I'm excited to announce the release of The Code Wiki - a learning tool to help teach fundamental programming practices. The Code Wiki is both a web-based sample application as well as a completely free eBook.
I've currently written/released the first two chapters and am hopeful to be able to release a chapter roughly every month (although something tells me I'm going to be disappointed on that one). The two chapters are 24 or so pages, at a full 8.5 x 11, with few graphics and little artificial spacing.
I'm going after, what I think, is one of the largest .NET audiences out there which also happens to be the worst targeted by tech books. This isn't a reference book like the countless others out there, and it isn't a super-advanced book either. It's squarely aimed at developers who know how to code, but want to learn how to better design their code. I shudder when I hear the word "architect", but I'll use it this one time.
If you'll forgive me my hubris, I see this entire endeavor as an introduction to Jimmy Nilsson's excellent Applying Domain-Driven Design and Patterns
book, amongst other things. The app/book has a strong focus on important topics like domain design and unit testing, which I'm glad to say seems to be gaining momentum within the .NET community.
I'm also hopeful that The Code Wiki might be useful for authors/presenters who need a sample application to write/talk about. For example, The Code Wiki doesn't use an O/R Mapper, and there's nothing I'd like to see more than someone writing an article on how to make The Code Wiki leverage NHibernate (or something). (don't worry, if one isn't written by the time I get to it, I do plan on writing one myself).
There's a lot more to blog about, but for now we'll stick with this simple introduction. I'm anxious to see what people think, and more importantly to learn from the mistakes I've made.
Check it out at www.thecodewiki.com