DonationCoder.com Forum
Other Software => Developer's Corner => Topic started by: kyrathaba on February 22, 2007, 12:52 PM
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I'm doing an introductory series of tutorials on programming using C#. They take the form of flash presentations that play inside the webpage you visit to view the tutorials. I believe Mouser is going to be making them available on a DC page soon.
Currently there are four tutorials in the "C# for the Completely Uninitiated" series. Tutorial #5 will be available in the next few days. These tutorials are really intended for an audience of new programmers who have chosen C# as their initial language. Those who already have OOP experience in other languages, or who are already proficient in C#, will probably not find much of interest in this particular series.
One of the advantages of the presentation format I have chosen is its ability to show screencasting of actual programming in action. I have also attempted to interject humor at various points, though my success in that endeavor will no doubt be in the eye of the beholder ;)
The majority of each tutorial is comprised of static frames/pages that make use of a mixture of text, source code listings, and images to help convey information. Where I feel that it would be helpful, I sometimes show a short screencast. For example, in the first tutorial, I use a screencast to show users who are brand new to the Visual C# 2005 Express IDE how to create a console project. Although the tool used (Wink 2.0) also enables voice capture (and does a pretty good job of it, too) I have not yet used that feature, in the interest of keeping the final filesize of each tutorial's .SWF file as small, and therefore fast-loading, as possible.
The first tutorial covers downloading and installing the IDE, and creation of your first project. Subsequent tutorials that have been released, to date, cover the console class, use of comments, the parts of a C# program, creating custom methods, variables and assignment, method return types, string concatenation and interpolation, assemblies, types, classes, and instantiation.
After the completion of the fifth tutorial (that I'm working on right now), there will be a Review that quizzes the user over the content of the first five tutorials, and also gives brief, to the point, programming exercises (and their solutions, at the end of the presentation).
My motivation in creating this series of tutorials is threefold: (1) in the process of creating each tutorial, I've reinforced, and sometimes extended, my own intermediate knowledge of the language, (2) as a potential source of help for people brand new to programming, and hopefully a bridge that will encourage greater participation in the C# section of the Programming School, (3) as advertising for DC: since the tutorials allude to the DC site favorably, and suggest it as a home for programmers and would-be programmers.
The tutorials can currently be accessed at the following URL, although soon they will also be available on a DC page, for which I am indebted to Mouser. I am also appreciative of his enthusiastic support and encouragement of this project.
http://www1.webng.com/bowrsanryld/non_bowrsanryld/wink_videos/index.htm
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fantastic.
i shall view them them properly when time permits - and hopefully learn a bit of C#. i thought i'd miss the voiceover but i like how you've put it all together (if it's ever possible to do a 'talky' version in future then please do as it always seems more instructive to hear the tutor).
these really do look great to me. i hope they'll be up on DC soon.
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(https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/esmileys/gen3/1Small/wow2.gif)
Well I have to say that Bryan has done an absolutely outstanding job with these. They really deserve a wide audience, and Bryan, I think you've got a bright future in teaching (or tutorial writing).
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Thanks to you both for the kind comments.
Nudone, I can easily add voice. I just hadn't for the reasons I stated. But, if there's an interest in it, and people don't mind the SWF files being larger and therefore a bit slower-loading, I'm all for it.
Mouser, I managed to upload the tutorials to the DC page, but I can't seem to access the url with my browser to view the index page (yes, I'm the sort of guy who can program computers, but can't even figure out how to make his VCR record a show)
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i wouldn't know what's best. i'm used to following lynda.com, vtc and total training (and others) videos - which are all very good. but the ones that www.3DBuzz.com produce have always been the most entertaining as they do a kind of question and answer running dialogue. i'm not suggesting you go that far - i'm just one of the people that doesn't mind downloading larger vids with audio inside.
maybe you should have a poll to see if anyone really wants audio. like you said, no point doing it and using bandwidth if audio isn't that expected.
(i still think audio makes all the difference :D)
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Very well done, Bryan!
That's an amazing amount of work there, and you making them available for free is just fantastic.
It's definitelly good for DC to be bale to have this kind of material.
As for adding voice, my response would be "no", unless the voice you add is strictly (or at least mostly) reading the text on screen. I say this because it's way easier to understand written english then spoken english for us non-native english speakers. On the other hand, having voice would allow the person to be doing stuff without looking at the screencast, only through the voice instructions.
I'd also recommend you add a timebar, so that people can skip back and forward more easly.
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Thanks, jgpaiva. I'll look into adapting tutorial #5 onward for displaying a timebar. The currently available tutorials are available here now:
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/
as well as here...
http://www1.webng.com/bowrsanryld/non_bowrsanryld/wink_videos/index.htm
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Tutorial #5 is now available :Thmbsup:
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com
Tutorial #5 covers constructors, inheritance, and polymorphism
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The next flash presentation, a review of tutorials 1 through 5, will be ready within the next week's time. Additionally, there will be a downloadable C# Winforms project that will provide a multiple choice quiz to test knowledge acquisition.
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The presentation reviewing tutorials one through five may be delayed at least a day or two (possibly longer). My computer is on the fritz. I don't know what's wrong. I've had it four years with zero problems until this very morning. I thought maybe it was just hanging, so I tried to reboot. It powered back up okay (LED came on, fan whirring), but didn't boot the OS. No output to the monitor. I powered down, unplugged everything, plugged up again, powered up again. Same result. Tested with a different monitor that is working fine with the kids' computer. Still no output to the monitor. I figure I've got a virus or hard drive problem. Anyway, my ISP works on computers, so I'm delivering it to them this afternoon and hopefully they'll be able to resolve it. I have several days' worth of work on the tutorial review that I'll lose if they can't fix it (sample programs have been uploaded but the actual flash presentation hasn't). Moral of the story: backup daily.
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i hope it goes well, obviously, but i bet you can get the data off of the hard drive if things are looking bad. fingers crossed.
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Thanks. I appreciate the sentiment. Hopefully it's something they can fix in short order. I feel like I'm missing a body part ;)
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I'd hate to have to buy a brand new, upgraded computer ... :D
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our fingers are crossed for you :huh: please give us some good news tomorrow
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The death knell has sounded. For whom did the bell toll? For my Compaq Presario S5000CL :( Motherboard went bad. It'd cost ~$120 to buy a replacement motherboard, and another $50 to have it installed, so I'm probably just going to purchase a new PC. Below, I show the specs of the one I'm considering. Question: if I do C# .NET 2.0 programming on a 64-bit PC, will the programs work on 32-bit Windows systems, so long as I don't specifically write them for 64-bit architecture?
Lemme know what you think of this PC as well.
Acer Pentium D 2.8GHz 1GB 160GB DVD±RW Vista B:
Main Specifications
Product Description Acer AcerPower FH - Pentium D 915 2.8 GHz
Type Personal computer
Form Factor Mini tower
Dimensions (WxDxH) 7.2 in x 17.9 in x 14.6 in
Processor 1 x Intel Pentium D 915 / 2.8 GHz ( Dual-Core )
Cache Memory 4 MB L2 cache
Cache Per Processor 4 MB ( 2 x 2 MB )
RAM 1 GB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM
Storage Controller Serial ATA ; IDE
Hard Drive 1 x 160 GB - standard - Serial ATA-150
Optical Storage DVD±RW
Monitor None.
Graphics Controller Intel GMA 3000 (256 Mb)
Audio Output Sound card - 7.1 channel surround
Networking Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
OS Provided Microsoft Windows Vista Business
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I'm also considering this PC:
HP/Compaq dx5150 Small Form Factor PC
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core Processor
Specifications:
Operating Systems Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Edition SP2
Platform PC
Form Factor Small Form Factor (SFF)
PCI Slots (Total) Learn More 2
Expansion Slots 4
Processor Brand AMD
Processor Class Athlon 64 X2
Processor Number 4200
Processor Speed 2.20GHz
Additional Technologies Dual-Core Technology
HyperTransport Technology
Memory Type DDR
Total Memory 1.0GB
Interface SATA/150
Capacity 160GB
Optical Drive Type DVD±RW Dual Layer Lightscribe
Audio Description Integrated Audio
Graphics Description Integrated Graphics
Video Memory up to 128MB Shared Memory
Communications Description Integrated LAN Support
Data Transfer Rate
10Mbps
100Mbps
1000Mbps
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Fortunately I was able to salvage desired files/folders off my hard drive, so I did NOT lose the work I'd done on the flash presentation reviewing tutorials one through five in the C# series I'm writing. Not to mention the quiz program which was about halfway finished. Whew!
I settled on a Gateway GT5026E with a dual-core processor running at 2.8 GHz, and 1 GB of DDR2 RAM (upgradeable to 4 GB). I was assured that the GMA900 Graphics would support the 1440x900 native resolution of my widescreen LCD monitor.
LOL, I've had quite a history of PCs:
1st computer I ever owned: Acer Pentium 166 MHz, 32 Mb RAM, 2.1 GB hard drive
2nd computer: Dell Dimension 550 MHz PIII, 128 Mb RAM, 4 GB hard drive
3rd computer: Compaq Presario S5000CL 2.13 GHz P4, 512 Mb RAM, 40 GB hard drive
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I have no knowledge as desktop computer go, but i have a laptop acer and would definitelly not recomend acer over compaq.
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Question: can a non-SATA hard drive be put into one of those hard drive enclosure kits that turns your HD into an external drive, and then used with a computer whose hard drive IS of the SATA type? My new computer will have a SATA drive, and I'm wondering if I can rig my old PC's hard drive to work as an external drive with it.
Another question: we are getting another worker in my program at my clinic. They have software they use that our network admin doesn't want installed on this computer, because our clients also have access to this computer. Her question to me was could she plug an external hard drive into this computer via USB, and run her software from it, never interacting with this computer's drive?
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it is very very easy to do what you want. If you get an IDE external USB drive enclosure (which are super cheap these days), you can plug this into any computer and read from the drive. I highly recommend such external drives for backup purposes. Just get one that you can easily open up and put your drive into it (ie dont buy one of those seagate onetouch things with a non-openable built in hard drive). The idea of putting your old drive in a usb enclosure to access it from new computer is a good one.
I've been happy buying such stuff from www.Directron.com but www.newegg.com is a great place for all hardware.
As to your second question about running from the external drive without installing on the pc -- whether you can do this may depend on the software you care about, HOWEVER -- keep in mind that the usb drive will look just like a regular drive so that any client who can access the main computer will be able to access the external drive, so i'm not sure your network admin will be satisfied with the solution..
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keep in mind that the usb drive will look just like a regular drive so that any client who can access the main computer will be able to access the external drive, so i'm not sure your network admin will be satisfied with the solution..
This gal's idea was that she would only plug her drive in while working on her stuff, then keep it in her purse the rest of the time.
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This gal's idea was that she would only plug her drive in while working on her stuff, then keep it in her purse the rest of the time.
Right, that would work and might be a reasonable solution.
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Question: can a non-SATA hard drive be put into one of those hard drive enclosure kits that turns your HD into an external drive, and then used with a computer whose hard drive IS of the SATA type? -kyrathaba
As mouser says, this is not a problem at all. As a matter of fact there's a pretty decent one on sale at Circuit City right now. More info here (http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/709568). It involves a rebate, but it is a CC rebate, so you'll get it as long as you fill it out corrrectly. Tomorrow is last day on this one. It's not considered to be a top tier enclosure, but next in line.
Also, you'll find some great info about external enclosures in the Official External Enclosures thread here (http://www.fatwallet.com/t/28/496281).
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Does anyone know of a C#.NET development IDE that can be totally installed to, and run from, a USB flash drive or a USB external hard drive of another sort? I'm looking for a self-contained programming kit, so to speak -- the ability to have a small portable drive that can house both the IDE and all my projects. That way I can code whether I'm at my parents' house, or on the road, or at a friends', etc.
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http://www.icsharpcode.net/OpenSource/SD/Download/
If you compile the source, you could just run it straight to a USB drive.
I wouldn't ever recommend it over VS though.
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Yeah, I prefer VS, definitely. But apparently you cannot install Visual C# 2005 Express to a USB mass storage device. Am I mistaken? I'll download the source code for SharpDevelop and experiment. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Bryan,
Thanks for your tutorials. They are very well done.
After going over half way through the second tutorial, I decided to see how the "Hello world" program worked on my Windows 98 machine. So I set up the folder that the EXE file is in for sharing over the network and when I tried to run it in Win98, I got the error "A required .DLL file, MSCOREE.DLL, was not found."
While searching for information about that error, I found http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316091 which says:
CAUSE
This behavior occurs if the Microsoft .NET Framework is not installed on the target computer. Applications and controls written for the .NET Framework require that it be installed on the computer on which the application or control runs.
Back to the top
RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, install the .NET Framework on the target computer.
It then gives instructions on installing the .NET Framework.
Am I understanding correctly that programs I write with C# will not run on computers without the .NET Framework already installed, or will I find out in later tutorials how to compile programs that will run on most computers.
Thanks
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Dwane,
I'm glad you like the tutorials. More are on the way :) I had a motherboard go AWOL on me and while I'm waiting on a replacement computer I'm using my father's old eMachine (yes, your sympathy is appreciated). But I still anticipate having the quiz program finished by the end of this weekend, and I'll make it available for download. To go along with it, I'll be throwing up a webpage reviewing materials covered in the first five tutorials, and some sample program assignment to reinforce those concepts. So stay tuned...
You understand correctly that the .NET Framework must be installed on target machines in order for them to run programs written in any .NET programming language (C#.NET, C++.NET, VB.NET, etc.).
I should also state, however, that programming tools for authoring .NET programs will typically have an option -- when you are building an installation -- for your setup program to check the target computer for the .NET Framework and download and install it if it is not found.
Some people naysay the .NET Framework because it is required, but it's really no different than VB6 requiring the VB6 runtime DLL, and look how successful VB6 was. A tremendous advantage of the .NET Framework is that it's authored by some of the most knowledgeable, experienced programmers anywhere, and they're able to draw upon a wealth of expertise to give us a very robust, complete group of assemblies containing just about any functionality you could ever imagine needing for your coding.
The .NET Framework is becoming ubiquitous. Most end-users will already have it installed, and if not it's easily acquired. True, native and unmanaged code, such as that produced by non-.NET C++, is independent of the .NET Framework, but .NET makes the programmer's job much easier in many situations.
If you are learning C# as a first language, you shouldn't feel any serious misgivings. Although professional developers have some concerns related to .NET's long-term longevity and free accessibility, I don't think they would argue that C# is a great choice.
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Update:
I'm pushing back the estimated completion date for the quiz program that reviews content of tutorials 1 through 5. I decided to write a Quiz-Maker utility that will be reusable for future quizzes, and that will allow me to save entire quizzes to disk using serialization.
Once I get the quizmaker completed, I'll need to setup the quiz program for deserialization. It will take a few more days, given my current schedule. Sorry for the delay, but once I complete these initial two programs, future quiz programs will be a snap.
Tutorial #6, due out in late March, will cover conditional execution and looping, integrating those concepts into ongoing focus on classes, inheritance, and polymorphism. Feedback welcomed.
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Update:
I think I'll have both the quiz program itself and the "Tutorials 1 to 5 Review Quiz" ready by tomorrow evening. Rather than write a separate Quiz Maker and Quiz Taker, I decided to incorporate both into the same application, and simply use a login routine to determine which UI gets accessed. If you login to the editor, it takes you to the quiz-maker interface; otherwise it takes you to the quiz-taker interface.
I will make the application available freely. It has the ability to make 10, 20, and 30-item quizzes that are multiple choice A,B,C,D in format. And, of course, it allows you to take a quiz and grades you on your performance. The quiz files produced by the program have a password property that gives you the option of password-protecting the ability to edit the quiz. Quiz files are simply serialized objects of type Quiz, where Quiz is a class contained in the program.
In conjunction with "Tutorials 1 to 5 Review Quiz", I'll also be providing an online flash presentation that covers concepts reviewed in the quiz, and that gives online example program code listings for study. This flash presentation will include voice.
Thanks to those who have expressed appreciation for the tutorial series. It really boosts my motivation to continue this work. Feedback always welcomed. Thanks.
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Came across this just now:
http://research.microsoft.com/~birrell/papers/ThreadsCSharp.pdf
It's a Microsoft research paper (41 pages) on multithreading in C#. Nice find. Pretty much covers it in depth.
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I've been alerted that some users have had difficulty with the first tutorial in the series. They've reported that they cannot get past the intro screen. It says to click on the diskette to proceed, but doesn't work. I've found that it works fine here:
http://www1.webng.com/bowrsanryld/non_bowrsanryld/wink_videos/kyrathaba_cs1.htm
but not here...
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/cs_tutorials/comp_uninitiated/kyrathaba_cs1.htm
This isn't an issue with tutorials #2 onward, because beginning with the second tutorial in the series I adopted a VCR-button-motif for the UI.
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I'm pleased to announced that the in-depth review of tutorials #1 through #5 in the "C# for the Completely Uninitiated" series is ready for viewing at http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/
This Wink-produced flash presentation also includes programming assignments and links to possible solutions given as online source code listings.
Pending further input from users of the tutorials, I am planning on authoring the succeeding tutorials in the series in good-old HTML, since it gives me easy manipulation of font and images. I'll still use Wink 2.0 for producing flash footage of actual screen-actions, when it seems prudent to do so.
Readers of the tutorials can feel free to email me or message me here on the forum with any questions. If you want to see a brief tutorial to resolve some confusion you may have about an introductory C# concept or use of the express IDE, let me know.
The QuizMaker/QuizTaker application got put on the backburner today because I had to spend time recovering data from my defunct PC's hard drive. Shouldn't be but a few more days until it's online too, though.
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Tried to post this earlier, but for some reason it kept erroring. Maybe it's floating around somewhere in cyberspace (or even elsewhere on this site ;) )
I have an early alpha-release of my quiz editor/taker application ready. Looking mainly for feedback about anything you may find "broken" about it. Any suggestions/comments about UI also welcomed, but currently I'm just looking to make sure it works at a basic level.
The zip file contains the application, and two quiz files. The one named "mysamplequiz.qzz" is password-protected, so the application will only open it in Tester mode (unless you happen to know the password I used, in which case you could open it in the Editor and modify it). The other file, "computerquiz.qzz", you should be able to open, in either Editor or Tester mode.
Feedback welcome. Remember, though, that this is an alpha-release. Any "this thing is broken" bugs, please inform me. Note: the application was developed under .NET 2.0, so you must have that framework installed to run it.
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My tutorials page has received a facelift: http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/
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Announcement:
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/
Tutorial #6 is completed, and covers for loops, while loops, complex if, switch statements, and the difference between syntax and runtime errors. Includes live screencasts, one with voice (although not hi-fidelity). One screencast demonstrates stepping through a for loop in debug mode, in order to better understand what's happening under the hood. The other screencasts shows a program demonstrating a for loop put to creative use.
Moreover, my page has been greatly updated. Now, all tutorials are available both online, and as standalone downloadable archives.
Feedback appreciated.
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Point of information: the site layout has been changed to use multiple webpages instead of a single page. Anyone who reads the site, please report any broken links you come across. Thanks.
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com
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My C# site, compliments of DC, now has more content. I just finished putting the final touches on Tutorial #7. It's available online in HTML format, and also as a downloadable zip archive. Lots of example programs. If anyone is making use of these, please give me any feedback you can.
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com
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there are some broken images on
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/cs_tutorials/comp_uninitiated/kyrathaba_cs7.htm
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Found two broken image links and fixed those. Also found one broken link to an external page and fixed it.
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just took the computer quiz :D
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What did you score? :D
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7/10 i think :-[
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Yeah, there were some tricky questions.
In other news, I discovered a couple of bugs in the quiz program, one's you'd notice if using it to create/edit quizzes but probably not if you were only using it to take a quiz. Anyway, I'm working on squashing those bugs, and will let you know when a new upload is completed.
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I've fixed a couple of bugs I discovered while using the Quiz Maker program to make the quiz for Tutorial #2. I reuploaded this "fixed" version (still seeking bug reports, though). Also, the quiz file for Tutorial #2 is available for download.
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http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com
I've completed and uploaded Tutorial #8: Simple, Rectangular, Mixed, and Jagged Arrays, Foreach Loops and Nested For Loops
I'ts available online and for download. I welcome any feedback. If anyone finds any bugs in the sample programs, please let me know.
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Update:
I haven't abandoned the C# tutorials project. I'm just taking a few days off, working on a freeware game called "Last Match Loses!" I'll make it available for download and feedback ASAP.
I'll soon be putting up Tutorial #9, the final tutorial in the "C# for the Completely Uninitiated" series, which covers input/output and persisting data. Then, I'll be embarking on a new tutorial series: "C# for the Somewhat Initiated" :P That series will introduce Windows programming (using Forms, as opposed to purely console-based), and will, over the course of the series, develop a complete single-player CRPG.
I'll also soon be extending the functionality of my QuizMaker application, so that after receiving your quiz grade, you get the benefit of an explanation of the correct answer for any items you missed: http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/downloads.htm
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so that after receiving your quiz grade, you get the benefit of an explanation of the correct answer for any items you missed:
yes, that would be good.
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just went through tutorial #8 -- very nice indeed.
you have a very nice way of teaching that makes it fun to keep reading; anyone wanting to learn c# would benefit from these :up:
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Thanks, I appreciate it. I enjoy writing them. #8 was hard for me to get into. Strings can be sort of a dry topic. I try to sprinkle the tutorials with occasional humor, but one man's humor is another man's "duh!" ;)
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Tutorial #9, the final tutorial in the "C# for the Completely Uninitiated" series, is online here:
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/cs_tutorials/comp_uninitiated/kyrathaba_cs9.htm
The next series, "C# for the Somewhat Initiated", will introduce WinForms programming with C#.
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This morning I discovered that the HTML file for Tutorial #1 was missing. Not sure when or how that happened, but it's fixed now.
Work continues slowly but steadily on "Last Match Loses!" It's a game where you begin with four separate piles of matches. The piles begin with 1, 3, 5, and 7 matches, respectively. Play alternates between you and the PC. On each turn, you must remove at least one match from any pile of your choice. You can remove more than one match from the selected pile (up to, and including, the entire pile). Whichever player is forced to draw the last match loses.
There will also be a Player vs. Player mode.
I'm getting ready to begin work on the "C# for the Somewhat Initiated" series. If any of you plan to follow along, I'd welcome any suggestions or requests on example programs you'd like to see, or other features you'd like to have included in the tutorials.
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I haven't shelved the C# tutorial series. Future tutorials will be more fun for me to write, as they will cover more advanced material. I found the topic-matter for the first series (Completely Uninitiated) rather dry, although very necessary.
Right now, I'm taking a break from the tutorials and working on an interactive fiction compiler. Fun stuff :>
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can't wait to see what you come up with.
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Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but I'd rather roll-my-own than learn one of the existing IF systems. The compiler is a console application, but the interpreter will be a WinForms app. Once I have the most basic of frameworks established, I'll upload it for some critiques.
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I've added a couple of new C# projects to my Downloads (http://www.kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/downloads.htm) page, for anyone interested in C# sample code.
After a long hiatus, I am ready to work on a second series of C# tutorials. I thought I would gauge the level of interest in such a series and also see what topics not already covered in the first series (http://www.kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/onlinetutorials.htm) would be most appreciated by potential tutorial users.
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I have begun work on my second (http://www.kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/onlinetutorials.htm) C# tutorial series, "C# for the Somewhat Initiated". So far, just one tutorial, but more to come in the near future. I figure this series will have around 10-15 tutorials total. Then, making use of everything covered in the first two series, I'll do a tutorial series coding "C# the Adventure Game" ;)
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Cool :up:
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Tutorial #2 in Series Two is about ready. In the next tutorial (#3) I'll introduce the first example of WinForms programming with C#. I've been updating my DC site's content a bit, both with and without respect to C#, and I'll put up a couple of links to new stuff, in the near future.
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Okay folks, for anyone interested:
I've finished the first two tutorials in my Second C# Tutorial Series (http://www.kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/onlinetutorials.htm). That makes eleven tutorials total (9 in the first series, two so far in the current series). I'm starting to work on the third tutorial in the current series, which will introduce Windows programming in C#.
As with the previous lesson, I'm also making all the Wink project files, that went into making the presentation, available for download (http://www.kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/cs_tutorials_downloadable/swhat02.zip).
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the tutorials are really nice.. gentle, encouraging, and clear. great stuff. i think i can see your future as a teacher. :)
i can only think of a couple of generic issues:
1) the fonts and font sizes can be a bit tricky to read on a big screen.. this isn't a big deal if the program you are using to make the sldies has other advantages and ways of displaying info, but it's something for you to consider if you are open to other tools.
2) tutorial length -- consider me one of those who thinks its better to err on the side of having short tutorials vs long ones. tutorial 3 was fine length but i wouldn't hesitate making them even shorter, and certainly no longer.
again, really great stuff -- you are an excellent teacher.
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great stuff. i think i can see your future as a teacher.
Thanks for the compliment :) I have, in fact, done a considerable amount of teaching, both in a college classroom setting and a weekly Bible study class.
it's something for you to consider if you are open to other tools.
As a matter of fact, I recently scraped together enough money to get Camtasia, so I've been experimenting with it. It seems to have a somewhat steeper learning curve than Wink 2.0, but also seems much more powerful/versatile. Hopefully, I can get enough of a handle on it to do some cool stuff. Wink does an amazing job, though (especially for a free tool) if you take the time/effort to use all its capabilities. It may be that it is better suited to the frame-by-frame navigation of the tutorials I've been making, I dunno. I guess I'll just have to experiment with Camtasia versus Wink, but I think I'm gonna REALLY like CamT.
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camtasia is a fantastic tool for full motion video tutorials.. it may not replace wink for the kind of slideshow stuff you do, but for showing real live stuff in action, it will save you a LOT of effort.
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I've updated my online tutorials (http://www.kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/onlinetutorials.htm) page with a YouTube version of the 2006 Wink 2.0 flash presentation I did on setting up C# for the newbie programmer.
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Today I've added the third tutorial in my second online C# tutorial (http://www.kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/onlinetutorials.htm#2nd_series) series: "Coding Your Very First C# WinForms Application". The most recently added tutorial is here (http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/cs_tutorials/comp_somewhat/somewhat_03.htm). I'm not sure why, but the preloader seemed to hang for me at one or two points. I was able to continue loading the flash presentation by refreshing my browser window (the flash file is about 3600 Kb).
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Great stuff... the format combining static text and images with full motion video is excellent.
I love the scope of this one too, very gentle intro. :up:
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Much appreciated, mouser :) I'm really enjoying producing these, even if not very many people use them. If nothing else, they help me to clarify my own growing understanding. If anyone else benefits, so much the better...
I plan to continue turning out a new tutorial as often as I can manage. My plan is to continue from here onward with WinForms application programming examples, and to build gradually upon each preceding tutorial. Eventually, I hope to have a quite length series of tutorials which, if followed from beginning to end, can take a newcomer to C# from complete ignorance to intermediate-level coder status.
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I'm getting serious connection problems trying to access the tutorials from this page:
http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/onlinetutorials.htm
In Firefox or a standalone dlm the connection to the .swfs drops so often that they are essentially inaccessible.
Are there any other links I can use or some other means to address the problem? After reading this thread I'm really looking forward to viewing these tutorials.
Thanks.
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this has been happening on the member server randomly for a month, and we are having a hell of a time figuring out what is randomly causing these drops.
we're trying a new fix now, let me know if you see the problem again.
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Thanks for the quick response, Mouser. Connection is still spotty on my end, but eventually I can get the files if I just let the dlm run a while.
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I've added a very simple demo project demonstrating how to do C# Screen Captures (http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/errata/screenCaptureDemo.htm). Well-commented. Thought it might be useful to someone.
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One of these days I'm going to get around to doing a third C# tutorial series.
For today, though, I just thought I'd share this class I whipped up for a project I'm working on. It takes total milliseconds of elapsed time and converts it to a string description. There are two static methods in the class. One of them can return strings such as:
1.308 Days
2.059 Hours
The other will return descriptions like this from the total milliseconds:
2d 5h 18m 325ms
See the attachment.
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I've added a very simple demo project demonstrating how to do C# Screen Captures (http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/errata/screenCaptureDemo.htm). Well-commented. Thought it might be useful to someone.
-kyrathaba
I liked that! Very nice! Smooth and slick! :)
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Great! Glad it was helpful :D
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I've corrected a spelling error and removed an unnecessary case statement in the switch(), and posted the walkthrough of the screenshot-capturing code here (http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/errata/screenCaptureDemo.htm).
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This screen capture demo can now be found here (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=29668.new#new).
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One of these days I'm going to get around to doing a third C# tutorial series.
For today, though, I just thought I'd share this class I whipped up for a project I'm working on. It takes total milliseconds of elapsed time and converts it to a string description. There are two static methods in the class. One of them can return strings such as:
1.308 Days
2.059 Hours
The other will return descriptions like this from the total milliseconds:
2d 5h 18m 325ms
See the attachment.
I've fixed a bug, and re-uploaded this helper class.
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For anyone interested, it's extremely simple, in C#, to determine whether your internet connection is "up" (connected) or "down" (not connected). I've done a C# project demonstrating:
(https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=29819.0;attach=63799;image)
download link (http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/ccount/click.php?id=14)
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I just wanted to thank you for these tutorials Bryan, I'm working my way through and enjoying them a lot 8)
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Excellent, Redhat! Let me know if you get stuck on anything.
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For anyone interested, it's extremely simple, in C#, to determine whether your internet connection is "up" (connected) or "down" (not connected). I've done a C# project demonstrating:
(https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=29819.0;attach=63799;image)
download link (http://kyrathaba.dcmembers.com/ccount/click.php?id=14)
-kyrathaba
Very nifty tutorial program! :) :Thmbsup: