Vic Bias in the AFL
An analysis of Vic Bias in the AFL, and a discussion of how much it matters
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Keeping console windows open
A quick explanation on how to set up your C# console application to keep its window open when launched from the Windows GUI
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Celebrating one million downloads on NuGet
My open source projects have recently ticked over 1 million downloads on NuGet. This post gives a quick overview of my most popular projects.
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Using Log4j/Log4net-style short log levels with Serilog
A simple code snippet that allows you to use Log4j/Log4net-style short log levels with Serilog
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Declaring InternalsVisibleTo in a csproj file
A quick overview of how to declare InternalsVisibleTo in a csproj file.
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Converting HTML to PDF in .NET using Puppeteer Sharp
A quick overview of how Puppeteer Sharp can be used to convert HTML to PDF files in the .NET ecosystem
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Getting rid of VSCode's attribute wrapping in HTML files
How to tell VSCode to stop inserting newlines into your code just because it wants to wrap your HTML attributes
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Dealing with error CS0518: 'IsExternalInit not defined or imported'
A quick explanation of how to deal with error CS0518, which may occur when trying to use init setters on frameworks earlier than .NET 5.0
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.NET Project Layout
A standard layout for .NET projects.
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Detecting .NET Framework versions with WiX
How to use WixNetfxExtension to detect .NET framework versions (including those higher than 4.6.2)
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Working with private setters in Json.NET
How to use a custom contract resolver to deserialize to an object with private setters in Json.NET
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Avoiding overuse of 'manager' classes
There are only two hard problems in computer science: cache invalidation and naming things.
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Cheap and easy ASP.NET Core hosting
A quick overview of some of the options for hosting ASP.NET Core sites and apps.
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Using the WinForms designer on high‑DPI systems
A couple of registry hacks to use Visual Studio's WinForms designer on high‑DPI systems without causing problems for the rest of your team.
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Programmatically determining whether a Windows user is idle
An overview of how to determine if a Windows user is idle by checking when they last interacted with the PC (using the Win32 GetLastInputInfo API).
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Google AdSense Tag Helper for ASP.NET Core
A simple ASP.NET Core Tag Helper that emits Google AdSense ad code.
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Inlining and downloading a web page for offline consumption
A guide showing how to download a web page as a single HTML file with all CSS, JS, and images embedded into it.
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WinForms clipboard monitoring
A quick example showing how to monitor the clipboard in a WinForms project.
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Simplifying filter strings for file dialogs in WinForms and WPF
Using my FluentFileFilterBuilder library to easily craft file filters for the WinForms and WPF file dialogs.
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Google Analytics Tag Helper for ASP.NET Core
A simple ASP.NET Core Tag Helper that emits Google Analytics tracking code.
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Setting a WinForms form to be hidden on startup
An overview of my preferred technique for setting a WinForms form to be hidden on startup (without the drawbacks of some of the other common approaches).
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Hosting and deploying ASP.NET Core apps with ZEIT Now
An overview of ZEIT Now, and a quick tutorial showing how to use it to host and deploy an ASP.NET Core app.
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A better alternative to the WinForms Folder Browser Dialog using Ookii.Dialogs
A critique of the shortfalls of the WinForms FolderBrowserDialog, and a quick overview of the alternative provided in the Ookii.Dialogs project.
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What I install on a fresh Windows development PC
A short overview of the software that I always install on a fresh Windows PC to get up-and-running for .NET development.
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Documenting Task returns (in C# XML Documentation Comments)
Some recommendations on how to write XML Documentation Comments for methods that return a Task object.
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Using Visual Studio Code as the default Git editor
A quick guide on how to set up VSCode as the default Git editor.
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Registering services with Scrutor
Using Kristian Hellang's Scrutor library to scan and automatically register dependencies with the Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection IoC container.
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Generating a unique identifier for a Windows PC
Using my DeviceId library to generate unique identifiers for Windows PCs.
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SourceTree custom action: Open solution in Visual Studio
A quick guide demonstrating how to set up SourceTree custom actions to search a repository for a Visual Studio Solution File and then open it in Visual Studio.
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Enabling tab on WinForms property grids
An in-depth look at how to extend the WinForms PropertyGrid control to enable tab-navigation between properties.
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Programmatically launching ClickOnce applications
An in-depth look at the various ways that ClickOnce applications can be programmatically launched.
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Fixing GeoCoordinateWatcher's event handlers
Identifying and fixing a bug in GeoCoordinateWatcher's event handlers.
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Grouping files in Visual Studio
A quick tutorial on how to nest/group files within Visual Studio using the <DependentUpon> property in a project file.
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Fun with C# dynamics
A brief introduction to C# 4's dynamic keyword, and the fun that can be had with it.
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Forging Skype quotes
A overview of how Skype quote elements are structured, and a program that allows them to be forged.
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Ruby: The Good Parts
In the spirit of Douglas Crockford's book 'Javascript: The Good Parts', I present an exhaustive list of the 'good parts' of Ruby.
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Quick and easy custom syntax highlighting in a WinForms text box
A look at how to use the FastColoredTextBox library to get quick and easy WinForms syntax highlighting.
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Password security best practices (with examples in C#)
A brief rundown of some of the common mistakes people make with password security, and then an overview of some 'good practices' (with examples in C#).
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Cue banners in WinForms
A look at how WinForms text boxes can be extended to have a 'cue banner' (that greyed-out placeholder or explanatory text often seen in text fields).
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