The nature of open source makes security problems an inevitable concern. There are a handful of ways that malicious code can make its way into open source and avoid detection during security testing, making government adoption of open source particularly worrisome.
| October 29, 2003
Big changes are afoot at the PDC at the 2003 PDC. Find out which technologies are likely to receive future support, which seem to be getting phased out, and where Microsoft is trying to get you to focus your latest development efforts.
Even if you're all for sticking it to Microsoft, you'd better keep a close eye on the Eolas case. If Eolas is allowed to enforce this patent, Microsoft won't be the only one paying: Web developers and Web consumers will pay a dear price, and Eolas has even more in store.
The CodeDOM namespace contains classes that abstract the idea of code. After defining code in this abstract manner, you can use a language-specific CodeProvider class to generate code in any .NET language from that single abstract CodeDOM representation.
Now that you can build console applications with VB.NET, you also need to parse and validate command line arguments. Use this CommandLineParser assembly to define and validate command line arguments and minimize the need to write custom parsing code.
Learn to use the DrawMode settings with ListBoxes and ComboBoxes to create and display customized items.
You no longer need to use the Win32 API or the VB Shell function to launch external applications. Instead, use the System.Diagnostics.Process class built into the .NET framework to simplify your code.
You don't have to limit yourself to the simple key/value settings available by default through the <AppSettings> section in the Web.config file. Instead, create custom configuration handlers to manage information however you like.
Take advantage of XML and XSLT to display, manage, and cache data.
| December 19, 2001
Cross-browser incompatibilities, insufficient power, and the march of technology have relegated DHTML to a smalland shrinkingniche.
VB.NET, the .NET Framework, and Visual Studio.NET together form a potent combination that can simplify your code and reduce errors; however, to truly supplant existing versions of VB as a RAD tool, Visual Studio needs Break-Edit-Continue.