SpecFlow is an extension for Visual Studio that binds software specifications written in the Gherkin language to executable code written in C#, VB, or some other .NET language. One of the challenges of implementing a SpecFlow scenario is how to manage test state in between steps. At first glance, state management seems like an easy problem to solve, but as your test suite grows, maintaining the implementation is as difficult as any large software project. Read more

Customizing a Ghost blog theme can be as easy as taking the default Casper theme and tweaking it to your taste. I finally got around to creating my own theme to correct some niggling annoyances with Casper. I could have downloaded a prebuilt theme from the Ghost marketplace, but my changes were minor so I opted to create my own. I started by checking out the themes documentation. To test out my new theme, I installed the Ghost platform. Read more

A couple weeks ago I wrote a script to completely automate the set up of IIS for some system tests at work. The tests require three IIS applications along with unique application pools, and the applications need to be segregated under a virtual directory to isolate them from other automated tests. This was done for a local set up for application developers. This simple script took what could have been an error prone manual process and made it quick and mostly fool proof. Read more

While I don’t use the Fit.js javascript library in my day-to-day work, I was struck by its simple and effective documentation. Check out the README and demo page. In just minutes, you can read the doc and know exactly what the library is and what it can do for you. Even the tagline is cool. fit( theThing, /* into */ theOtherThing ); This documentation style (not sure what to call it) inspired me to add a Quick Start section to my own Javascript libary SProxy with a similar feel. Read more

It seems like every day I read about a new use for Git outside of source control. It’s used by artists and authors to track changes to their work. It’s used by researchers to branch experiments. Well, today I came across the latest and most surprising Git integration. Just out of Redmond, Microsoft has announced that Git will be integrated into the next version of Windows via extensions to NTFS and the Windows kernel. Read more

I’d like to take a break from my usual tech writing to bring you a very special holiday post. There are two ladies in my life that make each day better than the last, and I want to thank them for making 2013 a great year. My wife, Mary, has been with me for almost 10 years, and we’re still best friends. My daughter, Emilia, just turned four. She is a little lady who turns every day into an adventure. Read more