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Explains the concept of Global Assembly Cache, how to create assembly without Visual Studio .NET and how to view assembly's content.

Overview of the steps necessary to cache Pages or application data based on the new ASP.NET 2.0 SqlCacheDependency features.

Implement caching in your project using AspectF library that saves you from writing plumbing code for dealing with cached objects and collections and learn how to handle stale objects and collections

Sometimes useful state information about an Entity Framework context is lost when the context goes out of scope, but Julie Lerman explains how a second-level cache can help retain this information for further use, such as in automatically generated database persistence commands, for example.

The modern web ecosystem is made up of many different types of scenarios of how users interact with online content. With the increasing popularity of mobile devices along with countless hours at Starbucks and on airplanes, users may often find themselves in a position of wanting to use web content while not being able to enjoy reliable and continual access to the Internet.

When people think of having to store data for their applications, a database such as SQL Server immediately comes to mind. However, XML files are very handy for storing data without the overhead of a database. Using XML files to cache often-used, but seldom changed data such as US state codes, employee types and other validation tables can avoid network roundtrips and speed up your application. In addition, XML files are great for off-line applications where a user needs to add, edit and delete data when they can’t connect to a database.

I don’t know that it is possible to write anything like a unitary software system in a way that is truly loosely coupled.   It’s not that you can’t make boxes and lines that are cleanly separated in all sorts of pretty ways, though that’s hard enough.  The problem is that even if you manage to do that, what you end up with is actually still pretty tightly coupled.

What do I mean?

Well, let me use Visual Studio as an example.  It’s made up of all kinds of extensions which communicate through formal interfaces.  Putting aside the warts and just looking at how it was intended to work it seems pretty good.  You can make and replace pieces independently, there is a story for how now features light up; it’s all pretty good.  Yes, it could be better but let’s for the moment idealize what is there.  But is it loosely coupled, really?

Well the answer is heck no.

These systems all share resources in fundamental ways that actually tie them together pretty tightly.  It starts with the address space, each extension can be victimized by the others, and it goes on.  In fact every important resource on the machine is subject to direct interference between nominally isolated extensions.  Is this avoidable?

I don’t think it is actually.  I think unitary software systems are fundamentally tightly coupled when you look at them through a performance lens.  And that is why I’m so often telling people that they need to look at their overall system and see if, when it’s all put together, it has any hope of working the way you want.  Two subsystems that both (loosely) use 2/3 of the L2 cache are going to use 4/3 of a cache… that’s not good.  There may be no lines between them in the architecture diagram but they are going to destroy each others ability to work.

So, does that about wrap it up for agile then?  Should we just waterfall our way to victory?

Hardly. 

Everything you’ve ever read about requirements changing and not over-designing systems that are loosely specified (much less loosely coupled) still applies, but just because you’re going agile and you want to keep your flexibility is no reason to not think about what it’s all going to look like when you put it all together.  Some kind of blend is needed.

If you do run into problems that loose architecture is going to help you.  But waiting until you’re done and counting on your agility to save you at the finish line isn’t so smart either.  Agile development doesn’t prohibit you from planning out the parts that need planning and understanding your key constraints.  In fact I think it encourages this – knowing your constraints keeps you honest and lets you make adjustments smartly as you go.

Performance is never loosely coupled.  Don’t be fooled by your diagram, the profiler doesn’t know where your little boxes and lines are.  Trust me :)

The cloud means many things. It means Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google, Bing and - oh yes - Windows Azure! Windows Azure, as you know, is Microsoft’s cloud operating system. It consists of many parts, but at a high level you can say it includes Compute (web and worker roles, plus storage), SQL Azure and AppFabric. AppFabric, in turn, consists of AppFabric Access Control, ServiceBus, and Cache. This article concerns ServiceBus, and its integration with SharePoint 2010 and Office 365.

Any application you write may require some sort of caching to meet the performance requirements of the business. Until the release of Enterprise Library, developers were forced to roll out their own caching implementations; however, developers now finally have a standard out-of-the-box caching solution that is fully tested—and it's free! The Caching Application Block provides a flexible and extensible caching mechanism that can be used at any or all layers of an application. It supports in-memory, database, or isolated storage stores for persisting the cached data. It also includes a set of very easy-to-use APIs that let you incorporate standard caching operations into your applications without needing to learn the complexities of the caching implementation. This article introduces the Caching Application Block and shows examples of how to use it to write robust caching implementations.

UltimateSpell is an ASP.NET control to spell check editable content on your web pages. * AJAX Enabled - Spell check very long text without compromising on speed. Sends small blocks of text to server using AJAX techniques without refreshing the page. * Auto Find - Drag-and-drop the control onto your page, and you're done. It automatically finds and spell checks all editable controls. * Cache Dictionary - Automatically caches dictionaries for fast interaction and data retrieval. * Lots of Dictionaries - Currently 34 dictionaries available on our website. If not enough you can use your own dictionary as well. * Show Options - Change the spelling options either on the server-side, or on the client-side inside the spell check dialog box at runtime.