Life would be simpler if I had the source code
Thursday, 11 June 2009 at 13:33 - Blog
I’ve just found 22 examples of this anti-pattern in a small .NET project:
Oh yes, the empty catch block. Joy of joys.
Declaring an empty catch block is equivalent to professing that:
"Sometimes this code I’ve written fails. I don’t know why. I don’t really care. Please don’t tell me when it happens. I can’t hear you. La la la…"
*sigh*
If I ruled the world, empty catch blocks would be invalid in C#. Is there ever any reason for using them?
Thursday, 11 June 2009 at 13:00 - Blog
Improvements to the Execution Plan UI in SQL Server Management Studio 2008 sure do make it a doddle to improve query execution time.
A client just reported that a particular stored procedure kept timing out.
Viewing the Estimated Execution Plan for this query displayed a nice green message advising of a potentially missing index which could improve performance by >95%:
Right-clicking and selecting “Missing Index Details” then brings up a new query window containing the index creation DDL (I had changed the index name by the time I grabbed this capture):
Dead easy. Repeating the process identified a second index which could further improve performance by >80%.
Of course, you still need to bear in mind other queries which access the table, and the effects on inserts/updates of creating additional indexes, but even so, this really helps the workflow.
The suggested indexes functionality was actually available in SSMS 2005 too, but the results were buried away in the XML version of the execution plan, and obscure properties windows, rather than being so in your face.
Monday, 08 June 2009 at 11:57 - Blog
I know it should no longer come as any surprise to me, but I just found this method (and several others like it) lurking in a Data Access Object. Grrr…
/// <summary> /// Send an email to notify that accrual data has been successfully uploaded /// </summary> /// <param name="accrualUpload"></param> /// <param name="recipientAddresses"></param> public void SendSuccessfulUploadEmail(AccrualUpload accrualUpload, Collection<MailAddress> recipientAddresses)
Much of software design / architecture isn't technically difficult, it just requires a little thought - "where does this functionality belong?"; - rather than forcing code into the first class you come across.
Did I mention how useful NDepend is in exposing idiocy like this? I think I did. And I really should get round to blogging about how handy CodeRush and Refactor Pro are for cleaning up such smells.
Monday, 08 June 2009 at 11:18 - Blog
Here’s another amusing method I recently found in some production code which comes straight from the “can’t be bothered to learn the framework (or how to Google)” style of programming:
/// <summary>
/// Converts a month number into the name
/// </summary>
/// <param name="monthNumber"></param>
private string GetMonthName(int monthNumber)
{
return String.Format("{0:MMMM}", new DateTime(1969, monthNumber, 1));
}
I wonder what the significance of 1969 is? Year of the author's birth, perhaps?!
Aside from being hacky, there is a performance implication to unnecessarily creating new DateTime objects and performing string formatting in this way. In my tests, I’ve found that this method is around 18 times slower than simply calling System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo.CurrentInfo.GetMonthName(monthNumber).
Saturday, 06 June 2009 at 18:01 - Blog
Oh dear. Royal Mail have been taking tips from Creative:
Friday, 05 June 2009 at 09:26 - Blog
If you’re in the Leeds area next Wednesday, why not come along to this Agile Yorkshire session?
10th June - Gojko Adzic: Slim, The Future Of FitNesse
Details
This talk will introduce Slim, the most important upgrade to FitNesse in years. Slim is the new test runner which promises to bring platform interoperability, easier integration, a much simpler programming model and lots of small helpers that will allow us to write and maintain executable specifications and acceptance tests easier. This is a session for .NET and Java developers. Some prior exposure to FitNesse and FIT would be beneficial, but not required.
Speaker
Gojko Adzic is a software craftsman with a passion for new technologies, programming and writing. He runs Neuri Ltd, a UK-based consultancy that helps companies build better software by introducing agile practices and tools and improving communication between software teams, stakeholders and clients. See http://gojko.net/about/ for more details.
Venue: Victoria Hotel, Central Leeds
Date/Time: Wednesday, 10th June, 6:30pm sharp.
More details: http://www.agileyorkshire.org/
Friday, 29 May 2009 at 08:00 - Blog
I love looking through the Traffic Sources section of my Google Analytics reports to discover how people found my site.
To the end of 2008, over 75% of visits had come via search engines. There are thousands of weird keywords and phrases by which people have somehow managed to stumble across my little home on the web, but the ones that entertain me most are when people type entire questions into a search engine.
I thought it would be a nice idea to share some of these questions posed by previous visitors to ianfnelson.com, and perhaps attempt to provide answers where possible. I’m helpful like that. Here goes:
No. But Wikipedia can.
I believe it’s possible, if you have some kind of special relationship with the place.
He does.
As in the flesh-eating virus?! It might be a nice idea.
How should I know? Cheeky bugger.
If she wants to settle in the UK, yes.
They’re gulped down quickly.
Not enough.
Last time I was there, about £1 (€1.11, $1.51).
Er, I didn’t find out.
33.
Insist that they’re only three?
Serve a prison sentence, or develop a mental health problem.
Carefully.
Buy and use NHProf.
I do it this way.
Er, with your feet?
Ha ha! How about considering how lucky you are that friends and/or family care about you enough to throw such an event, and shower you and your child with gifts?
No.
Yes.
Slightly.
Not so much.
Friday. I had quite a thirst going that day.
Find out by reading Freakonomics.
“Hello”.
“Fraoch”.
See my blog post on the experience.
In the UK, SAN TA1. In Canada, HOH OHO.
Probably Carn Aosda. Dull as dishwater, though.
I wish I knew.
They hailed from Liverpool, England.
Five past Three.
It’s not installed by default in Vista. Here’s how to add it.
Go West.
Joss Stone.
This was a public service from ianfnelson.com :-)
Wednesday, 27 May 2009 at 12:24 - Blog
Well, for the record, I passed MS exam 70-553 yesterday on my second attempt, which makes me a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer – Enterprise Application Developer:
_506_3.png "Microsoft Certified Professional Developer")
And I also acquired a few new MCTS certifications as a happy by-product:
_513_512_514_507_527_3.png "Microsoft Certfiied Technology Specialist")
My full transcript, including “legacy” certifications, is here.
Phew! I think that the time has now come for me to take a bit of a break from the certification circus. They are a nice-to-have, but the opportunity cost is too high – there are many other ways in which I can spend what little spare time I have to better develop my skills.
Friday, 22 May 2009 at 08:00 - Blog
I promised you some photos of my new office a while back, didn’t I?
OK, here you go. Click for larger versions.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009 at 08:49 - Blog
The folks at Typemock have come up with a cunning viral way to market a new software bundle comprising of their renowned Typemock Isolator and Ivonna tools. Having mentioned Typemock in this blog previously, and being something of a unit testing zealot, I’m happy to be a pawn in their campaign!
Unit Testing ASP.NET? ASP.NET unit testing has never been this easy.
Typemock is launching a new product for ASP.NET developers – the ASP.NET Bundle - and for the launch will be giving out FREE licenses to bloggers and their readers.
The ASP.NET Bundle is the ultimate ASP.NET unit testing solution, and offers both Typemock Isolator, a unit test tool and Ivonna, the Isolator add-on for ASP.NET unit testing, for a bargain price.
Typemock Isolator is a leading .NET unit testing tool (C# and VB.NET) for many ‘hard to test’ technologies such as SharePoint, ASP.NET, MVC, WCF, WPF, Silverlight and more. Note that for unit testing Silverlight there is an open source Isolator add-on called SilverUnit.
The first 60 bloggers who will blog this text in their blog and tell us about it, will get a Free Isolator ASP.NET Bundle license (Typemock Isolator + Ivonna). If you post this in an ASP.NET dedicated blog, you'll get a license automatically (even if more than 60 submit) during the first week of this announcement.
Also 8 bloggers will get an additional 2 licenses (each) to give away to their readers / friends.
Go ahead, click the following link for more information on how to get your free license.
