Encodo first published a Git Handbook for employees in September 2011 and last updated it in July of 2012. Since then, we’ve continued to use Git, refining our practices and tools. Although a lot of the content is still relevant, some parts are quite outdated and the overall organization suffered through several subsequent, unpublished updates.

What did we change from the version 2.0?

• We removed all references to the Encodo Git Shell. This shell was a custom environment based on Cygwin. It... [More]

Way back in February, I wrote about my experiences with ReSharper 9 when it first came out. The following article provides an update, this time with version 9.2, released just last week.

tl;dr: I’m back to ReSharper 8.2.3 and am a bit worried about the state of the 9.x series of ReSharper. Ordinarily, JetBrains has eliminated performance, stability and functional issues by the first minor version-update (9.1), to say nothing of the second (9.2).

Test Runner

In the previous article, my main... [More]

At Encodo, we’ve recently set up a few new workstations with Windows 8.1 and wanted to share the process we use, in case it might come in handy for others.

Windows can take a long time to install, as can Microsoft Office and, most especially, Visual Studio with all of its service packs. If we installed everything manually every time we needed a new machine, we’d lose a day each time.

To solve this problem, we decided to define the Encodo Windows Base Image, which includes all of the standard... [More]

The summary below describes major new features, items of note and breaking changes. The full list of issues is also available for those with access to the Encodo issue tracker.

Highlights

In beta1, we read about changes to configuration, the data driver architecture, DDL commands, and security and access control in web applications.

In beta-2, we made the following additional improvements:

• Introduced a new generated-code version that avoids all global references and provides a... [More]

I harshed on the YouTube UX in a recent article about GrooveShark. I figured I would take a few screenshots and explain exactly what I am trying to do with YouTube and why it feels so awkward.

Use Case

The user wants to watch vides in a list that he has not yet watched.

'Mark as unwatched' would be nice

It is not immediately obvious how or even if the user can mark a video as “unwatched” so that the little sash is no longer shown across the video in a list. As it stands, the sash is pretty much useless because the video... [More]

Grooveshark is no more.

Why should we lament this? They were, after all, a company that delivered music without heeding copyrights and without recompensing the artists that wrote the music. Once you read more about their business model, one could only say that they operated in a gray area if one squinted really hard. Once you learned how they delivered what they delivered, you were amazed that they lasted as long as they did.

But let’s take a step back and examine what else they provided and... [More]

This discussion about configuration spans three articles:

1. part I discusses the history of the configuration system in Quino as well as a handful of principles we kept in mind while designing the new system
2. part II discusses the basic architectural changes and compares an example from the old configuration system to the new.
3. part III takes a look at configuring the “execution order”—the actions to execute during application startup and shutdown

Introduction

Registering with an IOC is all... [More]

In this article, we’ll continue the discussion about configuration started in part I. We wrapped up that part with the following principles to keep in mind while designing the new system.

• Consistency
• Opt-in configuration
• Inversion of Control
• Configuration vs. Execution
• Common Usage

Borrowing from ASP.NET vNext

Quino’s configuration inconsistencies and issues have been well-known for several versions—and years—but the opportunity to rewrite it comes only now with a major-version break.
... [More]

The Name of the Rose (1983/en)

by Umberto Eco

This book is about a series of murders in an abbey in 12th-century Italy. A battle rages between opposed forces within the church, with some siding with the Pope and others not. The schism approaches, inquisitional troops roam the land. A very well-educated and modern monk, William of Baskerville, arrives at the abbey with his novice Melk in tow, to whom he is imparting not only wisdom but the kind of inquisitive mind that will be capable of... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

In this article, I’ll continue the discussion about configuration improvements mentioned in the release notes for Quino 2.0-beta1. With beta2 development underway, I thought I’d share some more of the thought process behind the forthcoming changes.

Software Libraries

what sort of patterns integrate and customize the functionality of libraries in an application?

An application comprises multiple tasks, only some of which are part of that application’s actual domain. For those parts not in the... [More]

Scanners (1981) — 6/10

This is a David Cronenberg movie about very special people who can control other people’s minds with their own. The movie is very much of its time—it is basically an action-adventure story of conflicting mind-control factions. The pacing is quite slow by today’s standards, but the story is pretty interesting—even if the parts involving computers are laughable. Also, about a quarter of the movie is taken up with people squinting and sweating at each other, trying to... [More]

Alpha House is a TV show on Amazon Prime about four Republican U.S. Senators living together in a house in Washington D.C. John Goodman is just fantastic as Gil John Biggs. Definitely worth a watch: it might even be better than Veep.

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]

Disclaimer: these are notes I took while reading this book. They include citations I found interesting or enlightening or particularly well-written. In some cases, I’ve pointed out which of these applies to which citation; in others, I have not. Any benefit you gain from reading these notes is purely incidental to the purpose they serve of reminding me what I once read. Please see Wikipedia for a summary if I’ve failed to provide one sufficient for your purposes. If my notes serve to trigger an... [More]