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FileMaker Pro Advanced - (V. 9.0) - Complete Package - 1 User - CD - Win, Mac - English (30092G) Category: Software Suites Review

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(More customer reviews)After using Microsoft Access for some time, I'm convinced FileMaker is the way to go. The features of the developer package, data tracker and script debugging were a big help. The tooltip added a touch of sophistication to my overlay application that impressed the users.
I faced a lot of challenges and many times thought FileMaker just wasn't capable of doing what I wanted to do. However, in most cases, I was able to find a way to accomplish my goals. The FileMaker on-line community is robust and helpful. I'll never go back to Access.

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Item #: 30092G. FileMaker Pro Advanced includes all the features of FileMaker Pro plus a suite of advanced development and customization tools to help you design and develop more powerful, more customized database solutions - faster and easier than ever before!Customize your database even more by adding your own menus and menu items using the Custom Menu feature of FileMaker Pro Advanced. Plus, you can add Tooltips to layout objects to make your layouts more intuitive. Even create standalone, runtime applications that include the FileMaker Web Viewer.FileMaker Pro Advanced includes essential debugging and reporting tools that help you build stable, reliable solutions more efficiently. It's easier than ever to pinpoint problem areas by reviewing scripts step-by-step in the Script Debugger. You can monitor fields, variables, expressions, and even test calculation formulas with the Data Viewer, as well as temporarily disable script steps to test portions of your scripts.Once you've designed and deployed your database, the FileMaker Pro Advanced database reporting and optimization features will help you update solutions more easily and keep them running at peak performance. Update databases faster by importing multiple tables or by using copy/paste to move fields, tables, scripts, and script steps. Get comprehensive information on database schema and options, like fields, web viewers, layouts, Custom Menus, and more with the Database Design Report. Plus, the FileMaker Maintenance Tools will ensure you're getting maximum performance from your solutions.
Product DescriptionFileMaker Pro Advanced - ( v. 9.0 ) - complete packageCategory: Business applicationsSubcategory: Business - databases / database toolsVersion: 9.0License Type: Complete packageLicense Qty: 1 userLicense Pricing: StandardLanguage(s): EnglishPlatform: Windows, MacOSDistribution Media: CD-ROMPackage Type: RetailOS Required: Microsoft Windows XP

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Software Project Survival Guide (Pro -- Best Practices) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was disappointed in this book - perhaps it was a problem with expectations. McConnell's previous books - Code Complete and Rapid Development -were very well written and provided valuable insights into best practices in the computer industry. By attempting to do the same thing here, the author missed the mark. The Software Project Survival Guide presents a road map marked with good practice applied in a mature organization that understands the nature of software and responds rationally, providing the resources and time required to do the job right. The overwhelming majority of people who are taking on their first project management job will have few, if any, of the benefits that this book takes for granted.
Don't get me wrong. This is a great collection of really good ideas and it's really well written, but it doesn't give much guidance to the first-time project manager who needs to deal with misdirection and misunderstanding from those who he or she reports to. The book presents a fine set of suggestions on "Techniques for Really Good Project Management," but there isn't much on "Survival."

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Equip yourself with SOFTWARE PROJECT SURVIVAL GUIDE. It's for everyone with a stake in the outcome of a development project--and especially for those without formal software project management training. That includes top managers, executives, clients, investors, end-user representatives, project managers, and technical leads.

Here you'll find guidance from the acclaimed author of the classics CODE COMPLETE and RAPID DEVELOPMENT. Steve McConnell draws on solid research and a career's worth of hard-won experience to map the surest path to your goal--what he calls "one specific approach to software development that works pretty well most of the time for most projects." Nineteen chapters in four sections cover the concepts and strategies you need for mastering the development process, including planning, design, management, quality assurance, testing, and archiving. For newcomers and seasoned project managers alike, SOFTWARE PROJECT SURVIVAL GUIDE draws on a vast store of techniques to create an elegantly simplified and reliable framework for project management success.

So don't worry about wandering among complex sets of project management techniques that require years to sort out and master. SOFTWARE PROJECT SURVIVAL GUIDE goes straight to the heart of the matter to help your projects succeed. And that makes it a required addition to every professional's bookshelf.

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