UPDATE (11/18/2016): I’ve written a number of posts since this one was published that cover advanced SpecFlow topics like composable steps, tags done right, managing state, useful regex, etc. For a list of all my SpecFlow writing, you can click on the SpecFlow tag. SpecFlow is a fantastic tool that’s changed the way I develop software, and I hope it does the same for you. Happy testing! My last post covered three tips or best practices for SpecFlow that covered manipulating the current ScenarioContext with extension methods, binding multiple Given/When/Then attributes, and using hooks. Read more

UPDATE (11/18/2016): I’ve written a number of posts since this one was published that cover advanced SpecFlow topics like composable steps, tags done right, managing state, useful regex, etc. For a list of all my SpecFlow writing, you can click on the SpecFlow tag. SpecFlow is a fantastic tool that’s changed the way I develop software, and I hope it does the same for you. Happy testing! Late last year a co-worker Jay Brummels introduced our development group to SpecFlow a . Read more

As 2012 comes to a close, it’s time to look back on some of the things I’ve learned. During the past year, my focus has been on enterprise service development, and thanks to a talented software architect and co-worker Kelly Brownsberger, I feel much more confident with my development skills. Together we focused on re-architecting and refactoring large portions of an ordering service. Now, looking back, three lessons in particular have stuck with me and changed the way I develop software. Read more

I learned a cool programming technique this week from a co-worker Kelly Brownsberger to enable container access to a singleton. Say you have an interface IApplicationSettings exposed as a static singleton property, but you want to inject it into other classes via a container. The trick is to create another class that implements IApplicationSettings and grabs a reference to the singleton in the constructor. Each implementation of an interface member simply delegates the call to the corresponding member of the singleton reference. Read more

I have worked extensively with WinForms and WPF/Silverlight and noticed that docking/dock panels are not used that often.  At least this is the case where I work.  I find this surprising given their power and ease of use. Using XAML, why would a programmer choose a complex Grid/StackPanel setup over a DockPanel?  Or on the WinForms side, set the anchor properties for control rather than simplify things with the dock property? Read more

I ran into a scenario this week where a boolean field was being flipped temporarily to modify behavior elsewhere while a block of code was executing.  I have seen this pattern mainly in WinForms applications where data are being loaded into controls, but their events need to be suppressed during the load.  Afterward, the events should fire normally. Below is an example of this scenario.  It is a Windows form with a single combobox. Read more