.NET Remoting with Events in VB 2005 and .NET 2.0

I learned how to add events to a remote client by studying the “Chatter” remoting example in .NET Remoting and Event Handling in VB .NET, by Paul Kimmell. I will not attempt to explain the entire “Chatter” code example, since a good explanation is already given in Kimmell’s article, but I do want to point out a few important aspects that weren’t clear to me at first.

More on Delegates and Events in VB 2005

In the .NET 2.0 Framework, with Visual Basic 2005, there are a number of ways to define and use delegates, and even more ways to define and use events . This post summarizes these differences.

.NET Remoting: The Simplest Remoting Example

I just read chapter 10, .NET remoting, in Introducing Microsoft .NET 3rd Edition, 2003, by David S. Platt. His explanations are very clear and easy to read, but I had a little trouble compiling and running the sample code. Part of the problem is that the code was written for an earlier version of Visual Studio and the .NET library. I took notes as I upgraded and built this example and I thought I’d share them here. I built this example in Visual Basic 2005 Express SP1. I have upload this project into my Box.net folder on this blog. Even if you don’t have David Platt’s book you can probably get a good idea about how remoting works by looking at my VB2005 version of his example code, reading the introduction below,  and reading the on-line articles listed at the end of the introduction.

Join me in studying for MCTS exam 70-536

I just got the MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-536): .NET FRAMEWORK 2.0 Application Development  Foundation in the mail yesterday. I finished lesson 1 in chapter 1 and posted my notes and VB examples on this page: Types in the .NET Framework - Part 1: Value Types.

As I complete each lesson, I’ll add a link to my notes on this page: Exam 70-536: Application Development Foundation - Study Topics. Note that my lesson notes will be on pages, not posts. I’ll only post to let you know when I start  a new chapter.

I hope some of you will join me and add comments to the lesson pages. Whether you are studying for the MCTS or MCPD, it will be easier and more fun if we take the journey to certification together!

Events and Delegates in the .NET Framework

I spent the morning learning about events and delegates. I needed to learn these concepts for a VB2005 project that I’m working on. In addition, this is one of the topics that is supposedly covered in Exam 70-536. So, here’s what I learned:

Study Topics for Microsoft Exam 70-536: .NET Framework 2.0—Application Development Foundation

This list of topics was taken from a page on the Microsoft Learning web site, Preparation Guide for Exam 70-536
TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0—Application Development Foundation, from the section: ”Skills Measured in Exam 70-536″. I’ve just reformatted the information to make it easier to read (IMHO).  This exam is required for both the MCPD and MCTS certifications.

This looks like a huge amount of material to cover in a test. I wonder if the test really covers all of this material, or just a sampling of it? Does anyone who has taken the test have some insight into this? (I’m not looking for shortcuts to studying for the exam, I’m just curious!)

MCSD is outdated. Become an MCPD instead!

I’ve been thinking about getting Microsoft Certification for years. I remember sitting at my desk at Intel, back in 1998, taking a break from C++ debugging in VS5 and browsing the Microsoft Certification web site. I read the requirements and decided that I would like to be an MCSD. Well, life goes on, and getting married, buying a house, traveling, going to grad school, becoming a dad, and generally having a really great time all took priority over certification. And I’m pretty quite happy about those choices!

Now, I’ve got a ton of experience  in C, C++, MFC, ATL and COM programming as well as some pretty respectable VB programming experience going all the way back to VB 4.0. I’m currently working on my first VB2005 project for one of my company’s clients, but I’d like to strengthen that experience with certification so that  future clients know I’m prepared to do .NET programming. That’s why I think this a good time for me to get MS certification. So, I bought a used copy of the MCAD/MCSD Self-Paced Training Kit. I got a good deal on it too! Two days ago I started posting about starting the certification process, and started studying for my MCSD.

VB.NET: Lesson 1-1 The .NET Framework and the CLR

Today I read the first lesson from chapter 1, “Introduction to the .NET Framework”, in  Developing Windows-Based Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic.NET and Visual C#.NET . I read through the lesson and took the notes shown in the section below as I read. After I finished reading, I thought “ok, that’s all good stuff to know, but I want to DO something!” So, I found an article in the MSDN library on viewing the contents of an assembly: How to: View Assembly Contents. This was actually very easy and helped me attach the material in this lesson to something concrete.

You use the MISL disassembler to view the assembly. If you haven’t used it before, you’ll be happy to hear that it’s easy to run. Just go to “Visual Studio Tools” on your start menu and select “Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt”. In the DOS window that opens, type “ILDASM” which will launch the MISL disassembler in it’s own window. The MSDN “How to” article explains the rest. I recommend that you do this exercise, but don’t get sidetracked by trying to decipher everything in the manifest. It’s enough just to get the general idea of what’s in there. 

8/9/07 Update: I won’t be posting about any more lessons in this series. Read: MCSD is Outdated. Become an MCPD Instead to see why.

8/16/07 Update: If you would like to study for the MCTS or MCPD, then start here: Join me in studying for MCTS exam 70-536.

Join me in preparing for Microsoft VB.NET certification

I’m an old programmer, but relatively new to .NET. I have some experience with VB2005 programming and would like to get certified, so I’m studying for Microsoft exam 70-306, “Developing and Implementing Windows Based Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic.NET and Microsoft Visual Studio.NET”. I’m using the book Developing Windows-Based Applications with Microsoft Visual Basic.NET and Visual C#.NET  by Matthew A. Stoecker, published by Microsoft Press in 2003.

I really don’t like to study alone, so I’m inviting you  to join me. I’ll be posting my  questions, answer, and discoveries as I complete each lesson and lab in this text and I’m hoping you will also post your  observations, questions and answers in comments to the post for each lesson and lab.

8/9/07 Update: I won’t be studying for exam 70-306 after all. Read this post to see why: MCSD is Outdated. Become an MCPD Instead

8/16/07 Update: Join me in studying for the MCTS and MCPD. Start by reading here: Join me in studying for MCTS exam 70-536.

The Windows USB video class driver

In 2003, Microsoft added a standard USB video class (UVC) driver, Usbvideo.sys, to Windows XP as part of SP2. It is also included in all installations of Windows Server 2003 and Vista. This means that if you have a webcam or other video device that has a USB device driver that conforms to the USB video class specification, you can just plug it into your computer and it will work! No driver installation necessary. Any video device that has the “Designed for Windows Vista” logo must have a UVC compliant driver. The really cool thing about the UVC driver is that it is not just provided on Windows, but also on Linux and Mac OS-X, so a video device that complies with this spec will work anywhere!