DeskMinder Release
I wrote DeskMinder as a Christmas gift for my family and friends. It originated as just a bit of HTML and JavaScript as an Active Desktop component for reminding me when special occasions were drawing near, like family members' birthdays and anniversaries. To make it easier to customize the events …
InspectionPrinter Initial Release
I've released the first version of my InspectionPrinter utility. We have been renewing our efforts to do more formal code inspections at NextPage recently, which finally motivated me to finish this thing off, having originally started it nearly two years ago. It can be downloaded from the software section.
The …
.NET Context Menu Handler
I've been working on a context menu handler shell extension in C#
lately. There are a few samples that people have produced on the web
(for example, The Code
Project,
pek.com,
and
TheServerSide.net).
I've found a better way of implementing IShellExtInit.Initialize than
in the examples I've seen …
Microsoft's CD Replacement Policy
I noticed a while back that my Rise of Nations game CD had a big crack through it. This was likely owing to it being on the floor in close proximity to the wheels of the chair at the boys' computer. Any hopes that it might still be readable were …
Techniques for Effective Logging
Updated September 8, 2005
Logging is a testing and diagnostic technique that lies somewhere between automated testing and debugging. It can help you understand what your application is doing, especially in cases where there is some non-determinism because of threading, or when running in an environment where debuggers are not …
Mock Object Strategies
How do you get your production code to use real objects and your test code to use mock objects?
Here's the class we want to test (adapted from Object-Oriented Design Heuristics, Arthur J. Riel):
public class HeatFlowRegulator
{
private Furnace furnace;
private Set house;
public HeatFlowRegulator(Set house)
{
this.house = house …Testing Styles: Favor Unit Testing
Ideally, human efforts in testing should focus on building tests -- figuring out the strategies, test cases, and test data. From there, we'd rather let the computer run the tests and verify the results. If you had to test everything manually every day, you would either not do it, or really …
Why Exceptions Are Better Than Returned Error Codes
I'm occasionally surprised that some programmers prefer an error handling system of returned error codes over exceptions. After spending several years with both approaches, I've become convinced that exceptions are a superior model. If you agree, great! If not, read on and let me try to persuade you. I'm always …