This article was written based on a presentation given by Eric Carlson.

VS Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR is a component of the Visual Studio Team System suite of tools. It was formerly known as “DB Pro”. As the General Distribution Release, it is a post-service pack 1 release. It incorporates several of the features slated for Visual Studio 2010 “Rosario”. It also has SQL Server 2008 support.

Some of the key features of this Team System release are listed below:

1. T-SQL Editor
   The T-SQL Editor support ad hoc queries within Visual Studio without having to rely on SQL Management Studio (finally!). Also like Management Studio, Team System 2008 Database Edition supports client statistics, results as text and results as file. Unfortunately there is no Intellisense for SQL Server 2008 built in.
2. Database Projects
   This tool supports off-line schema development in a file format denoted by *.dbschema files. Being able to develop against non-live files is a huge advantage for shared database development. Version control is also supported to capture schema changes as they are developed. Within the Database Projects, compile-time schema validation and static code analysis are presented as warnings. Refactoring and deployment is also made easier by the Database Project tools.
3. Server Projects
   Server Projects model both shared and server-level objects. This enables a team to define a standard configuration for their SQL servers and reference it within their Database Projects.


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This article was written based on a presentation given by Aristo Setiawan.

Test-driven development is a development pattern which is characterized by the use of pre-written test cases which are continuously validated via an iterative, incremental development process.

The basic process is:

1. Write the test.
2. Write the code which is tested by the test from step 1.
3. Validate that the new test and all previously implemented tests run successfully.

The process is repeated for each test until the code is fully implemented.

Benefits of test-driven development include:

• Forces simplicity in the code by breaking down complex tasks into individual subtasks.
• Ensures that the developer understands the intent of the code before writing it.
• Allows defects to be detected early in the development lifecycle.
• Prevents regression by identifying breaking changes prior to release of new versions of the code.

It is important for buyers of software to understand that a solution developed with automated testing (whether or not it is a result of test-driven development or build-then-test development) will have a higher up-front cost. However, automated testing can be expected to pay for itself over the total software asset lifecycle through reduced occurrence of bugs and the limiting of regression.

To give you an idea of what Linq looks like, and how it compares to SQL code, below are some very simple queries in both SQL and Linq. This assumes a Customer table with columns ID and Name: 

Strongly Typed Queries
Linq queries are all strongly typed since classes are autogenerated to match your database schema. As a result, you also get intellisense all the way through composing a query. For example, in the above query, after typing "c." you would get an intellisense popup showing the properties of the Customer class, just like regular coding in Visual Studio. This also means that if you change the name of a table or column in the database, you no longer have to hunt through all your stored procedures to change references to the old name, instead you can just follow the trail of build errors in your code. You can even be tricky by doing name refactor from the old name to the new name before updating the schema.

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I want to share some resume writing tips. These are all based on actual things I have personally seen in resumes that I've reviewed for software developer positions. However, almost all of these tips are generally applicable to anyone writing a resume.

• Proofread for spelling and grammar, especially if English is not your primary language. When I see spelling and grammar mistakes I want to stop reading and throw the resume away. If you have these mistakes, you are digging yourself a hole and the rest of your resume has to be good enough for me to overlook these errors. If you are not adept at spelling and grammar, then find someone else to proofread your resume.
• Be specific and avoid using vague words such as "like" and "something." It is one thing to say you have a skill but it's completely different to describe how you have used a skill.
• Use a cover letter. Most people don't use a cover letter so by doing so you are already setting yourself apart from everyone else. The only exception to this is if you are responding to a job advertisement that specifically requested that you not include a cover letter.

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One of the calling cards of poorly or hastily developed software is lack of flexibility: it cannot easily be reconfigured, enhanced or adapted to changes in your business. Rigid software can make adapting your application to evolving business needs extremely time-consuming and expensive. In fact, sometimes it can be more cost effective to consider a "rewrite" than to pursue costly maintenance of inflexibly designed code.