Into the Core

James Bradley .NET, .NET Core, Articles, ASP.NET, Development Technologies & Tools, Tutorial Leave a Comment

The client I’m currently assisting has begun to move applications from more monolithic architecture into a more modern, cloud-based architecture. The organization is a bit of a .NET anomaly in that it is a company that’s primarily Java, yet has some .NET.

So even though Microsoft has a list of framework tools (such as Azure Service Fabric and Azure App Service), it’s fair to say that asking a primarily Java-focused company to use those tools could be an uphill battle. This is where .NET Standard and .NET Core have come to the rescue.

I work with a ton of smart people and I’m pretty amazed at how fast they can pick up on things from reading. I, however, cannot really understand it fully until I touch it. So let’s build a quick RESTful Web API step by step to see how challenging it is. We’ll be using .NET Standard, .NET Core, and ASP.NET Core.

Quick Introduction to the Computer Vision API

Brad Kirtley .NET, API Development, Articles, ASP.NET, Development Technologies & Tools, Machine Learning, Tutorial 1 Comment

Machine learning is a hot topic these days because the biggest tech companies are focused on taking this technology to a new level. For instance, to help develop autonomous driving cars, better interaction between you and your house with products like the Amazon Echo.

Machine learning is a core sub-area of artificial intelligence. Machine learning enables computers to self-learn without being explicitly programmed. As new data comes available, the computer has the ability to learn, grow, change, and develop itself to make better decision in the future. This technology will help reduce the workload and possible incorrect diagnoses when radiologist read films, reducing the amount of accidents on our highways caused by human error, possible reduction of inappropriate message / images / videos from bullying on social network sites.

This article will touch on one of the many Artificial Intelligence API’s that Microsoft has built for public consumption. We will specifically focus on the step-by-step process of uploading a picture, passing that picture onto the Microsoft Cognitive Services – Computer Vision API, and retrieving different attributes about that image. This is an aspect of AI technology that companies like Facebook & Google are using to try to stop bullying and other issue within social networking. Let’s get started…

Using Toastr With SignalR

John Holland .NET, Articles, ASP.NET, Development Technologies & Tools, Tutorial 1 Comment

When you submit data to the server within a Single-Page Application (SPA), you are not performing the usual form post of data that would generate a new page load. Rather, you send the data using AJAX and are able to parse the response returned by the API using JavaScript and can act accordingly. In the past, this would most likely come in the form of an alert or populating a div with the appropriate message. This approach did what I needed it to do, essentially notifying the user of success or failure and allowing them to move on with their work.

Enter Toastr. Now I can have a non-blocking, consistent way in which to display these messages to the user, that are styled respective to the type of message it is. This is where the story gets interesting. So with this easy to use, non-blocking, consistent way of displaying messages, you can pair it up with SignalR and provide that same messaging from the server-side.

In this blog, we will demonstrate the use of the Toastr messaging library and how, when you couple it with SignalR, it can provide you with an easy-to-use, consistent messaging alternative.

Learning Sitecore: My Project Builds, Now What?

Donna Beger .NET, Articles, ASP.NET, Tutorial Leave a Comment

Attention: The following article was published over 9 years ago, and the information provided may be aged or outdated. Please keep that in mind as you read the post.I found a plethora of articles on how to build a Sitecore project and get to its infamous welcome page. I could create data templates and content and even workflows, but I …

SignalR Server-Side Timer

John Holland .NET, Articles, ASP.NET, Development Technologies & Tools Leave a Comment

Attention: The following article was published over 9 years ago, and the information provided may be aged or outdated. Please keep that in mind as you read the post.Recently, I had the fairly simple task of using SignalR to push out to logged-in users the dreaded impending “Site Maintenance” message. The Product Owners wanted to keep it simple and straightforward, since …