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Web.config code example

Web.config: 5 Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mark HenkeNo Comments

We as software developers have created several disciplines for coding: test-driven developments, clean code principles, and screaming architecture, to name a few. However, we often find our web.config files can sprawl out of control. We just don’t pay as much attention to our configuration as we do to our classes and methods. The good news is that many mistakes are easily avoided, and with a little discipline we can put our configs on par with the rest of our codebase. In this article, I’ll show you how. We’ll look at five of the most common configuration mistakes and how to avoid them.

code_review_prep_runner_preparing_for_race

Code Review Prep: 4 Tips to Eliminate Inefficiency

Carlos SchultsNo Comments

Code review is, hands down, one of the most fundamental best practices a software shop can employ to produce better software. A good code review practice can shed light on design problems, improve the readability of the code, and spread knowledge throughout a team. It also helps you find bugs early (when it costs less to fix them). Code reviews sound like a gift from the heavens, right? While far from being a panacea, I’d say they are a spectacular tool to ensure software quality—when done correctly. And that, of course, is the tricky part. It doesn’t take much for…

Sherlock with magnifying glass

Code Inspections? Get Over Yourself.

Melissa McEwen9 Comments

When I last looked for software engineering jobs, I came across a post that looked perfectly normal until I got to a line that said, “Participate in daily code inspections.” What the heck was a code inspection? It sounded pretty serious. And we’d be doing it every single day? A quick Google search brought me to a Wikipedia page for “software inspection,” which told me that “code inspection” was pioneered in the 70s at IBM. My grandfather’s cousin happened to work there at the time, so I asked him to weigh in. He said they were a “formalized effort by team…

Writing that says "rules, you must, you must not"

Using CodeIt.Right to Create C# Coding Standards

Carlos SchultsNo Comments

Does your team use a coding standard? If the answer is no, then I’m afraid you’re missing out on a lot of important benefits. This post will help you create (and automate) C# coding standards using Submain’s CodeIt.Right. I’ll start out by making the case that you need a coding standard. We here at the SubMain blog have already covered that subject, of course, but I’ll revisit it anyway. With that out of the way, I’ll go on to explain the most common problems that occur when teams try to implement coding standards and code reviews manually. Finally, I’ll show you how…

Code Monkey Computing Readability

How Do You Evaluate Code Readability?

Erik Dietrich2 Comments

Evaluating code readability is actually pretty easy.  I’ll explain it in a way that you can easily illustrate with a flow diagram.  And you can see if you agree with my assessment. Did someone else write this code?  If so, it’s not readable. Did I write this code but more than six months ago?  If so, it’s not readable. Otherwise, it’s readable. Sound about right? I kid, but only kind of.  This tends to be my visceral, subconscious reaction before I reign myself in and think rationally.  And I bet the same is true for a lot of you reading…

Code review vs pair programming (as shown here): which should your team pick?

Code Review vs Pair-Programming: Which One Should Your Team Pick?

Carlos Schults3 Comments

Some weeks ago, I was browsing Twitter when I saw this: Pair Programming > Code Review — Rafael Ponte (@rponte) November 19, 2017 This prompted a brief discussion between the author and me. He made good arguments, but I left unconvinced that pair programming was the obvious winner. As someone who’s implemented code review with success and also paired to some extent, I could see how both practices can be valuable. But is one of them clearly better than the other? Are code review and pair programming interchangeable, or are there scenarios in which one clearly shines? That’s what I’m going…

You don't need a code review template like the one shown here.

You Don’t Need a Code Review Template

Erik Dietrich1 Comment

What do you have in mind when you search or hope for a code review template?  I’ll bet I can guess. You’re looking for something to guide you through the process.  In your mind, this probably takes the form of a worksheet of some kind.  The appropriate document should have a checklist of items for you to tick off and perhaps some free-form text spaces for you to make notes.  It will also guide you through the process in general. I get it.  But you really don’t need this, even though it seems perfectly reasonable and inviting. The Actual Life…

Zeus leading the charge of code review myths.

Examining Code Review Myths

Erik Dietrich3 Comments

Alexander Pope once opined that a little learning can be a dangerous thing.  When we learn just enough to hear something that suits our agenda, we have a cognitive bias that encourages us to stop right there.  Quit while you’re ahead, as it were. This dynamic gives rise to misconceptions.  They go by various names: urban legends, myths, canards, tall tales, etc.  Obviously, this occupies a prominent role in our world, to have such a rich tapestry of synonyms. I won’t delve any further into the psychology behind this.  That’s not my area of expertise.  But I would like to…

Automated code review is going to be worth the time.

Are You Aggressively Trying for Automated Code Review?

Erik Dietrich1 Comment

Not surprisingly, software development teams have a propensity to automate.  After all, most of what we do involves automating formerly manual processes.  Stop keying that data in by hand!  Let’s write a script that loads it automatically. As software developers, we thus become connoisseurs of automation opportunity.  Come on.  Tell me you’ve never wandered around your office, observing others’ inefficient workflows.  If you didn’t have a ton of things to do, you’d write a shell script that blew their minds.  They’d have so much free time on their hands that they could take up knitting for part of the day….

There's an intense pressure to finish software quickly, which puts strain on manual code reviews.

Software Grows Too Quickly for Manual Review Only

Erik Dietrich2 Comments

How many development shops do you know that complain about having too much time on their hands?  Man, if only we had more to do.  Then we wouldn’t feel bored between completing the perfect design and shipping to production … said no software shop, ever.  Software proliferates far too quickly for that attitude ever to take root. This happens in all sorts of ways.  Commonly, the business or the market exerts pressure to ship.  When you fall behind, your competitors step in.  Other times, you have the careers and reputations of managers, directors, and executives on the line.  They’ve promised something…

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