Nuggets

This is where I record the tips, tricks and tools (free unless indicated otherwise 💰) I've accumulated over the years.

Tips and tricks

• Cake build - demonstrate a basic build of a .NET NuGet package using Cake
• Git - getting started with Git on Windows
• Markdown - writing nice Markdown
• PowerShell - pretend you know PowerShell
• SSH key pair - generate / import a SSH key pair
• TLS certificate - generate a TLS server certificate on Windows and macOS
• Visual Studio Code - Visual Studio Code configuration and extensions
• WinDbg - a brief guide (i.e. you are on your own)
• WireMock - mock HTTP server

Practices

• .NET
  • Coding convention - easily enforceable .NET coding convention
  • Layout - layout of a .NET project
• Pull Request - guidelines for easier to review Pull Requests
• Code review - guidelines for valuable code reviews
• Documentation - help your future self
• Logging - an insider guide
• Security - it doesn't matter until it does
• The way we work - agree as a team on the importance of each task
• SQL conventions - readable SQL
• Azure
  • Azure naming conventions - consistent Azure resources name
  • Azure role assignment - hardcode assignment name for easier troubleshooting

ASP.NET Core and Angular cookbook

• Mitigate CSRF
• SPA routing

Instant nuggets

Finding Application Insights instance using Instrumentation Key

You found a lone binary on a forgotten server and are wondering where the telemetry is going to? Fear not, with the command below you'll be able to find the Application Insights resource in no time:

Get-AzResource -ExpandProperties -ResourceType 'microsoft.insights/components' | Select -ExpandProperty Properties | Where InstrumentationKey -eq '{InstrumentationKey}' | Select Name

Clear HSTS in Chrome

Navigate to chrome://net-internals/#hsts

Software for developers on Windows

• Azure Data Studio - A lightweight replacement for SQL Server Management Studio (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Azure Storage Explorer - Manage Azure Storage Accounts (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Azurite - Azure storage emulator (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• Cosmos DB emulator - Azure Cosmos DB emulator (Windows)
• dotPeek - Decompiler (Windows)
  • Navigate to compiled source when used with ReSharper
  • Symbol server
• 💰 dotUltimate - a paid suite of .NET tools
  • Includes:
    • dotMemory - memory profiling
    • dotTrace - performance profiling
    • ReSharper - extension for Visual Studio. Find and fix errors and code smells; navigate and refactor; run unit tests (Windows)
    • Rider - cross-platform .NET IDE (Windows, macOS and Linux), replaced Visual Studio as my IDE of choice
• Fiddler - HTTP debugging proxy server (Windows)
  • Requires an email address
  • 💰 Buy the book Debugging with Fiddler, Second Edition by Eric Lawrence (the creator of Fiddler)
• Git - Distributed version control system (Windows, macOS and Linux)
  • I wrote a Git tutorial
• GraphiQL - A graphical interactive in-browser GraphQL IDE (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• LINQPad - Instantly test any C#/F#/VB snippet or program (Windows)
  • 💰 I highly recommend the paid Developer Version which adds NuGet integration (packages can still be restored in the free and pro editions)
  • LINQPad is maintained by Joseph Albahari an independent software developer
• MailHog - email testing tool for developers (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• MSBuildStructuredLog - A logger for MSBuild that records a structured representation of executed targets, tasks, property and item values (Windows)
• NuGet Package Explorer - Create, update and deploy Nuget packages with a GUI (Windows)
• Log Parser - CLI mainly used to query IIS logs (Windows)
• Open Broadcaster Software - Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• P4Merge - Merge tool and diff tool (Windows, macOS and Linux)
  • I'm using it as a merge.tool and diff.tool in Git and wrote a tutorial on how to configure it
• Paint.NET - image and photo editing (Windows)
  • 💰 Buy it on the Windows Store to support Paint.NET
• PerfView - CPU and memory performance-analysis tool (Windows)
• Postman - A graphical HTTP client (Windows, macOS and Linux)
• RegExr - A website to test Regular Expressions
• ScreenToGif - Quick and small screen recorder (Windows)
  • This is what I use on my blog
• Service Bus Explorer - Connect to a Service Bus namespace and administer messaging entities (Windows)
• Sysinternals - Manage, troubleshoot and diagnose your Windows systems and applications (Windows)
  • Most commonly used utilities:
    • Autoruns - Shows what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots and you login
    • ProcDump - Process dump utility
    • Process Explorer - List currently active processes
    • Process Monitor - Shows real-time file system, registry and process/thread activity
• Visual Studio Code - Editor (Windows, macOS and Linux)
  • My editor of choice to edit markdown, csproj, Cake build... files
  • Read my guide
• WinDbg - The Windows Debugger (Windows)
  • For the rare occasions when you need to go thermonuclear
  • Also available in preview in the store
  • I wrote a succint tutorial for WinDbg
• WinDirStat - Disk usage statistics viewer (Windows)
• Windows Magnifier - Magnifier makes part or all of your screen bigger so you can see words and images better (Windows)
• WireMock - Mock HTTP server (Windows, macOS and Linux)
  • I wrote a tutorial for WireMock
• Windows Subsystem for Linux - Lets developers run Linux environments - including most command-line tools, utilities, and applications - directly on Windows, unmodified, without the overhead of a virtual machine (Windows)
• Windows Terminal - a modern terminal for Windows (Windows)

.NET libraries

• Fluent Assertion assertions for automated tests
• FluentValidation extensible validation library