June 2005

published: Thu, 16-Jun-2005   |   updated: Fri, 5-Aug-2016

Here are the articles that were published in June 2005.

C# generics and covariance, part one

Time to blow your mind. You've downloaded Visual C# Express or maybe you're using the full Visual Studio 2005 beta 2. You've seen that C# 2.0 now includes generics, or a way of writing classes that accept type parameters. You've played around with List<T> and seen that it's pretty good. You're feeling comfortable with generics, right? (Updated  28-Jun-2005) Read more...

On-line interviewee testing

At work, we have several openings for talented C# and C++ developers, with various areas of expertise (ASP.NET, multi-tier architectures, web services, compact framework, etc). To help with the flow of résumés, HR are investigating using on-line testing services to sort the wheat from the chaff. Read more...

What does TDD help you do?

This is a bit of a trick question. Many developers when they come across TDD (test-driven development) for the first time assume that it is a technique for writing quality code. Well it certainly looks that way: you write the test and then you write the code to pass the test. Refactor a bit to get rid of duplication, and, bam, you get well-tested code of high quality and furthermore, as a side-benefit, 100% code coverage. Not bad, eh? Read more...

Tech Ed Session ARC305: Code Generation: Architecting a New Kind of Reuse (Scott Hanselman, Corillian)

This was a controversial, hit-them-between-the-eyes, rapid-fire talk from a well-regarded developer in the .NET world. Scott Hanselman is Chief Architect at Corillian Corporation, a company that writes online banking software and sells it to banks, the epitome of a vertical market. Read more...

From the freaking annoying department...

I used Google Desktop Search. I installed it ages ago when it first came out and it seemed to do what I wanted. Then I got worried that it didn't seem to be picking up my most recent files. Cue, without further ado, a major rant and a major waste of time. (Updated 16-Jun-05) Read more...

Some thoughts on TDD and the Strategy pattern

At one of the Birds of a Feather sessions at Tech*Ed, someone said something to the effect that you aren't doing TDD until you understand the Strategy pattern. That was both fascinating and coincidental since I was only recently contemplating the use of the Strategy Pattern (or the Policy pattern as it's sometimes known) in some OO design work. Read more...

More on being a limited user

Paul Grade responded with some extra information to my recent posting about being a limited privilege user. One of the items was something I'd missed the first time round and I have to admit it's a biggie. Read more...

TechEd session DEV320: .NET Framework: Best Practices for Avoiding Common Exception Coding Mistakes (Jonathan Keljo, MS)

A good session this: I learned quite a few things I didn't know before. Ok, so there was a lot I already knew, but all in all it was an informative session. Read more...

TechEd session DEV340: Visual C# under the covers (Anders Hejlsberg, MS)

Unfortunately, for me this session was summed up by one word: disappointing.   Read more...

Not With a Bang But a Whimper

And so goodbye Tech*Ed. My first one, after some 10 years of going to BorCons and SDWests/Easts and Linux thingies. Actually it was very interesting, at least for the first four days. The last one, today was a bit disappointing: the Exhibit Hall closed yesterday, and I'll admit I didn't realize and so didn't go round it; there were less sessions today, and lots of those were repeats. Read more...

Being a limited user

Well, it's been several months since I decided to revoke the administrator rights for my main user account on my tablet PC. It was interesting to say the least in the beginning, but now I'm totally used to it and wouldn't change back. Here's a few notes about my experiences. Read more...