.NET Center Of Excellence

AJAX is every where and every one is talking about....

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:26:00 +0000

AJAX is every where and every one is talking about. As expected Micorsoft again has done a very good job in creating a high productivity tools, SDK and control infrastcruture to provide the best progarmmer as well as end user experiences in creating UIs with programming ease and flexibility to customize. The thing that are available from MS now are.. (Yes, forget ATLAS now and there is even lot more easier and power full support on AJAX )

ASP.NET AJAX Extensions

Core ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions 1.0 for creating AJAX-style applications with either server-centric or client-centric development models

ASP.NET AJAX control tool kit.

The Control Toolkit provides both ready-to-run samples and a powerful SDK to simplify creating custom ASP.NET AJAX controls and extenders. The latest release of the Control Toolkit has been updated to work with ASP.NET AJAX 1.0 RC and the ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX

Microsoft AJAX library

This package contains the complete set of client JavaScript components that are included in the full ASP.NET AJAX RC installation. You may use and modify these scripts in your own applications. To simplify installation, the Microsoft AJAX Library package is available as a compressed (.zip) file

So businesses! be ready to see the AJAX - all around and see the blurred diffrentiation between desk top richness and web content delivery. Now both are having even more similarities in user ergonomics designs.

Performance and Scalability ASP.NET is built to p...

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 10:46:00 +0000

Performance and Scalability

ASP.NET is built to perform, using a compiled execution model for handling page requests and running on the world's fastest web server, Internet Information Services. ASP.NET 2.0 also introduces key performance benefits over previous versions.

64-Bit Support. ASP.NET 2.0 is now 64-bit enabled, meaning it can take advantage of the full memory address space of new 64-bit processors and servers. Developers can simply copy existing 32-bit ASP.NET applications onto a 64-bit ASP.NET 2.0 server and have them automatically be JIT compiled and executed as native 64-bit applications (no source code changes or manual re-compile are required).
Caching Improvements. ASP.NET 2.0 also now includes automatic database server cache invalidation. This powerful and easy-to-use feature allows developers to aggressively output cache database-driven page and partial page content within a site and have ASP.NET automatically invalidate these cache entries and refresh the content whenever the back-end database changes. Developers can now safely cache time-critical content for long periods without worrying about serving visitors stale data.

In continuation with discussion on .Net 2.0,today’...

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:05:00 +0000

In continuation with discussion on .Net 2.0,today’s concentration is given to Flexible Extensibility of new version.

Flexible Extensibility

ASP.NET 2.0 is a well-factored and open system, where any component can be easily replaced with a custom implementation. Whether it is server controls, page handlers, compilation, or core application services, you'll find that all are easily customizable and replaceable to tailor to your needs. Developers can plug in custom code anywhere in the page lifecycle to further customize ASP.NET 2.0 to their needs.

Provider-driven Application Services. ASP.NET 2.0 now includes built-in support for membership (user name/password credential storage) and role management services out of the box. The new personalization service enables quick storage/retrieval of user settings and preferences, facilitating rich customization with minimal code. The new site navigation system enables developers to quickly build link structures consistently across a site. As all of these services are provider-driven, they can be easily swapped out and replaced with your own custom implementation. With this extensibility option, you have complete control over the data store and schema that drives these rich application services.
Server Control Extensibility. ASP.NET 2.0 includes improved support for control extensibility, such as more base classes that encapsulate common behaviors, improved designer support, more APIs for interacting with client-side script, metadata-driven support for new features like themes and accessibility verification, better state management, and more.
Data Source Controls. Data access in ASP.NET 2.0 is now performed declaratively using data source controls on a page. In this model, support for new data backend storage providers can be easily added by implementing custom data source controls. Additionally, the SqlDataSource control that ships in the box has built-in support for any ADO.NET managed provider that implements the new provider factory model in ADO.NET.
Compilation Build Providers. Dynamic compilation in ASP.NET 2.0 is now handled by extensible compilation build providers, which associate a particular file extension with a handler that knows how to compile that extension dynamically at runtime. For example, .resx files can be dynamically compiled to resources, .wsdl files to web service proxies, and .xsd files to typed DataSet objects. In addition to the built-in support, it is easy to add support for additional extensions by implementing a custom build provider and registering it in Web.config.
Expression Builders. ASP.NET 2.0 introduces a declarative new syntax for referencing code to substitute values into the page, called Expression Builders. ASP.NET 2.0 includes expression builders for referencing string resources for localization, connection strings, application settings, and profile values. You can also write your own expression builders to create your own custom syntax to substitute values in a page rendering.

Continuing with the discussion on new in .NET 2.0,...

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:09:00 +0000

Continuing with the discussion on new in .NET 2.0,today we are taking second of the aspect that is Administration and management. It plays very important role in deployment, management, and operations of ASP.NET servers.

Administration and Management

ASP.NET 2.0 is designed with administration and manageability in mind. We recognize that while simplifying the development experience is important, deployment and maintenance in a production environment is also a key component of an application's lifetime. ASP.NET 2.0 introduces several new features that further enhance the deployment, management, and operations of ASP.NET servers.

Configuration API. ASP.NET 2.0 contains new configuration management APIs, enabling users to programmatically build programs or scripts that create, read, and update Web.config and machine.config configuration files.
ASP.NET MMC Admin Tool. ASP.NET 2.0 provides a new comprehensive admin tool that plugs into the existing IIS Administration MMC, enabling an administrator to graphically read or change common settings within our XML configuration files.
Pre-compilation Tool. ASP.NET 2.0 delivers a new application deployment utility that enables both developers and administrators to precompile a dynamic ASP.NET application prior to deployment. This precompilation automatically identifies any compilation issues anywhere within the site, as well as enables ASP.NET applications to be deployed without any source being stored on the server (one can optionally remove the content of .aspx files as part of the compile phase), further protecting your intellectual property.
Health Monitoring and Tracing. ASP.NET 2.0 also provides new health-monitoring support to enable administrators to be automatically notified when an application on a server starts to experience problems. New tracing features will enable administrators to capture run-time and request data from a production server to better diagnose issues. ASP.NET 2.0 is delivering features that will enable developers and administrators to simplify the day-to-day management and maintenance of their Web applications.

What's New in .NET 2.0- big picture

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 07:58:00 +0000

ASP.NET is a programming framework built on the common language runtime that can be used on a server to build powerful Web applications. The first version of ASP.NET offered several important advantages over previous Web development models. ASP.NET 2.0 improves upon that foundation by adding support for several new and exciting features in the areas of developer productivity, administration and management, extensibility, and performance:

Experts from Hanu software Solutions are keeping close eye on recent developments in this technology .We will discuss each area in detail and let our readers know that what new .Net 2.0 is offering to its loyals. First is the turn of developer productivity….

Developer Productivity

ASP.NET 2.0 encapsulates common Web tasks into application services and controls that can be easily reused across web sites. With these basic building blocks, many scenarios can now be implemented with far less custom code than was required in previous versions. With ASP.NET 2.0 it is possible to significantly reduce the amount of code and concepts necessary to build common scenarios on the web.

New Server Controls. ASP.NET 2.0 introduces many new server controls that enable powerful declarative support for data access, login security, wizard navigation, menus, treeviews, portals, and more. Many of these controls take advantage of core application services in ASP.NET for scenarios like data access, membership and roles, and personalization. Some of the new families of controls in ASP.NET 2.0 are described below.

Data Controls. Data access in ASP.NET 2.0 can be accomplished completely declaratively (no code) using the new data-bound and data source controls. There are new data source controls to represent different data backends such as SQL database, business objects, and XML, and there are new data-bound controls for rendering common UI for data, such as gridview, detailsview, and formview..
Navigation Controls. The navigation controls provide common UI for navigating between pages in your site, such as treeview, menu, and sitemappath. These controls use the site navigation service in ASP.NET 2.0 to retrieve the custom structure you have defined for your site.
Login Controls. The new login controls provide the building blocks to add authentication and authorization-based UI to your site, such as login forms, create user forms, password retrieval, and custom UI for logged in users or roles. These controls use the built-in membership and role services in ASP.NET 2.0 to interact with the user and role information defined for your site.
Web Part Controls. Web parts are an exciting new family of controls that enable you to add rich, personalized content and layout to your site, as well as the ability to edit that content and layout directly from your application pages. These controls rely on the personalization services in ASP.NET 2.0 to provide a unique experience for each user in your application.

Master Pages. This feature provides the ability to define common structure and interface elements for your site, such as a page header, footer, or navigation bar, in a common location called a "master page", to be shared by many pages in your site. In one simple place you can control the look, feel, and much of functionality for an entire Web site. This improves the maintainability of your site and avoids unnecessary duplication of code for shared site structure or behavior.
Themes and Skins. The themes and skins features in ASP.NET 2.0 allow for easy customization of your site's look-and-feel. You can define style information in a common location called a "theme", and apply that style information globally to pages or controls in your site. Like Master Pages, this improves the maintainability of your site and avoid unnecessary duplication of code for shared styles.
Personalization. Using the new personalization services in ASP.NET 2.0 you can easily create customized experiences within Web applications. The Profile object enables developers to easily build strongly-typed, sticky data stores for user accounts and build highly customized, relationship based experiences. At the same time, a developer can leverage Web Parts and the personalization service to enable Web site visitors to completely control the layout and behavior of the site, with the knowledge that the site is completely customized for them. Personalizaton scenarios are now easier to build than ever before and require significantly less code and effort to implement.
Localization. Enabling globalization and localization in Web sites today is difficult, requiring large amounts of custom code and resources. ASP.NET 2.0 and Visual Studio 2005 provide tools and infrastructure to easily build Localizable sites including the ability to auto-detect incoming locale's and display the appropriate locale based UI. Visual Studio 2005 includes built-in tools to dynamically generate resource files and localization references. Together, building localized applications becomes a simple and integrated part of the development experience.

. NET Solutions for Many Industries

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 06:41:00 +0000

Today’s write-up will introduce reader to the different industries where Hanu Software has proved her excellence by the providing unmatched quality solutions

We develop .NET solutions for a wide range of industries. Some of these industries and typical applications are described below.

Real Estate —Hanu Software Solutions can help realtors develop information-rich, easily navigated Web-based portals and desktop applications enabling them, their customers, and prospects to easily access accurate, up-to-date information.

Telecommunications — For telecom companies and wireless service providers, our expertise in .NET technology can build reliable, scalable hosting infrastructures; integrate computer and telephony technologies; and enable consumers and businesses to efficiently access information from PCs and other devices. This enables telecommunications companies to use Web services to create new business value.

Healthcare — Efficient, cost-effective integration of data from multiple sources is a necessity for organizations in the healthcare industry. Our .NET solutions help providers and insurers realize improvements in areas such as claims payment, rate setting, pricing, marketing, care management, prescription benefits, eligibility verification, medical records management, and customer service.

Retail — Hanu Software Solutions makes it easy for merchandisers to use .NET technology to make information available to the people who need it, when and where they need it—from customers using a store’s web site to security personnel stopping fraud at the checkout to sales reps closing deals at customer sites.

Entertainment and Media— Hanu Software Solutions is helping media and entertainment businesses realize the ability of .NET solutions to provide their customers with seamless media technologies, audio processing software, education industry solutions, gaming applications, and PDA-based gaming solutions.

Manufacturing — With web-based information systems utilizing the .NET framework, manufacturers can integrate business and industrial processes, internally as well as with partners and customers. This integration is a real advantage in today’s competitive market. Hanu Software Solutions can help develop and deploy.NET-based solutions that deliver Web services benefits across the enterprise.

The COE Value Proposition to Customer Organizations

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:57:00 +0000

Hanu Software Solutions .NET COE benefits customers by providing:

Specialized and industry-certified engineers.
Improved time to market.
A specialized, automated Quality Management System.
Improved release management.
A future-ready delivery system.
Better absorption of the business dynamics.
A synergetic system to offer complete solution set.
Better ROI for your IT investments.
Better integration with customer organizations at all levels – developers, tools, middle management, senior management, communications, and documentation.

Key Process Measurements

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:06:00 +0000

To ensure the effectiveness of our .NET COE and to be able to make continuous improvements, we measure key aspects of our process.

Productivity

We measure development and testing productivity. Our metric for development productivity is lines of code written per person per staff day. As a typical example, for a recent project on which we added features to an application, we averaged 80 to 85 non-commented lines of code (NCLOC) per staff day. Redevelopment time is generally 25% to 30% less than for a new project, thanks to savings at the requirements phase.

Estimation accuracy

A critical aspect of our ability to deliver projects on time and on budget is our ability to accurately estimate the code size of new projects. We begin with the size of the existing .NET modules, then estimate what would be needed to add the new features and functions. Our estimates always closely match the outcome.

Review effectiveness

We measure the effectiveness of our code reviews by counting the number of defects found during the software test phase. Our review process finds most of the coding bugs, saving development time fixing bugs at the test phase. Currently, our review effectiveness is 88%.

Delivered defect density

We use the internationally accepted standard of 0.5 defects per 1,000 NCLOC to measure our delivered defect density. Our applications consistently meet this standard.

you can visit our website www.hanusoftware.com for more information on .Net KPM's

The Elements of an Hanu Software COE

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 07:35:00 +0000

HSS has established a structure for all of our COEs, consisting of the following key elements:

Languages and Technologies
Tools
Process
People

Languages and Technologies

Each COE includes various programming languages, technologies, development libraries, and compilers related to the particular technology domain of that COE. For example, .NET COE uses the following technologies:

1. C#

2. VB.NET

3. ASP.NET

4. Web Services

5. JavaScript, VB Script

6. XML, XSL, XPath

7. and many more

Tools

The HSS development tool set is an important element of our unique selling proposition, namely, our ability to deliver solutions for many different life cycles, budgets, and timelines. We do not believe in developing a new solution from scratch for each new project. Our tool set includes process tools, engineering tools, analysis tools, utilities, and controls.

Process

HSS has developed a quality management system (QMS) that documents and defines our software development processes. Implemented by all of our engineers, our QMS is based on ISO quality standards and on the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model (CMM).

The key components are:

Inspections. At each stage of development or maintenance, we perform a detailed, technical peer review of the software design and code implementation. Identifying and fixing errors at this early stage prevents bugs from entering the code, saving time and expense, and avoids bugs in the delivered software.
Code Reusability. We have developed a library of more than 100 frequently-used software components typical in .NET applications. These components are tried-and-tested, with proven designs and free of critical bugs. Our components can be re-used without change, or with modifications. At the design phase of a new project, our engineers determine which components are suitable for the new application. Only code unique to the application is designed and written from scratch. Building existing, high-quality software in this way into a new application saves the HSS customer time and expense, and helps ensure quality in the deployed application.
Change Control Board. The HSS QMS requires strict adherence on the part of our software developers to the defined requirements for an application. We have also established a Change Control Board, a group of engineers that reviews all major requests from developers or testers to make changes to the requirements. Using this Board prevents “feature creep,” a typical problem in the software development industry, keeping the development schedule on track and with the features that the customer expects.
Nightly Software Builds and Testing. At HSS, each night we make a new build of an application and run a series of tests that verify its basic operation. Making builds nightly enables us to find and fix integration errors almost immediately. It also enables us to track feature implementation against the schedule, because we can see on a daily basis which features have been implemented.
Risk List and Plan. As part of our QMS, we develop a list of the top-10 risks for each development project, together with a plan for addressing each risk should it materialize. Our engineers assess the risks weekly, resolving any and identifying potential new risks, minimizing impact to the schedule and to software quality.

People

Quality human resources are the fundamental asset in any organization. At HSS, we staff each COE with employees who are skilled in the set of tools, languages, and products used by that COE. We hire primarily engineering graduates who are experienced, trained, and certified in internationally recognized IT skill sets. For example, people on the .NET COE are certified MCPs and MCSDs.

What this means to our customers is that their solutions, products, and software are developed by certified resources, so our customers need not worry about the people deployed on their projects. This also means that HSS customers receive value-added recommendations for long term planning and can develop IT roadmaps with confidence that the recommendations from HSS are based on the latest knowledge.

Faster.NET – development Framework for .NET solutions

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Tue, 23 May 2006 09:45:00 +0000

Our continuing improvement work with the .NET COE enables us to offer scalable, on-demand .NET solutions to customers in a variety of industries. We call this Faster.NET. Its key elements are:

Pre-assembled, reusable software components.
A reusable engineering tool set that does not require customization for each project, thereby improving development speed.
A reusable set of architectures or Solutions Blue Prints (SBP), saving the time of developing a software architecture from scratch.
Qualified and certified engineers.
A Development Center that is open six days a week, thereby increasing weekly productivity.

Our Faster.NET framework reduces typical application development time by approximately 30% to 60%, depending on the project, its life cycle phase, and how extensively the customer wants us to apply the Faster.NET development methodology.

The .NET Center of Excellence at Hanu Software Solutions

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 07:33:00 +0000

Background

Despite all the attention given to returns on IT investments, little progress has been made in linking all the elements of IT to what a business is trying to do. Managing IT investments, and demonstrating the value of IT value to a business, are more challenging than ever, and most businesses seem to be losing ground. Often, management asks CIOs to justify the very IT components that provide value to the business.

This white paper describes strategies that HSS has developed to maximize our efficiency in delivering .NET solutions to our customers.

As a software service organization, whose business itself is IT, we have learned how to align our operations on technology-centric Centers Of Excellence (COEs).

What is a COE?

The term Center of Excellence (COE) is a generic phrase used across many types of institutions, mainly in education, research, and healthcare. The IT industry picked up this phrase and started using it to define the collection of tools, resources, and skills used to perform specific development and maintenance tasks by a focused team working at a single location.

Sometimes ”COE” became more of a marketing term, with little substance behind it, for IT. This was because IT service organizations happen to be project-centric organizations with defined schedules and objectives, in contrast to other departments that may not have the vision, longevity, and resources to maintain a long-term delivery system focused along a common thread.

Making Business Sense

From the start, HSS has had a strategy of delivering value-added, cost-effective solutions to our customers on a continuous basis. As our company grew, we saw the need for a common set of processes and procedures that would allow us to create solutions quickly and leverage project knowledge across projects, so that we can deliver continuously-improving services and solutions. This need also mandated that all specialized tool sets, languages, and the knowledge of how to use them be available to our engineers in a structured and defined system, enabling our engineers to develop new solutions flexibly, faster, and at lowered costs. Enter the HSS Center of Excellence.

Overview

amit.kataria@hanusoftware.com (Hanu Experts) — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 07:07:00 +0000

The Microsoft .NET platform marks a paradigm shift in the way applications are developed for the Internet. It incorporates open standards that enable businesses to collaborate over the Internet with minimal investment. Hanu Software Solutions Inc. (HSS) is an expert in using .NET to develop solution frameworks and applications. We have established a dedicated Center Of Excellence (COE) that leverages our expertise in the .NET platform for the benefit of our customers. Our COE team delivers technical excellence through improved system architectures, applications development capabilities, and reusable enterprise components, and also focuses on building business solutions using existing and emerging .NET technologies and standards.