There are attributes in VB.NET too:

 - https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.obsoleteattribute(v=vs.110).aspx
 - http://www.vb-helper.com/howto_net_obsolete_attribute.html

Looks like this (before your function)

    &lt;Obsolete(&quot;This method is deprecated, use XXXX instead.&quot;)&gt; _ 

And since VB.NET 10 (.NET 4 and later) we [no longer need the underscore][1].

    &lt;Obsolete(&quot;This method is deprecated, use XXXX instead.&quot;)&gt;


  [1]: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff637436.aspx

Say I have:

    int someValue = 42;

Now I want to convert that int value to a String. Which way is more efficient?

    // One
    String stringValue = Integer.toString(someValue);
    
    // Two
    String stringValue = String.valueOf(someValue);
    
    // Three
    String stringValue = someValue + &quot;&quot;;
    

I am just curious if there is any real difference or one is better than the other?

What is the most efficient way to convert an int to a String?

I am developing a Python module with several source files, each with its own test class derived from [unittest][1] right in the source.  Consider the directory structure:

    dirFoo\
        test.py
        dirBar\
            __init__.py
            Foo.py
            Bar.py

To test either Foo.py or Bar.py, I would add this at the end of the Foo.py and Bar.py source files:

    if __name__ == &quot;__main__&quot;:
        unittest.main()

And run Python on either source, i.e.

    $ python Foo.py
    ...........
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Ran 11 tests in 2.314s
    
    OK

Ideally, I would have &quot;test.py&quot; automagically search dirBar for any unittest derived classes and make one call to &quot;unittest.main()&quot;.  What&#39;s the best way to do this in practice?  

I tried using Python to call &lt;a href=&quot;http://docs.python.org/library/functions.html#execfile&quot;&gt;execfile&lt;/a&gt; for every *.py file in dirBar, which runs once for the first .py file found &amp; exits the calling test.py, plus then I have to duplicate my code by adding unittest.main() in every source file--which violates DRY principles.  


  [1]: http://docs.python.org/library/unittest.html

Python: How to run unittest.main() for all source files in a subdirectory?

Is there an ability in VB.NET to deprecate code?
I know that in C# there are &#39;attributes&#39;, and tags in java; is there anything similar in VB.NET, other than leaving a `&#39;todo:`...?

In VB.NET, can I mark a function as deprecated?

<p>Is there an ability in VB.NET to deprecate code?
I know that in C# there are 'attributes', and tags in java; is there anything similar in VB.NET, other than leaving a <code>'todo:</code>...?</p>


Are there any good programs out there to compare to compile .NET assemblies?  

For example I have HelloWorld.dll (1.0.0.0) and HelloWorld.dll (2.0.0.0), and I want to compare differences how can I do this?

I know I can use .NET Reflector and use the Assembly Diff plugin.  Are there any other good tools out there to do this?

Compare compiled .NET assemblies?

Many people here are probably familiar with one of [Joel Spolsky][k] most popular blog posts, [Please Sir, May I Have a Linker][1], where he cries out for a way to remove dependencies on the .NET framework so a stand-alone application can be developed and sold.

[Jason Zander][2] of the Visual Studio development team, at the time, replied [with his views on the topic][3], arguing that the topic is somewhat moot - the ability to fix security problems in the runtime (among other points) was their chief concern.  Overall, the small overhead was worth it.

Fast forward to 2009.  There&#39;s a few groups out there now claiming to have C# linkers.  (Jason Zander even said himself that it wouldn&#39;t take much to implement one.)  Instead of the cute, dozen-so meg download of .NET 1.0, we now have a massive 200-300 mb cross-platform complete .NET 3.5 installer that contains versions of .NET for x86, x64, and ia64.  Microsoft&#39;s suggestions to decrease the runtime size include:

 * Unpack the redistributable, remove the target platforms you don&#39;t want, and put it back together
 * Use the web bootstrapper that only downloads the libraries for your platform
 * Use the Client Profile installer (new as of late 2008) which has limited libraries and only works for x86

To make matters worse, as I understand it (please correct me if I&#39;m wrong) the client profile don&#39;t even register with windows as having .NET 3.5 installed.  This means if multiple .NET 3.5 client applications are installed on the computer, none will see each other and the runtime will be re-installed again and again!

I really don&#39;t know what Microsoft is thinking here.  Even assuming the worst case install will be for one target platform (eg, x64) and only those libraries need to be included, you&#39;re still looking at upwards of 60 mb overhead on your app.  Even one of the most well known .NET apps, Paint.NET, was fraught with [Difficulties installing the application because of the massive .NET dependencies.][paint]  If THEY have problems distributing a free app, what about the rest of the world?  In the end, they had to [Make a bootstrapper that installed Microsoft Installer 3.1, the .NET runtime bootstrapper, and all their other dependent libraires][paint2] before they could install their own application.

So how about it.  A linker.  Do any good ones exist - or a tool that simply makes it possible to build a C# application without requiring that the user install the massive .NET runtime?

Update: so, it looks like there&#39;s a couple of options:

Mono:

 * [Mono has its own linker][mono].  From the answer below, it looks like it works pretty well.

.NET:

 * [Xenocode][xenocode] seems to be one that&#39;s available and works.
 * [Thinstall][thinstall] is another that was recommended, and it&#39;s by VMware.
 * [There&#39;s another linker by Remotesoft][remotesoft].  They bill it as an &#39;obfuscator&#39;.  Any thoughts there?
 * [Found another by Rustemsoft called Skater .NET Obfuscator][skatepro].  Anyone familiar with them?
 * [ILmerge by Microsoft was also suggested][ilmerge]; this looks like it only performs part of the task (ie, merging libraries, not stripping out unused bits).

It looks like the Mono tools are getting use; how about the .NET based tools?  Any other experience with them, or are we just going to have to wait for Microsoft to push it 3.5 out to everyone?  I shudder to think how long it&#39;ll take for .NET 4.0 to be put out...

 [k]: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/
 [1]: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/PleaseLinker.html
 [2]: http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonz/
 [3]: http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonz/archive/2004/01/31/65653.aspx
 [paint]: http://blog.getpaint.net/2008/08/24/the-paintnet-install-experience-part-1-version-3xx/
 [paint2]: http://blog.getpaint.net/2008/08/25/the-paintnet-install-experience-part-2-version-40/
 [mono]: http://www.mono-project.com/Linker
 [remotesoft]: http://www.remotesoft.com/linker/
 [skatepro]: http://www.skaterpro.net/linking-net-dlls.html
 [ilmerge]: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/mbarnett/ILMerge.aspx
 [xenocode]: http://www.xenocode.com/
 [thinstall]: http://www.thinstall.com/

The State of Linkers for .NET apps (aka &quot;Please Sir, May I have a Linker&quot; 2009 edition)

I would like to write a function `GetHashCodeOfList()` which returns a hash-code of a list of strings regardless of order. Given 2 lists with the same strings should return the same hash-code. 

    ArrayList list1 = new ArrayList()    
    list1.Add(&quot;String1&quot;);
    list1.Add(&quot;String2&quot;);
    list1.Add(&quot;String3&quot;);    

    ArrayList list2 = new ArrayList()    
    list2.Add(&quot;String3&quot;);    
    list2.Add(&quot;String2&quot;); 
    list2.Add(&quot;String1&quot;);
    
    GetHashCodeOfList(list1) = GetHashCodeOfList(list2) //this should be equal.


I had a few thoughts: 

1.	I can first sort the list, then combine the sorted list into 1 long string and then call `GetHashCode()`. However sorting is a slow operation.

2.	I can get the hash of each individual string (by calling `string.GetHashCode()`) in the list, then multiplying all hashes and calling Mod `UInt32.MaxValue`. 
For example: `&quot;String1&quot;.GetHashCode() * &quot;String2&quot;.GetHashCode * … MOD UInt32.MaxValue`. But this results in a number overflow.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your help.


Getting hash of a list of strings regardless of order

I want to be able to add a range and get updated for the entire bulk.

I also want to be able to cancel the action before it&#39;s done (i.e. collection changing besides the &#39;changed&#39;).


----------
Related Q
[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57020/which-net-collection-for-adding-multiple-objects-at-once-and-getting-notified][1]


  [1]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57020/which-net-collection-for-adding-multiple-objects-at-once-and-getting-notified

ObservableCollection Doesn&#39;t support AddRange method, so I get notified for each item added, besides what about INotifyCollectionChanging?

I&#39;m trying to get images to display in a WPF ListView styled like a WrapPanel as described in this old ATC Avalon Team article: [How to Create a Custom View][1].

&lt;img src=&quot;http://i.stack.imgur.com/IFIg5.png&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;


When I try to populate the ListView with a LINQ-to-Entities queried collection of ADO.NET Entity Framework objects I get the following exception:

**Exception**

&gt; Items collection must be empty before
&gt; using ItemsSource.

My code&amp;hellip;

**Visual Basic**

    Private Sub Window1_Loaded(...) Handles MyBase.Loaded
        ListViewImages.ItemsSource = From g In db.Graphic _
                                     Order By g.DateAdded Ascending _
                                     Select g
    End Sub

**XAML**

    &lt;ListView Name=&quot;ListViewImages&quot;
              SelectionMode=&quot;Single&quot;
              ItemsSource=&quot;{Binding}&quot;&gt;
        &lt;local:ImageView /&gt;
    &lt;/ListView&gt;

I put a breakpoint on that line.  `ListViewImages.ItemsSource` is `Nothing` just before the LINQ assignment.


  [1]: http://blogs.msdn.com/atc_avalon_team/archive/2006/04/28/585844.aspx
  [2]: http://i.stack.imgur.com/IFIg5.png
  [3]: http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/8770/imageviewd.jpg

&quot;Items collection must be empty before using ItemsSource.&quot;

I’m looking for a trick about this. I know how to call a dynamic, arbitrary function in JavaScript, passing specific parameters, something like this:

    function mainfunc(func, par1, par2){
        window[func](par1, par2);
    }
    
    function calledfunc(par1, par2){
        // Do stuff here
    }
    
    mainfunc(&#39;calledfunc&#39;, &#39;hello&#39;, &#39;bye&#39;);

I know how to pass optional, unlimited parameters using the `arguments` collection inside `mainfunc`, but, I can’t figure how to send an arbitrary number of parameters to `mainfunc` to be sent to `calledfunc` dynamically; how can I accomplish something like this, but with any number of optional arguments (not using that ugly `if`–`else`)?

    function mainfunc(func){
        if(arguments.length == 3)
            window[func](arguments[1], arguments[2]);
        else if(arguments.length == 4)
            window[func](arguments[1], arguments[2], arguments[3]);
        else if(arguments.length == 5)
            window[func](arguments[1], arguments[2], arguments[3], arguments[4]);
    }
    
    function calledfunc1(par1, par2){
        // Do stuff here
    }

    function calledfunc2(par1, par2, par3){
        // Do stuff here
    }
    
    mainfunc(&#39;calledfunc1&#39;, &#39;hello&#39;, &#39;bye&#39;);
    mainfunc(&#39;calledfunc2&#39;, &#39;hello&#39;, &#39;bye&#39;, &#39;goodbye&#39;);

Calling dynamic function with dynamic number of parameters

I&#39;d like to be able to do something like this in vim (you can assume v7+ if it helps).

Type in a command like this (or something close)

    :inshtml

and have vim dump the following into the current file at the current cursor location

    &lt;!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC &quot;-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN&quot;
        &quot;http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd&quot;&gt;
    &lt;html xmlns=&quot;http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml&quot;&gt;
        &lt;head&gt;
            &lt;title&gt;&lt;/title&gt;
        &lt;/head&gt;
        &lt;body&gt;
        &lt;/body&gt;
    &lt;/html&gt;

Can I write a vim function do this is?  Is there a better way?

Writing a vim function to insert a block of static text

Generally speaking, we all hear about the _functions_ or _procedures_ in programming languages. However, I just found out that I use these terms almost interchangeably (which is probably very wrong).

So, my question is: 

&gt; What is the difference in terms of their functionality, their purpose and use?

An example would be appreciated.

What is the difference between a &quot;function&quot; and a &quot;procedure&quot;?

I seem to remember that in PHP there is a way to pass an array as a list of arguments for a function, dereferencing the array into the standard `func($arg1, $arg2)` manner.  But now I&#39;m lost on how to do it.  I recall the manner of passing by reference, how to &quot;glob&quot; incoming parameters ... but not how to de-list the array into a list of arguments.

It may be as simple as `func(&amp;$myArgs)`, but I&#39;m pretty sure that isn&#39;t it.  But, sadly, the php.net manual hasn&#39;t divulged anything so far.  Not that I&#39;ve had to use this particular feature for the last year or so.

Passing an Array as Arguments, not an Array, in PHP

Is it possible to get the &#39;nth&#39; return value from a function without having to create dummy variables for all `n-1` return values before it?

Let&#39;s say, I have the following function in MATLAB:

    function [a,b,c,d] = func()
    a = 1;
    b = 2;
    c = 3;
    d = 4;

Now suppose, I&#39;m only interested in the *third* return value. This can be accomplished by creating one dummy variable:

    [dummy, dummy, variableThatIWillUse, dummy] = func;
    clear dummy;

But I think this is kind of *ugly*. I would think that you might be able to do something like one of the following things, but you can&#39;t:

`[_, _, variableThatIWillUse, _] = func;`

`[, , variableThatIWillUse, ] = func;`

`variableThatIWillUse = func(3);`

`variableThatIWillUse = func()(3);`

Are there any *elegant* ways to do this that do work?

---

So far, the best solution is to simply use the `variableThatIWillUse` as a dummy variable. This saves me from having to create a real dummy variable that pollutes the work-space (or that I would need to clear). In short: the solution is to use the `variableThatIWillUse` for every return value up until the interesting one. Return values after can simply be ignored:

    [variableThatIWillUse, variableThatIWillUse, variableThatIWillUse] = func;

I still think this is very ugly code.


How to elegantly ignore some return values of a MATLAB function

I keep getting this :

    DeprecationWarning: integer argument expected, got float

How do I make this message go away? Is there a way to avoid warnings in Python?

How to ignore deprecation warnings in Python

I get a warning that BaseException.message is deprecated in Python 2.6 when I use the following user-defined exception:

    class MyException(Exception):
    
        def __init__(self, message):
            self.message = message
        
        def __str__(self):
            return repr(self.message)

This is the warning:

&lt;!-- language: lang-none --&gt;

    DeprecationWarning: BaseException.message has been deprecated as of Python 2.6
    self.message = message

What&#39;s wrong with this? What do I have to change to get rid of the deprecation warning?

BaseException.message deprecated in Python 2.6

Why is Java Vector considered a legacy class, obsolete or deprecated?

Isn&#39;t its use valid when working with concurrency?

And if I don&#39;t want to manually synchronize objects and just want to use a thread-safe collection without needing to make fresh copies of the underlying array (as `CopyOnWriteArrayList` does), then is it fine to use `Vector`?

What about `Stack`, which is a subclass of `Vector`, what should I use instead of it?

Why is Java Vector (and Stack) class considered obsolete or deprecated?

How do I mark a method as obsolete or deprecated using C#?

How to mark a method as obsolete or deprecated?

I am just curious as to why the `&lt;center&gt;` tag in HTML was deprecated.

The `&lt;center&gt;` was a simple way of quickly center-aligning blocks of text and images by encapsulating the container in a `&lt;center&gt;` tag, and I really cannot find any simpler way on how to do it now.

Anyone know of any simple way on how to center &quot;stuff&quot; (not the `margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;` and width thing), something that replaces `&lt;center&gt;` ?  And also, why was it deprecated?

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	brasskazoo	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - vb.net	Lou Franco	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - vb.net	Otávio Décio	View Answer on Stackoverflow

In VB.NET, can I mark a function as deprecated?

vb.net Problem Overview

vb.net Solutions

Solution 1 - vb.net

Solution 2 - vb.net

Python: How to run unittest.main() for all source files in a subdirectory?

What is the most efficient way to convert an int to a String?

Attributions