Monthly Archives: April 2008

Developers or engineers?

Posted on April 30, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

I’ve had quite a few job titles where I basically did the same function: Software Engineer, Software Developer, Technical Lead, and so on.  In some companies, a Software Developer is a completely different position than Software Engineer, and in others … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc | 21 Comments

Understanding Mock Objects: an alternate solution

Posted on April 28, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

In AzamSharp’s recent post Understanding Mock Objects, he poses a problem of testing with volatile data.  His example extends on an article on AspAlliance, which exhibits the same problems with its solution.  Suppose I have an image service that returns … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Raising the bar

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

Continuous improvement is absolutely essential for any serious software developer.  Personally, my drive for constant improvement is not so much the next shiny developer toy (though this happens occasionally), but the idea that there is always some way to deliver … Continue reading →

Posted in Misc | 1 Comment

Should you TDD when flying solo?

Posted on April 23, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

A couple of weeks ago a question came up on the ALT.NET message board: Does TDD make sense when you’re the only developer in your company? To me, this is akin to the following questions: Is quality important? Is maintainability … Continue reading →

Posted in TDD | 10 Comments

Auto-mocking container pitfalls?

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

I’m taking a closer look at the auto-mocking container idea, specifically as we’re including it in the upcoming release of NBehave.  I’m a little wary of prolonged use, but wanted to get some feedback (it’s also on the ALT.NET message … Continue reading →

Posted in TDD, Tools | 3 Comments

Version control with Subversion: so easy my wife can do it

Posted on April 19, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

Yes folks, it’s true.  I have converted my wife to be a loyal Subversion user.  My wife is not technical, not by a long shot.  But the power of Subversion and the simplicity of TortoiseSVN made the convincing very easy. … Continue reading →

Posted in Tools | 12 Comments

Profiling a legacy app

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

Approaching a legacy application can be a daunting task.  You may or may not have access to the original developers (if they even still work for the company), and the domain experts might not be able to commit to teaching … Continue reading →

Posted in Legacy Code | 6 Comments

Guidelines aren’t rules

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

I’m a huge fan of the Framework Design Guidelines book.  It provides great instruction on creating reusable libraries, based on Microsoft’s design on the .NET Framework. But it’s important to remember that guidelines aren’t rules.  Guidelines are recommendations based on … Continue reading →

Posted in ASP.NET MVC, Domain-Driven Design | 3 Comments

Dear software tool vendors, RE: I’m breaking up with you

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

Dear software tool vendors, Reading Chad’s ReSharper love letter reminded me we need to talk. I’m breaking up with you. Your solutions seemed so enticing.  It seemed my excitement had no bounds, as I waited longingly for each press release … Continue reading →

Posted in Rant | 11 Comments

Reacting to change

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Jimmy Bogard

When dealing with the possibility of change in requirements in the middle of development, I’ve generally seen three reactions: Explicitly reject the possibility Ignore it completely, hope it goes away Accept and embrace it Of these three, only two are … Continue reading →

Posted in Agile | 2 Comments