Grant Winney

Grant

I write when I've got something to share - a personal project, a solution to a difficult problem, or just an idea. We learn by doing and sharing. We've all got something to contribute.

Using an application config file with a .NET Standard app and NUnit 3

Using an application config file with a .NET Standard app and NUnit 3

Porting .NET Framework code to .NET Standard has been a learning experience, with some challenges too. This time I had a .NET Standard library that expected an application config file, but loading one from an NUnit test suite proved to be more difficult than it sounded at first.

Using a constant as a DateTime format inside string interpolation

Using a constant as a DateTime format inside string interpolation

I was upgrading some code to use string interpolation, a feature introduced in C# 6, when I ran into a small snag with DateTimes and a format string stored as a constant.

Using Attributes in C#

Using Attributes in C#

Ever thought it'd be convenient to attach metadata to your code at design time, then read it at runtime? Attributes let you do just that - to methods, classes, tests, enumerations, and more. Use reflection to read them at runtime and take some action. Here's a few examples for the uninitiated...

Opening the developer console in every major browser

Opening the developer console in every major browser

Most people will never even know their browser hides a great set of tools, mostly used by web developers, but which can be useful for anyone trying to figure out why their browser is misbehaving.

Keep your EUnit teardown logic as simple as possible!

Keep your EUnit teardown logic as simple as possible!

Ever had an EUnit test fixture fail with meck reporting it was "already_started"? Well I did, and here's why...

Regaining access to a Mozilla Addons account

Regaining access to a Mozilla Addons account

I recently realized that somehow, in the 6 months since I last logged into my Mozilla developer account, none of my short list of emails would let me back in. Here's how I regained access.

Searching historical newspapers with the Chronicling America API

Searching historical newspapers with the Chronicling America API

I've got a few old newspapers from the 1930s and 1940s, and find them fascinating. And so I was excited to stumble on the Library of Congress's Chronicling America API, which 'provides access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages'. Let's check it out.