Codeplex Coding Guidelines
A set of coding guidelines for C# 3.0, C# 4.0 and C# 5.0, design principles and layout rules for improving the overall quality of your code development.
Month: April 2014
Links: April 17
Code, code and more code.: Technical Debt, a case study : tags: At Stack Exchange, we have a fair understanding of technical debt. Like real debt, technical debt is not by necessity a bad thing – it can allow you to choose an acceptable (but not ideal) solution today, which means you can ship today, but you know that at some point you are going to have to revisit it. Like all loans, technical debt carries interest.
— Marc Gravell
Write Code Every Day: Last fall, work on my coding side projects came to a head: I wasn’t making adequate progress and I couldn’t find a way to get more done without sacrificing my ability to do effective work at Khan Academy.
There were a few major problems with how I was working on my side projects. I was primarily working on them during the weekends and sometimes in the evenings during the week. This is a strategy that does not work well for me, as it turns out.
— John Resig
Exploring ASP.NET Web Pages – A fully-featured MiniBlog using just Razor: ASP.NET “Razor” Web Pages are ASP.NET sites without models, views, controllers, or project files. Some folks say “oh, that’s just Classic ASP, or PHP right? Not at all. It’s the full power and speed of the .NET CLR, the full syntax of C#, LINQ, along with things like C# dynamics. It’s super powerful, and my friend Mads and I are surprised more people don’t use them for small things.
— Scott Hanselman
all of software engineering can be derived by continually reducing work-in-process
— Kent Beck (@KentBeck) April 7, 2014
“It is not only possible to create good progams using JavaScript. It is neccessary!” Douglas Crockford at #DEVIntersection #AngleBrackets
— Markus Rehrs (@spontifixus) April 16, 2014
Web Dev Tips N Tricks: Font Awesome!
One of the more interesting libraries I’ve used recently is Font Awesome. It’s a glyph library that allows you to use professional clean looking icons as a part of your project. It is very flexible and is easy to implement using markup. It is part of the Twitter Bootstrap world, is easily integrated into your website, and is also able to be added to WordPress via a plugin.
One of the nicer features of the library is the simple built in functionality to do things like make the icons larger, stack them, flip or rotate them, and much more.
Additional Links:
Requirements: The Expert (Video)
This video has been floating around for a while now. I found it hilarious. But in reality the more I think about it and the message in it the more true it seems to be. I wish it wasn’t true but it is. Pulling requirements out of users who aren’t sure what they want can be difficult, if impossible at times. It takes a skilled person to be able to design software for users like these.
Career: Changes
Change terrifies me. Hands down terrifies me. Always has.
A few months ago I took a phone call from a recruiter on a new job opportunity. I agreed to talk to them purely because the guy on the other end of the phone is one I spoken to in the past and I respect him. Over the course of the last few weeks I slowly came to the conclusion that changing jobs may actually be a good idea.
The problem is that I love the job I currently have and the team that I am with. The new place offered me options that were better for my family than where I am currently at. Eventually I put in my notice and discovered that I am a valuable asset to the company. This should not have come as a surprise to me, but it did. They gave me a counter offer that leveled the playing field as far as benefits and the family situation.
Now what do I do. I discovered that when the field was leveled and the decision was purely about me and what I want for myself I froze up. How do I make a decision like this. Leaving a place I love, for the unknown of a new company.
Finally I read the following quote from a woman who I respect and has been in the background of my life for many years whispering in my ear, as any good muse should!
While I realize change can be scary, there comes a time when our “good enough” isn’t “good enough” anymore and we have to leap past our fears with courage and boldness to live the life we want and deserve.
I never quite know what I want out of life. Even after two months of contemplating leaving, it wasn’t until today that I realized I am making the right decision. What become clear to me is that if I don’t take the leap to something new I will not grow in the direction I want to. While the team I am on now is awesome, I feel like the opportunities offered at the new company will help me to grow in my career in a way that my current job will never be able to do.
Saying goodbye to the great team I am with now will be difficult. But looking forward to whats coming up has me excited to see whats around the corner.
Amy's Tech Notes 