Meet my new best friend: Visual Studio Code

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On the last week of April, Microsoft was having a huge event call //Build. During three (3) days many great conferences were presented. You can watch them on-demand on Channel 9. The keynote of day one is a must! It was during this keynote that Microsoft reveals many amazing news. One of them: Visual Studio Code. In this post, I indent to share my impression of this tool after one week of usage.

The Beast

You may be thinking: VSCode, it must be a light version Visual Studio... To that, I will reply it's not.
VSCode doesn't go without remembering other modern text editor like Sublime text, or brackets. The interface is far different from Visual Studio though. At this day, three themes are available but you can customize e v e r y t h i n g.

VSCode_Theme_contrasteVSCode_Theme_darkVSCode_Theme_light
VSCode is free, and it runs on Windows, Linux and Mac, it includes great tooling for web technologies such as HTML, Asp.net, Nodejs, CSS, LESS, SASS and JSon. It has syntax highlighting and a true IntelliSense. It also included: package managers, repositories, Git experience, debug tools, tasks, and so more!

I could continue over and over, but all the features are well explained on the official website.

My experience

It took me less than a minute to install on my "old" surface one. The interface is fast, and everything was looking good... Until I try to do something.

First, I was a bit confused. How should I open or create a project? Where is the menu? How do I use the debugger? After few minutes reading the excellent documentation on the official website, everything became clear. Visual Studio Code is sharing his name with his big brother, but he is really different. VS Code is using a folder approach, and a lot of shortcuts (so you keep your hands on the keyboard). And you quickly learn to use the Command Palette (Ctrl + Shift + P) to do more specific work.

My initial test was why Ghost. I cloned the repository directly from Github to my computer. Then from VSCode, open the folder. Without changing / editing anything, VSCode knew my project was in JavaScript, and the coloring and IntelliSense were working. And(F5), the debugger and I felt already more at home.

Firstdebug

A little message informed me that I needed to specify the starting point in the configuration file and voilà! I was debugging a Node.js project, that was easy.


Verdict

After a really short adaptation, Visual Studio Code reveals to be a reel gem. I strongly suggest that you spend few minutes reading the documentation before, to enjoy all his capabilities! The further I use it the more I become completely addicted. Visual Studio Code is an indispensable tool for everyone doing web development or looking for a powerful code editor.

VSCode_Markdown
 
 
Reference:
  • Visual studio code: Official website where you can find documentation and download VSCode for your favourite platform.

Reading Notes #184

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CDxQRhpUIAAqBij[1]Last week, Microsoft released tones of news during the //Build 2015. The event was broadcast live, but if you are like me, you probably work during the day.... That smile because the conferences were recorded and are now available on Channel 9

You should definitely take a look and create your own schedule, but in all cases, you must watch the day's one Keynote
Enjoy!

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Reading notes #183

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The first ever Microsoft MVP Virtual Conference

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Did you eared about that great free event that Microsoft and the MVPs are putting on in May? On the 14th and 15th (yes two days!), join Microsoft MVPs from the Americas’ region as they share their knowledge and real-world expertise during a free event, the MVP Virtual Conference.

by MVPs, for everyone

MVPvConf
 

Gigantic event

The MVP Virtual Conference will showcase 95 sessions of content for IT Pros, Developers and Consumer experts designed to help you navigate life in a mobile-first, cloud-first world.  Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Developer Platform, Steve Guggenheimer, will be on hand to deliver the opening Key Note Address.
 

Still not sure if you will found what you are looking for?

The conference will have 5 tracks:
  • IT Pro English
  • Dev English
  • Consumer English
  • Portuguese mixed sessions
  • Spanish mixed sessions
There is something for everyone! Learn from the best and brightest MVPs in the tech world today and develop some great skills!

Join Me!

Be sure to register quickly to hold your spot and tell your friends & colleagues.

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The conference will be widely covered on social media, you can join the conversation by following @MVPAward and using the hashtag #MVPvConf.












Reading Notes #182

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released the DocumentDB Data Migration tool, an open source solution that imports data from a variety of sources, including JSON files, CSV files, SQL Server, MongoDB and existing DocumentDB collections.

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~Frank B.


Reading Notes #181

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  • Making the Complex Simple - Not sure how to "classify" this post, is it a top list of the best bad practices, or literally "du bonbon"? A post to read, and relax.

From Ottawa to Montreal in April 2015

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This April two event kept my attention, let me present them.

The MVP Cloud RoadShow - April 11


Where: Ottawa
Register: Meetup

Bored that every one is telling you to move to the cloud, but don't explain how to get there or are how it's working in the cloud?

The MVP Cloud RoadShow, is the perfect opportunity to meet Microsoft Azure MVPs. These specialists will talk about: Intune, Hybrid Identity, Rights Management, SQL Business Intelligence and Building a Lab in Azure.

Here all the information you need on the Meetup page.


Global Azure Bootcamp (Montreal edition) - April 25


Where: Montreal
Register: Meetup

Azure Bootcamp logo
This year is marks the third edition of this great event. In more than 190 locations around the globe, people will develop Cloud Computing applications for Azure, this is definitely a great learning opportunity. Many goods hands-on-labs:
  • Infrastructure as a Service in Microsoft Azure (Virtual Machines)
  • Getting started with Azure Websites and ASP.NET
  • Building a web application with ASP.NET MVC using DocumentDB
  • Get Started with the Azure WebJobs SDK
  • Get started with Mobile Services
  • How to Use Azure Redis Cache
  • etc.

For all the detail about the Montreal edition be sure to go on the Meetup page. For more information about the global event go on http://global.azurebootcamp.net/

~Frank B.

Reading Notes #180

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~Frank B.


Microsoft Azure MVP 2015

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With April came the MVP nominations, and I'm very happy to receive the 2015 Microsoft Azure MVP award, and to join the great MVP's family.


I would like to thanks everyone who helps me to share my passion, push me to always move forward, stimulate me to get outside my comfort zone to meet other passionate around the globe. Be sure that this is only the beginning!

The Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals, or MVPs is an award that Microsoft gives to exceptional, independent community leaders who share their passion, technical expertise, and real-world knowledge of Microsoft products with others. It is part of Microsoft’s commitment to supporting and enriching technical communities.
To know more about the MVP program, or to know how you could become an MVP, visit Microsoft MVP website.


See you soon.

~ Frank B

Reading Notes #179

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Reading Notes #178

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Ballade en ski du 21 mars 2015 - 1

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~Frank


Reading Notes #177

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2015-03-15 13.45.14

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Tons of statistics and metrics for Microsoft Azure websites (not only Asp.Net)

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Your website is finally online. That great, good job. But now, you have a lot of questions: How much visits do I have? Which part of the site is mostly visited? Does the site performs well? In this post, I will show you some tools that exist in Microsoft Azure that will help you to get some answers.

Request and Error

When you create a website in Azure, you automatically got some monitoring. Go on portal.azure.com (the preview portal), and select your website.

Monitoring_2015-03-05_1540

This will be useful to see how many requests and errors you got. You could create some alerts, by clicking the "+" sign, and you would be notified by e-mail if the number of request is greater than x, over the last hour.

Analytics

The first time you will click on this section all the instruction will be given to you.
To collect end-user usage analytics about your application, insert the following script into each page you want to track. Place this code immediately before the closing </headtag, and before any other scripts. Your first data will appear automatically in just a few seconds.
To get analytics for the whole web site, in an Asp.Net MVC site, a good place will be: \Views\Shared\_Layout.cshtml.

In a Ghost blog, if you are using the default theme, the file will be /content/themes/casper/default.hbs. Otherwise, just replace "casper" by your theme name in the path.

Once your website is re-deployed, re-open the website blade and click again on the Analytics graph. And you will be able to see a lot of information: Session per browser, information on page's views, slowest pages, details on sessions, etc.


Analitics_tour


When you click on a graph, the Metrics Explorer blade will be visible. On the top of this blade, you will have many different options to customize your results. You will be able to add a chart, change the time range, add some filter and even set some alerts.


Metrics_explorer


Moreover, if you click on those Charts, tables or even on a row, you will have more details and options to fine-tune the result.


Diagnostics_Search


Application Insights

You thought it was enough? Well, Microsoft Azure still has one more tool for you, that will cover in this post: Application Insights. With this one, you will be able to see the health of your application by adding some tests, custom events, logs, errors, etc.
Adding Application Insights to your Asp.Net website, can easily be done via Visual Studio, like I explained in a previous post.

Since Azure is compatible with many different languages, chances are that you are using one of those. Let say you are running a node.js Ghost blog, how could you add Application Insights? By using website extensions. To add an extension you could use the Kudu interface. This interface is easy to access. In a browser, type the URL of the website but inject "scm" between the name of the application and the azurewebsites.net. Something like http://mybookmanager.scm.azurewebsites.net/


From_Kudu_Console2015-03-01_2044


Once you are in the Kudu interface, click on the tab Site Extensions, then section Gallery. Add the Application Insights Extension.
It's also possible to add a website extension using the website blade.


From_portal_2015-03-01_2101


This will gives you a lot of information already, but to add more customs metric in .Net by sure to add the Application Insights SDK to your porject. In node.js use the applicationinsights package from npm,

~Frank Boucher



References




Reading Notes #176

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the-door-1319069-m from freeimages.com

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~Frank B

Reading Notes #175

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Cloud


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Miscellaneous

  • Microsoft or Google? - This post shares some thoughts about a very common question that a lot of people are asking.

~Frank



Reading Notes #174

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gitSuggestion of the week


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Reading Notes #173

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Books

C# Tips
C# Tips_coverBy Jason Roberts
Publisher: Leanpub
Released: December 2014

This book it undoubtedly for people who already know C#. If you want to learn C# by doing the best practices, I would strongly suggest to start with something else. However, if you already know how to code, and you want to improve your, or got this little plus; this book is a must.

It’s not a very big book, but all the zones are covered. It’s split into three parts. The first one will provides many good this to improve the performance of your code, customizes your debug experience, and more. The second part will focus on the very useful design patterns that we should all have in our back pocket. Finally, the third and last section introduces tools and frameworks (NUnits, Moq, etc.) to facilitate your work.

I would definitely recommend this book to any developer. The book is available in all the digital format for free, but if you like it consider giving a donation. :)

Miscellaneous


~Frank Boucher



Visual Studio Online is definitely more than text editor online!

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5 powerful features that make Visual Studio online an indispensable tool

If you are a .Net developer then you know Visual Studio. Few months ago, Microsoft released a new version of this tool call Visual Studio 2013 Community edition. This version offers all the features and is completely free. Many of us already have downloaded and installed this version. Another version is also available, but doesn't have the popularity of his brothers... yet. Let's talk about Visual Studio Online.
 

Get Started

Did you know that Visual Studio Online is available for free? Go to http://www.visualstudio.com/ and create an free account that will included:


  • 5 FREE Basic user licenses
  • Unlimited team projects and private code repos
  • FREE work item tracking for all users
  • FREE 60 minutes/month of build
  • and much more.... 

    • 1- It's a Source Control

    It may be called Visual Studio Online, but it has all the features from Team Foundation Server (TFS).
    Let's create a new project. From your home page, under the tab Overview (selected by default) click on New. This will pop the form to create a new team project. One interesting thing to note is that both TFS and Git are supported as Version control system.
    For the post I will create my project MyBookManager using Git.

    Create_project_with_VSO

    2- It's an Agile board


    Now that we have a project, it's time to describe it. Visual Studio Online has an entire section just for collaborative work. From the home screen of your VSO click on _Users_ tab. Create your users, roles and manage their permissions.
    It's now time to time to describe all the features of the project. Click on _Overview_ tab to get back to Home. Select your project, then click on _Work_ tab. From here you will be able to create all the features you need, and split them in tasks and sub tasks; perfect to fill-up a backlog item list and plan your next sprint.
    Once a sprint is started, it's also from here that you will be able to see and interact with the Board.

    board

    From this board, cards can be move by dragging them in the column that reflected the current status of the work. Open the on-premise Visual Studio. From the bar Team Explorer click on the little plug, and select: “Select Team Project…”. If your VSO Server is not present, just add it, then select the your project (ex: MyBookManager).
    For this post I will create an empty Asp.Net MVC project. In the Models folder I add a new class Book with very basic code.

    public class Book
{
     public int BookID { get; set; }
     public string Title { get; set; }
     public bool Read { get; set; }
}

    Then by right-clicking on the folder Controllers select the Add new Scafolded Item option, and use that to create our CRUD controller and views for the Book model we just created. Let’s check-in the code, and go back to VSO. You should see the code.

    To give more visibility to the work’s status, you can create very nice chart and pinned them on the Home page. To add a new chart, go in the Work tab select Queries.  You can use the existing query or simply create a new one. To add a chart to the Home page right-click on the query and select Pin to Home page.

    Home

    3- It's a build / Deployment server


    create_build_step_1If it's one think that seem always complex for a developer is the automation build and deployment server setup. With VSO no need for all that complexity and resources, only follow a short wizard and your build machine will be setup in Azure ready to deploy as soon as you want.  You can setup an automatic build and deployment from the Azure Portal and Visual Studio. In this post, I will use Visual Studio.

    From the Team Explorer bar in Visual Studio, click on Builds then New Build Definition, to get the wizard.

    Build_step1

    First step, just put a name who makes sense.

    build_step_2

    Step two, we need to choose what will trigger the build. I select continuous integration, so the build should start at every check-in.

    Build_process

    When I create my project I select Git as a source control, so for the next step I will need to expand the Build process template zone, by clicking Show details.  Then from the list select GitContinuousDeploymentTemplate.12.xaml.

    The build definition is done, save and let it there for now.

    4- It's a Code Editor


    If it's one feature that you could expect from a tool like VSO is to be able to edit code online.  The online version is obviously less powerful then the on-premise one, but still you will it very convenient and easy to use.

    Let's change the button in the book list to be more modern. First, select Code tab.  Now let's find the Index.html file under the View folder. Once the file is selected, click on Edit button. It's time to add some bootstrap classes to transform the look of our button. As you can see even we are in a web  browser we have IntelliSense. 

    Edit_online

    Build_overall_processHit Save and it will commit our change. Since we create a continuous build, this one should kick-in and build and deploy our changes. We can see the status of our build by going in the Build tab in Visual Studio Online. It’s also possible to see it in the Home page by pinning it.
    When the build will be done, our change will be visible in the website. Of course, this build is very simple, unit test and more complexes processes could also be implemented.


    update_Result_after_auto_deployed



    5- It's a Test server


    Another great feature is the possibility to create a test plan for the quality assurance (QA) tester. You could create it via VSO as a test plan by going in the last tab Test. And create a checklist,  so they can follow it to test the application feature by feature.  You could also record the action with Microsoft Test Manager and then do a load test on the website by running simultaneously multiple tests on different instances in Azure.

    Microsoft_Test_Manager



    Verdict

    Visual Studio Online is a great tool and win to  be now more. What are the features you enjoy the most in VSO?


    ~Frank B

    References

  • http://www.visualstudio.com/


    • Reading Notes #172

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    HomeSuggestion of the week


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    ~Frank B.


    Reading Notes #171

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    Different readings which kept my interest during the week.


    Windows 10 free Update

    Suggestion of the week

    • Walyou (Jasmine Henry) - This is why you should care about Windows 10.

    Read more »

    Reading Notes #170

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    • Data Pipeline Guidance (patterns & practices) - Interesting project using Azure Eventhub's best practices in an IoT context.

    Programming


    Podcast


    Miscellaneous

    • Removing Distractions - Interesting post where the author share is experience while trying to be less connected.

    ~Frank B.


    2014 numbers for Franky's Notes


    Reading Notes #169

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    Happy New Year!


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    ~Frank Boucher


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