SOAP and REST

I found a really great article that very simply describes the difference between SOAP and REST.  Most articles you read are written by folks that know a lot about one protocol but not the other.  And usually they are very biased toward REST.  For example, you'll see articles like "Why SOAP sucks" and the like.

In my experience SOAP is easier to create clients with if you have an IDE that can generate code using the WSDL file.

REST is easier to create clients with if you're calling the web service from JavaScript or you don't have code generation tools.

http://blog.smartbear.com/apis/understanding-soap-and-rest-basics/

SharePoint 2007 - Determine Configuration Databases

It can be difficult to see which databases are used by which SharePoint farm especially when you have been experimenting with several different environments.

To see what databases are used simply open up Central Administration, and click Operations.  Then go to Perform a Backup.  On this page, you will see all of the configuration databases used by this farm.

Of course, if it's content databases you're interested in, simply go to the Content Databases page under Application Management.

.NET Framework and CLR Versions

In this article, I'm going to attempt to explain what a developer needs to know about the relationship between the .NET CLR version and the .NET Framework version.  I am not attempting to explain what the CLR is or is not.  I am also pretending that version 1.0 did not exist, because I never used it.

First, there was .NET Framework version 2.0 which included .NET CLR version 2.0.  You wrote an application that targets .NET 2.0.  You installed .NET Framework 2.0 on your server, and installed your application.

Then Microsoft released .NET Framework version 3.0 but still included .NET CLR version 2.0.  You installed .NET Framework 3.0 on your server, and since your application was built using a version of the framework that included .NET CLR version 2.0, your application will continue to run with version 3.0 of the Framework.

Then Microsoft released .NET Framework version 3.5 but still included .NET CLR version 2.0.  You installed .NET Framework 3.5 on your server, and again since you application was built using a version of the framework that included .NET CLR version 2.0, you application will continue to run with version 3.5 of the framework.

Then everything changed with .NET Framework version 4.0.  Version 4.0 shipped with CLR version 4.0.  Your app won't work with version 4.0 unless you recompile the app with it targeted to .NET 4.0.  However, on your server, .NET 3.5 will remain installed, so you're app will still work using .NET 3.5 as it did before.

Now, .NET Framework version 4.5 (and 4.5.1) is now out.  These ship with CLR version 4.0.  So if you install 4.5 on your server, your apps built using 4.0 will still work using the new framework.

Determine which version of the .NET Framework is installed

1. Open the Registry Editor (regedit).
2. First look here:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP.  Expand NDP and you will see all of the versions installed.
3. To see if 4.5 and over is installed, you need to expand the v4 folder and click "Full".  Look at the version entry to see what version of 4 is installed.