These days, fuzzing is most frequently used to validate file and network parsers - literally piping a random source of binary data into the parser and then seeing what happens. In the November issue of MSDN Magazine, Dan Griffin takes a look at the extensibility...

Small coding errors can result in critical vulnerabilities that can compromise the security of not just entire systems, but even entire companies. Security vulnerabilities are not typically caused by a single error, but rather by a sequence of errors...

Although the .NET Framework provides a managed execution environment, it is important to use resources carefully and consider whether you need to proactively manage the lifetime of any objects created by your code. In the November issue of MSDN Magazine...

How can you make sure a crash in your program is not exploitable? The short answer is simple: assume every crash is exploitable and just fix it! In the November issue of MSDN Magazine, Adel Abouchaev , Damien Hasse , Scott Lambert , and Greg Wroblewski...

MSDN Magazine is actively seeking a new Senior Editor to join our team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal roll in the continued growth and success of the world's leading publication for Microsoft developers. As a Senior Editor, your responsibilities...

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 is an industry leading platform for collaboration, but it's also a powerful application platform for .NET developers. One of the new features of MOSS 2007 is the ability to include custom forms in workflows...

The .NET Framework is often thought of as an environment where you don't have to think about memory, yet memory issues continue to plague managed applications. Why? In the November issue of MSDN Magazine, John Robbins presents a tool that lets you look...

Performing I/O-bound operations asynchronously is key to producing scalable and responsive applications, and the APM allows you to use a very small number of threads to execute a large amount of work without blocking any of the threads. In the November...

The November 2007 issue of MSDN Magazine is now available online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/11/default.aspx . November brings our 2007 Security Issue, featuring a range of security related topics from code review best practices to...

Doesn't it always seem like, when you're having a quiet, relaxing moment, your mobile phone starts ringing at full volume? So much for mellowing out. Or you're in a crowded room and your phone rings too quietly to hear? That was your date calling? She...

Windows XP Embedded is essentially a developer-customized, slimmed-down version of the Windows XP operating system intended for use on devices like game consoles, information kiosks, network appliances, and the like. With the rapid growth in the use of...

Windows Vista and the upcoming Windows Server 2008 include a new thread pool API that should make it much easier for developers to employ the thread pool effectively. In the October issue of MSDN Magazine, Robert Saccone shows you how the new thread pool...

Multi-cpu systems and multicore processors are becoming ever more common, but writing code that actually takes advantage of those multiple processors is still considered arcane and unintuitive. In the October issue of MSDN Magazine, Daan Leijen and Judd...

To support Language Integrated Query (LINQ), a suite of new technologies was added to the upcoming release of Visual Basic 2008 that includes type inference. With type inference, the types of method-level members are inferred based on the right-hand side...

A reader asks: I'm using locks in my application to synchronize work on a bunch of threads. Unfortunately, I'm doing something incorrectly and my threads seem to just stop sometimes. I think I'm running into deadlocks, but I'm not sure how to find them...

Common Table Expressions (CTEs) can help improve the readability (and thus the maintainability) of SQL statements without compromising performance. They also make writing recursive code in T-SQL significantly easier than it was in previous versions of...

Multi-core processors are here. Responding to the increased availability of multi-processor platforms, Parallel Language Integrated Query (PLINQ) is a query execution engine that accepts any LINQ-to-Objects or LINQ-to-XML query and automatically utilizes...

Every month in MSDN Magazine , our Toolbox column , written by Scott Mitchell , highlights handy utilities that simplify development tasks and extend the reach of your applications. In the October installment of Toolbox , Scott shows you a tool for accessing...

No matter what type of long-running processes are involved—whether getting large results from a database, making asynchronous Web service calls, or any number of other potentially intensive operations—making your application more responsive is guaranteed...

Continuing his development of a mouse and mouse environment simulation called EEK!, in the October issue of MSDN Magazine, Stan Lippman explains how he's creating the XML document describing the environment . Stan also describes another way of incorporating...

The new Task Scheduler 2.0 in Windows Vista is no longer just a simple tool for end users. It now provides a powerful platform for designing and managing complex background operations, and in some cases can replace the need for Windows services. In the...

The October 2007 issue of MSDN Magazine is now available online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/10/default.aspx . In this issue you'll find coverage of some advanced concurrency topics. We have articles on employing the new thread pool...

And now that I've got your attention, I want to pick your brain about a couple things.  I'm in the process (hopefully close to the end of the process) of getting the 2008 column plan solidified for MSDN Magazine.  First, a little context. ...

For the past month or so we've been blogging about each of the articles in the current issue. I was hoping this would give each one a bit more special attention than it gets in the table of contents. Plus, it gives us a chance to highlight related information...

Workflows are meant to coordinate systems and people, and that means communicating beyond the boundaries of the workflow instance itself. Communication is a key component of most workflows. In the September issue of MSDN Magazine, Matt Milner takes you...