I seem to go in spurts in honing my technical skills by reading. Lately, I have been on an uber-quest to learn new things through reading, so I thought I'd write a bit on one I have finished, and the next likely target. My .Net and SQL Server library is pretty stocked, with about 60+ current books on a variety of subjects from graphics to SQL optimization to network programming to UI ideas. Most just end up being references, but a few (like Rocky Lohtka's CSLA books) get the full study and learn act.

I just finished Open Source .NET Development : Programming with NAnt, NUnit, NDoc, and More By Brian Nantz. It's a good intro book if you want to get a real high level look at the open source tools for automating builds and automated testing. It's a little confusing if you're trying to learn what some of the tools do and which are best for which scenario, but it does give a good glance on nAnt in particular. I would recommend this book for someone wanting to understand what tools are available, but don't look for this book to get you results in really complex situations. Sort of a road map, but you'll still be looking for topos when you figure out where you want to go.

Looking ahead, I had just purchased Seeing Data : Designing User Interfaces for Database Systems Using .NET by Rebecca M. Riordan. It came in this afternoon, and I was very excited to get it on a long weekend where I can try to pump through it. I am a little dis-enchanted though, as it appears to be oriented towards Rich Clients. I do rich client apps, but I was looking more forward to ASP.Net suggestions. I haven't given up hope on that yet, but if there is limited information on web applications in the book, I would certainly wish they would put "rich client" in the book description. I'll give it a read and put an update here once I know for sure.

It's important to me primarily because I can make a program do twists through hoops with no problem. I can also make a program very usable in terms of functionality. But making it look pretty, it takes me a lot of time, and I never am happy with it. Note there is a huge difference between pretty and usability, although the two can work together quite well and create a symbiotic relationship.

That's it for now. I plan on posting a few more tips this weekend, and eating some good home-cooked food. So, all those so celebrating, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

-- Daryl