Taking it Online - Moving From Client Based to Web Based Applications

Jun

2008

by SMercer

So long	Hello
`Outlook`	GMail, Google Calendar, TadaList
`Office`	Google Docs
`Trillian/AIM`	Google Chat
`Project`	FogBugz, BaseCamp
`Traditional CRMs`	SalesForce
`PhotoShop LE, Picture Viewers, etc`	flickr, picasa

In the last few years, major developments have happened in the application world that have enabled me to completely abandon many of the win32 client programs that I have depended on for years. I have been reading about this phenomenon for a long time now, but we seem to be at a significant tipping point. At first, I never really bought into the fact that that web applications could even compete with traditional win32 and mac desktop applications.

The Astronauts

Sometime around 2001, I was working on my first AJAX enabled web application and saw first hand the limitations of trying to do anything overly interactive within a web browser (heck, we were dealing with netscape 4.7 and IE 5 at the time). In fact, it wasn't even yet called AJAX at that time, I think we were calling XML Sockets or something to that effect. Anyhow, around this time many of the big thinkers (or architecture astronauts, as Joel calls them) out there on the internets were beginning to tout the end of desktop computing as we know it. They talked about how in the future, we would store all of our files and applications online, and that we could access them from anywhere. I think "Passport" was actually supposed to be a significant step toward this utopian computing ideal. At the time, I thought it sounded like a great direction, but I wasn't about to hold my breath due my experience in developing rich web applications and first hand knowledge of how terrible and inconsistent the world of web browsers was (and still is, although improving).

Fast Forward a Whole Bunch of Years

Using .Net 3.x Lambda Expressions to Write More Concise Code

May

2008

by M.S.

Lambda Expressions via msdn.com:

A lambda expression is an anonymous function that can contain expressions and statements, and can be used to create delegates or expression tree types. All lambda expressions use the lambda operator =>, which is read as "goes to". The left side of the lambda operator specifies the input parameters (if any) and the right side holds the expression or statement block. The lambda expression x => x * x is read "x goes to x times x."

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Overview of Lambda Expressions

One of the new .NET 3.x language features that we have been enjoying recently is Lambda Expressions. These expressions are essentially the next iteration of the anonymous methods that were offered with .NET 2.0, with one of the major differences being the simplicity with which you can construct inline methods. When used appropriately, these Lambda Expressions let us get more done with less code and less redundancy.

Lambda Expressions In Practice

Let's say you run into a situation in which you want to write a method that takes as an argument an object of a particular type and a property on the object you want to work with. For example if we take the example below and want to make the redundant parts (in blue text) a shared method, except the different property (in red text) being used is potentially holding us up. (Continue reading for example code).

What To Read?

Mar

2008

by SMercer

One of my major complaints about RSS in general is that with all of the fresh content that is delivered, I can never tell which stories are deserving of my limited time and attention span. With each new interesting blog and news feed that I subscribe to, the problem gets worse. One of the things that I have grown to appreciate when I visit CNN.com for example, is that the most important news receives the highest priority one the page. Sometimes these stories even receive a dramatic red background that is impossible to ignore. With an RSS reader, a story about N. Korea's nuclear ambitions recieves the same treatment as the latest celebrity hijinks of Tom Cruise.

This got me thinking about the ways that content can be visualized, especially syndicated / aggregated content. One of the things I stumbled accross is the idea of a NewsMap, which takes aggregated news content (in this case Google News) and displays them in a hierarchical manner. Ok, so after trying to acually read the news via the NewsMap I realize that is not really the best solution. I fact, it's actually quite headache inducing.

Perhaps the best answer would be a rating system for syndicated content that would allow peoples readers to prioritize and display information based on how the rest of the internet world see it.