Sometimes you might want to implement custom ImageList controls and encounter the fact that the .NET Windows Forms ImageList is marked as sealed. Instead of crying foul here, let's have a look at some of the reasons for this decision.

My latest article "Sealed is Good" shows you ...

• ... the reason for sealing ImageList.
• ... the reason why this is a good thing.
• ... the reason why unsealing it wouldn't help you at all.
• And finally, the reason why unsealing it would demand a complete rewrite of all of System.Windows.Forms.

Agile development processes mandate a certain amount of refactoring. If you for example encounter an application like this ...

using System;

class app
{
  static void Main()
  {
    for (int i = 100;i>-2;i--)
      Console.WriteLine(i);
  }
}

... it could easily be refactored this way, yielding a much more readable version. I'm however still not sure if Don really wanted to show us the power of refactoring, or if he actually wanted to scare us away from anonymous methods ;-)

For my Italian Readers: Alberto Falossi's "Intervista a Ingo Rammer" in the Giugno 2003 issue of the Italian "Visual Basic & .NET Journal" is available online. Cool.

I just noticed, after returning back from vacation, that I have some availability left for consulting work in August (limited to Europe only, sorry).

If your project is currently in architectural, design, or prototype stage and you want to hire an experienced .NET + web services architect and developer to review your design, or to work with you on improvements and/or prototypes, don't hesitate to contact me. I'll do my best to impress you ;)

I'm currently out of the office - hiking and playing golf somewhere in Austria. I'll be back on Monday, July 21 and WILL NOT have any access to a computer in the meantime. Yeah ... I did it! ;-)