The Problem

Sometime ago, I wanted a way to upload images to some web service so I can use them in online forums or social networks easily. I thought of ImageShack at first, until StackOverflow started using Imgur. Their API seems easy enough to use, better documented than the ImageShack one. I started with ImageShack at first, but after having some difficulties, I switched to Imgur. I plan to integrate ImageShack still as an alternative service.

The Vision

Quickly upload images to Imgur/ImageShack(planned) via Intuitive Drag & Drop or copy & paste and use them (eg. in online forums & social networks)

The Result

Download

Source on GitHub

on SkyDrive

The Making Of

Before I started learning .NET, I am mainly a Web Developer developing in PHP (learning some Zend Framework), HTML, CSS, JS (jQuery of course). I started .NET stuff as I felt its the best for building Windows Desktop apps. WPF had great integration with new features in Windows 7 like Taskbar Thumbnails, Jumplists etc that I felt will improve usability & productivity. Also with this new skills (C#/WPF/MVVM) it will be easy to move to various .NET tech like ASP.NET MVC, Windows Phone 7, even cloud development in Windows Azure.

My current areas of focus in the .NET Framework:

• C#
• WPF
• LINQ
• Entity Framework

Resources I found useful:

• Videos

  • MSDN How do I for C#: I just watched mainly the C#/WPF/Entity Framework stuff
  • Windows Client: You can find videos on WPF, LINQ, WPF for Windows 7 here
  • Channel 9 - A fun way to learn
  • PDC - Some videos I recommend the Keynote, Future of C# & VB (talks about the Async CTP good stuff), Code First Entity Framework, C# IDE Tips & Tricks, not forgetting the funny and insightful talk by Luca on PDC08: An Intro to F#
  • MIX - Modern Form Design, Understanding the MVVM Pattern, Build Your Own MVVM Framework

• Books (I don’t really like reading … but for a more complete overview, its better to read books … and they are good for references, an alternative to Google)

  • Pro C# 4.0 in a Nutshell
  • Pro WPF in C# 2010

MVVM

I think that its best pratice to use a framework like MVC for Web for separation of concerns leading to better maintainability. I used Josh Smith’s MVVM Foundation framework, I found that its a small & easy to learn framework compared to others I tried like MVVM Light & Caliburn Micro.

Resources:

Links provided in the question “MVVM: Tutorial from start to finish?” at StackOverflow is a great starting point. Persoanlly, I’ve learnt alot from the MSDN Magazine article (1st link provided for MVVM)

The Future

I think going forward, I will be working on Authenticated Uploads and ImageShack Integration.

I considered making the app alittle fancier with Expression Blend, but it proved challenging, I am no designer, esp the animation part. eg. Fade+Slide ListBoxItems in/out as they are added/removed. I guess so, I will focus on what I do best 1st, the development/functionality then maybe look at Expression Blend later.

However, I think the future of apps look more like on the Web, I will be focusing on Web Apps (HTML5, jQuery, CSS3, PHP/Zend Framework) after completing QuickImageUpload & MarkdownEdit. Maybe even having a Web App version of those.