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Build Network-Aware Windows Phone Apps with Azure Mobile Services and Background Tasks

Here's how to build a Windows Phone application that synchronizes data with Azure Mobile Services, triggered when the device restores its network connection.

The Myth of Responsive Design

Peter explains why he doesn't believe in "responsive designs" that allow a single application to work in both the desktop and mobile environments.

Support Updates in a Page with TypeScript and Backbone

Peter extends his Backbone/Typescript application to support updating and deleting Customer objects. Along the way he discovers what looks like a bug in the way that Backbone and TypeScript work together.

ASP.NET MVC 5.1 New Features, Part 1: Attribute Routing

Eric Vogel covers some of the new features in ASP.NET MVC 5.1. In this first of a two-part series, he takes a good, long look at some new attribute routing options.

How to Refactor for Dependency Injection, Part 6: Binding by Convention

Explicitly setting all the bindings needed to compose your application -- that's a lot of work! See how to use convention over configuration to save time and make your composition easier to understand.

Xamarin Tools: Components, Components, Components!

The Xamarin tool ecosystem is gaining popularity, as more developers continue to build tools with mobility in mind. Here's how to use them in your projects.

14 Tools and Extensions for Web App Development

Web development is easier when you've got the right tools at hand. Here are 14 tools and extensions for building Web apps.

Writing Cleaner Code with Reactive Extensions

When you have a process that can return multiple results over time, then .NET Framework Reactive Extensions will let you simplify your code and manage it better.

Neural Network Training Using Simplex Optimization

Simplex optimization is one of the simplest algorithms available to train a neural network. Understanding how simplex optimization works, and how it compares to the more commonly used back-propagation algorithm, can be a valuable addition to your machine learning skill set.

Building a Useful HTML Helper for ASP.NET MVC Views

Creating a full-featured extension for the ASP.NET MVC HtmlHelper class sounds like a lot of work. But, because of the way the Microsoft .NET Framework works, it's almost trivially easy. To show that, here's an EditBlockFor method that adds a label, a textbox and a validation message to your ASP.NET View.

Add Azure Active Directory Support to Azure Mobile Services-Enabled Windows Phone Apps

Windows Phone applications can use Azure Active Directory to authenticate users and authorize access to Azure Mobile Services. Nick Randolph walks through the process, step by step.

How To Solve the Impossible Data Problem

Andrew does integration for a living. As a result, weird client data comes with the territory, but one client's data in particular stands out as being truly unique.

vNext: What's in It for You?

Here's a grab bag of what you might find useful in the next version of the .NET Framework. It's good news for everyone but ASP.NET Web Form developers.

Responding to Events with TypeScript and Backbone

Peter upgrades his Backbone/Typescript to respond to the event raised when the user selects an item in a dropdown list by retrieving related data from a Web API service.

Making Windows 10 Continuum Mode Work for Developers

Continuum mode takes developers to the next evolutionary step, but Microsoft has to offer developers a more universal approach to developing Windows 10 apps for the various devices and form factors.

Compiler Basics How-To, Part 4: Improving the Parser

Now you have compiler fundamentals down pat, let's move on to some of the techniques you can use to improve the parser's design and performance.

Simplifying Cross-Platform Mobile App Development with Xamarin.Forms

Lots of decisions go into creating cross-platform apps. Without Xamarin.Forms, the decision process is almost too unwieldy. Here's how it can simplify your mobile development.

Any Way the Wind Blows

With the rate of turnover for developers of Ventozoom's flagship application, some part of the system must be cursed. After Robert joined the team, and seeing how his predecessor handled dictionaries, he can understand.

Xamarin.Forms: What Developers Make of It

Developers tell us why they use it and what benefit they derive from the tooling, and Xamarin developer Craig Dunn goes over the decisionmaking process when choosing between Xamarin.Forms, Xamarin.iOS or Xamarin.Android.

How To Refactor for Dependency Injection, Part 5: A Look at 5 DI Containers

DI containers all serve a similar purpose, but with some differences in syntax and functionality. Ondrej Balas explains the differences between Ninject, Castle Windsor, Unity, StructureMap and Autofac.

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