.NET

Certification Update – October 2010

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Over the last few months I have accumulated a few more certifications in ADO.NET 3.5, as I work toward MCPD 3.5, and SharePoint 2010. Check my About page to see a list of my current certifications.

HttpWebRequest, HttpWebResponse, and the WebException

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Calling the GetResponse() method on the HttpWebRequest class yields some interesting results. It determines that a status code of anything else but 200 (OK) is an exceptional case and throws a WebException exception.

The following code demonstrates how to return the status code even if the URL in the request is not OK.

HttpStatusCode httpStatusCode;
HttpWebRequest httpWebRequest = (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("http://invalidsitename.net/");
try
{
    using (HttpWebResponse httpWebResponse = (HttpWebResponse)httpWebRequest.GetResponse())
    {
        httpStatusCode = httpWebResponse.StatusCode; //OK
    }
}
catch (WebException webException)
{
    if (webException.Response != null)
    {
        HttpWebResponse httpWebExceptionResponse = (HttpWebResponse)webException.Response;
        httpStatusCode = httpWebExceptionResponse.StatusCode; //Something other than OK
    }
    else
    {
        throw webException; //Invalid host name
    }
}
return httpStatusCode;

“On The Bench”

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This is what Avanade calls your time between projects. Last week I rolled off my first major project and started my bench time. This time is meant for training and getting certified. So I did just that.

The first four days of this week I spent training on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 where I utilized independent study materials that I obtained through Avanade’s internal training department.

Friday was spent craming for Exam 70–528: TS: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 – Web-Based Client Development, which I ended up passing on Saturday. This was my second Microsoft exam but my first with Avanade. As part of being a Solution Developer at Avanade you are required to become a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer. This was the first of five exams that make up the MCPD certification. And with five exams, I thought I should better get crackin’.

The First Project

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Well, the training was finally over and the start of March brought the start of my first project as a consultant at Avanade.

After a little bit of networking with a fellow WWU grad, I got onto my first project, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s at Microsoft. I am currently working in a small team as a UI developer working with ASP.NET, C#, and SSRS, which is quite an exciting opportunity considering ASP.NET and SQL Server are my bread and butter. There was only one problem.. I (and my trusty new laptop) had to be converted to the Microsoft religion before being able to do pretty much anything. So after a new laptop image, hours in software installs and reinstalls, badge creation, badge recreation, and a smart card reader I was finally fully capable of working at Microsoft.

As developing on this project starts I have decided that I will be expanding the scope of my weblog to not only include life snippets but also some code snippets and developer thoughts that I find useful or interesting along the way.

Avanade Training Recap

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It has been a while since my last post so I thought I would recap how the training course turned out.

 The training program at Avanade for new college hires is awesome. Two words… free food! But seriously… Avanade offers, not only a mix of learning techniques and material, but the dedication of smart, passionate people to support those techniques and help push people to get off to a good start in their careers. The simulated project that my team and I worked on turned out to be quite a learning experience. We learned a lot about developing .NET in a team environment as well as what it means to be a consultant at Avanade. In the end we delivered one of the better solutions of the group and had a satisfied customer.

First Two Weeks at Avanade

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Today was the mark of my first two weeks at Avanade and I have to say that each day gets better and better.

I was fortunate enough today to go out to lunch with one of our directors, a few of our recruiters, and some of my fellow new Seattle hires. It was an hour filled with good food and good conversation. If you are looking for a good place for a seafood meal check out Anthony’s. I recommend one of their amazing salmon or tuna bowls.

As far as orientation and training goes, Avanade has presented us with a very interesting, and I think very unique, training regiment. After our initial orientation to the company, which included a series of videos and documents outlining company vision and goals, we got right into training on how to be a consultant and work on projects in teams.

My next few weeks will be filled with virtual and in-person team meetings, technical training videos, and a whole lot of development as we work through a simulated .NET project. Stay tuned as I will be sure to give you an update on how the project ends up… if I survive it, that is.