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Not Enough Time To Do It Sloppy
“Just do it quick and dirty. We can clean it up later.” When deadlines loom and clients are angry it’s hard to argue. Yet the hard truth is most technical debt is never paid down. Technical debt is...
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Visual Studio Tip: Locate Current File in Solution Explorer on Demand
Visual Studio doesn’t offer an easy way to locate the current file you’re editing in the Solution Explorer on demand. You can set the solution explorer to always stay in sync with this simple setting:...
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The Joy of Prototype Driven Development
I’m a big believer in PDD. Why? Because we clearly need another TLA in our lives. Okay, as a good developer seeing an unfamiliar acronym you likely just Googled for PDD and found a set of links on...
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How RESTful is Your API?
It’s been over a decade since Roy Fielding wrote his seminal dissertation on Representation State Transfer (REST). Over this period we’ve seen SOAP/WSDL fall out of favor as the cool kids transition...
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Kill the Zombies in Your Code
With Halloween nearly upon us, it seems appropriate to discuss a widespread problem in software development: zombie code. Nearly every codebase I work with is littered with small chunks or large swaths...
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Are You a Resume’ Driven Developer?
I’ve had the pleasure of working with many exceptionally talented developers over the years. Yet I’ve noticed the downfall of a few of the brightest minds is a penchant for resume’ driven development...
View ArticleNebraska Code Camp 2013 – Lessons Learned
Rethinking Enterprise – Ted Neward Ted started the day off with a bang. He has a knack for pulling in interesting tidbits from other disciplines and weaving their implications into a development...
View ArticleSerializing Knockout ViewModels to JSON: Quotes matter
The Knockout MVVM framework makes it dirt simple to serialize your ViewModels to JSON: ko.toJSON(viewModel); However, if you’re wondering why some observables aren’t being serialized, note that...
View ArticleHighlights from Codepalousa 2013
This was my first time attending CodepaLOUsa, and I was not disappointed. The always entertaining Carl Franklin got things rolling with a nostalgic keynote on his history in development. The highlight...
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I’ll keep my 4 year old laptop, thanks.
I enjoy shopping around for computer equipment and like Joel Spolsky, I’m a big believer in using the best tools money can buy. And yet, I’ve held on to my trusty Dell M6400 Precision Workstation for...
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JavaScript Breakpoints in Chrome
When doing front-end dev, I set breakpoints in Chrome all the time. Here’s the quickest way to set a JavaScript breakpoint in Chrome: F12 if dev tools aren’t already open. Ctrl+O and begin to type the...
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Debugging JavaScript in Chrome with frames
When debugging JavaScript on a page with frames, it’s easy to find yourself running commands in the console in the wrong frame. I’ve hit this wall many times and wondered why I can’t see the variables...
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Warn Users of Unsaved Changes with jQuery
In web apps it’s helpful to warn the user if they attempt to navigate away after making changes without hitting save. But the tricky part is, how do you track when they’ve made changes? This is...
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KnockoutJS: Maintain Input Focus While Tabbing and Rebinding
Single page applications pose a unique and interesting set of problems. Libraries that offer two-way binding like KnockoutJS and AngularJS make it trivial to completely redraw a screen with new data...
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JavaScript Configuration Object Pattern: JSON Saves the Day
So you’re building a modern web app? That means you’re likely running a variety of client-side libraries and custom business logic in JavaScript. And one of the first hurdles you run into is “Hey, I...
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Writing Code? Know Your Boundaries.
Today’s developers are cursed blessed with a massive list of libraries and technologies for solving problems. And some of the worst sins against code stem from simply selecting the wrong tool for the...
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Writing in a Dynamic Language? Naming Matters More.
Sure, well-named variables and functions are important in all programming languages. But when is a name good enough? And when is it especially critical? I just received an interesting comment about my...
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Programming Your Brain: The Art of Learning in Three Steps
From time to time, I run into people who are interested in breaking into programming. Last night at the company holiday party a guy (we’ll call him Sam) walked up and introduced himself, asking for...
View ArticleSeven Reasons Clean Code Matters
Anyone who knows me well knows the one technical topic I’m unapologetically religious about is the importance of clean code. I recently wrote a guest post on the Pluralsight blog: “Seven Reasons Clean...
View ArticleHey Developer, Are You Focusing on the Right Thing?
At a certain point (perhaps sooner than you think), becoming more technically competent isn’t going to change the trajectory of your life. You have to change your paradigm. Are you solving the right...
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