Finally: Proper Exception Assertion in MSTest

As part of the overhaul of everything Visual Studio and .Net Core, there is an overhauled testing framework. Microsoft has been informally calling the MSTest V2. The most exciting part of this is the fact that we’ve finally have Assert.ThrowsException and its async counterpart Assert.ThrowsExceptionAsync as part of the framework. Unfortunately, MS didn’t completely abandon ExpectedException, which was a major disappointment as its use is almost always an anti-pattern. From what I can tell, MS didn’t invent this anti-pattern, they just brought it in when they created MSTest using other frameworks as a guideline.

To SaaS or not to SaaS: One Small Example

Decisions, Decisions

I am hosting this minor catastrophe in writing on WordPress.com. That may change in the future (edit: It did), but for now I’m trying to focus on the writing and not the “sysadmining”. I love implementing technology, but it can also become a distraction. A blog platform seemed to suit the kind of content I was thinking about. I thought about building out my own platform to do it too. I spent a few weeks thinking it over.

Local Functions in C# 7

In my last post, I briefly mentioned the new C# feature known as local functions. I’ll write a bit about them here to get the word out a bit more and give me a reason to spend more time with them.

Export to PDF: A Tale in Understanding the Business Need

I just saw a Harvard Business Review article “Are You Solving the Right Problems?” (thanks Marty for sharing that) that made me want to share my go-to story on requirements gathering and focusing on the need rather than the solution.

Improvements to Tuples in C# 7

The second feature listed in What’s new in C# 7 is Tuples. This is actually a wholly new feature that reinvents the tuple for .Net. I’ve always appreciated the idea of tuples, but the existing System.Tuple was inelegant to say the least.