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Featured Article(s)
Understanding Dispose and Finalize in C#
The Garbage Collector in Microsoft .NET manages memory by cleaning up managed objects. It doesn’t however cleanup the unmanaged resources used in your application’s code. You have to do it manually by implementing the Dispose and Finalize patterns in your code. This article takes a look what Dispose and Finalize methods are and when we should chose one over the other. It also discusses the Dispose – Finalize pattern and how to implement it in your applications.
You’ve Heard of Embedded Reporters?
Ralph suggests embedded developers (and I’d extend that to embedded data analysts):
"I go far enough back in my career to be able to remember the "Priesthood of the Blue and Grey Boxes" . . . i.e. he days of the big IBM Mainframes that sat in "goldfish bowls" that were highly air conditioned (with the humidity kept at 50%). I can also remember the complexity of the applications and the "nightly job streams" that kept all of the company’s data (albeit, a day behind ;-). More significantly, I can remember the Authority (definitely spelled with the capital "A"!) that the Priests of the Mainframes had over whatever went on in the Mainframe.
Early on, though, I was one of those who worked in a company whose existence relied upon pulling together the hardware, figuring out how to interface it all, and then creating the software (including the "OS" such as it was). As a result of that, I adopted the mindset of "I am there to provide whatever is needed for the user to have the machine work for them rather than having them work for the machine." (Only later did I learn that there was a big mainframe somewhere keeping our company’s books. 😉 Thus, I have never quite understood those who want to not only separate the IT functions from the Business Users but to also make sure that there is as little contact as possible between the Business Users and the Developers.
IMHO, anyone who would contend that they can interview a few Business Users and then draw up a comprehensive plan for developing a complex business system that the Business Users will never need to change is probably a candidate for the Bone-Head of the Year award. Unless there is good communication and interaction between the Users and the Developers, the Users are never really going to be or stay happy with what the Developers "give" them.
All too often, after having designed a solution to a problem while sitting at my desk. I have only realized how badly I designed the "solution" when I sat at the User’s desk and watched how they were trying to get their work done. That is why there is, IMHO, a need for either an "embedded" developer within departments or a designated liaison between the departments and IT . . . someone who can interpret for both IT and Business. "
Featured White Paper(s)
7 Steps to Successful SQL Server Auditing
This easy-to-read guide will explain and simplify the basic steps associated with successful SQL Server auditing & give you t… (read more)
Windows PowerShell: Why Developers Should Care
Windows PowerShell is Microsoft’s next generation scripting and shell tool. Find out more about this tool and why its importa… (read more)