Wavyx

SQLite is a well known alternative for developers wishing to provide a light database embedded with the application. Moreover SQLite is in the public domain and thus allows many developpers to rely on this SQL database engine.

For .Net developpers who needs a local databse, you can use SQLite in application developped in C# or VB.net by using one of the following wrappers:

1. System.Data.SQLite is the original SQLite database engine. It is a complete ADO.NET 2.0 provider and can be used as full replacement for the original sqlite3.dll. It has no linker dependency on the .NET runtime so it can be distributed independently of .NET.
2. Finisar.SQLite was the original ADO.NET Data Provider for accessing SQLite-Databases using the .NET-Framework. It is no longer under active development and has been replaced by System.Data.SQLite.
3. SQLite.NET wrapper  is a simple wrapper composed by a couple of classes in C# to allow access to SQLite databases. This is not an ADO.NET provider, but instead it provides a simple set of methods to access and retrieve data in a result set class.

I recommend this 2 quick tutorials to get started with SQLite in a .Net environment: SQLite on .NET – Get up and running in 3 minutes and Using sqlite with .NET.

Last but not least, if you need some visual database manager (GUI), you can try SQLite2008 Manager, SQLite Administrator or SQLiteTool. See also SQLite Trac for a more comprehensive list or this link.

When you use .Net, you sometimes need some old win32 api’s. Even if a managed environment is really appreciable and confortable, there are some part of windows you can’t access from C# or VB .net code. Then you often have no other choice than rely on old windows system calls.

This generally implies a lot of marshalling and interop to wrap unmanaged windows functions into nice managed .Net namespaces. And this is also true for mobile developpers interacting with Windows CE dll, see Interop for .Net Compact Framework.

I just discovered that  a couple of Win32 functionnalities are already bundled in the Microsoft.Win32 namespace of the .Net framework.

Another great resource for COM interop is the P/Invoke wiki !

And for those who are (still) more familiar with the old school windows functions, you can refer to this map to find your way in the .Net environment.

I’m looking for a way to insert an auto-update functionnality in a .Net application.  So far, I found only 3 approaches to easily update an application:

1. Microsoft Patterns & Practices provide an Updater Application Block v2.0. An application block is a kind of reusable and extensible module. This specific application block provide a quick and easy mean to add self updating capabilities to .NET-based smart client solutions, like Windows Forms applications. Here you can find the Introduction, the Design overview and an article on how to use this application block.
2. Sharp AutoUpdater is a library providing an auto-update feature for .NET applications. It relies on XML configuration files and handles the detection of a new version, downloads, unzips, and installation of the new files.
3. Microsoft also has a ClickOnce deployment solution that handles updates. It is similar to the  java webstart solution. You can find more information here, in this article or among the wikipedia external links

ClickOnce seems fully integrated in a .Net environment, but as far as I know there is no solution to use a standard webserver (not IIS) to handle updates. I should definitely give it a try and see if IIS is really mandatory or if you can use some workaround.

Do you know other methods? Sometimes deployment tools include auto-update container to bundle an generic updater with your application (like install4J).

Yesterday, I randomly discovered a new tool for .Net to help developers with code testing. Microsoft Research has developed Pex, a test plugin which can be integrated to Visual Studio. So far nothing is really new, right ? But, say you’re as lazy as me when it’s about writing unit tests, you should definitely go look the official Pex homepage.
To be more specific, Pex automatically discovers interesting test paths. It finds interesting input-output values for each method and generate a test suite offering a pretty high code coverage. The keyword being “generate”, which means less time on testing and more on… (suit yourself).

At first sight, I must confess this may sounds a bit magical.  So how does it work?  Pex performs a systematic analysis, hunting for boundary conditions, exceptions and assertion failures, which you can debug right away. Bringing all this together, Pex offer a new approach to Parameterized Unit Testing and will hopefully reduce debug time and maintenance costs. This general test technique is also referred as  white box testing.

You will find extra information on this slideshow or on the Pex documentation section. Channel9 offers a “getting started” video as a tutorial on how to use Pex inside Visual Studio 2008. Microsoft Research has also a document about Parameterized Unit Tests.

Also let’s stay cautious: automated or generated tests are not THE solution to avoid code inspection and application stress. As a responsible developer, you should use tools to ease your life and make your products better. But never be too confident when it comes to magic black box software making your job